LIGA FEDERAL DE VALLADARES
SIXTY-FIFTH SEASON - PART IV
Round 20 (July 16-17-18)
The decisive second half of this season kicked off with victories for Metropolis Alligators and Fontvielle Impact, who capitalized on a setback for Nacional in their visit to Pradera to move ahead of the Albo side in the race for the title: the Titan sank Townsville further into the cellar with their win over the Westlanders in Victoria while Les Bleus ran riot against Nord Energie by merciless crushing them 4-0 at the Stade de la Frontière. Like Nacional, Canalave Dragons were also unable to keep up with MA and l'Impact, dropping a couple of important points at home against a sturdy Universitario side (which is nevertheless still unable to move away from the red zone), and allowing Real Campo Grande join the race for IFCF berths as the Verdolaga side saw Atlético Nápoles off with a lone goal by Bruno Motta. Marinos and Slateport Bulls might still be relatively far from international contention, but both were able to fuel their hopes in the start of the second half of the campaign by beating direct rivals in TFC and Olympique de Fontvielle: the Marineros thumped TFC with a hat-trick by Santiago Rosel in Metropolis, and Martín Vásquez's squad was only able to get rid of Les Jaunes-et-Bleus with a 88th-minute goal by striker Robin Murray. Meanwhile, the relegation race officially kicked off with a six-pointer at the Arena Bohemians that saw the Gallo claim a massive win to their aspirations by tearing Adelaide Kickers apart and moving closer to the side coached by David Sasso, who are now finding themselves four points adrift from safety and only two points clear of Bohemians. Servette were unable to leapfrog the "U" and exit the relegation play-off spot after losing to the Stars at the Stade de la Gare, and while Bezieres may still feel themselves relatively safe as they still hold a four-point cushion on the Grenat squad, the stormy start of the Patrick Courtois era at ASB was further extended as Les Rouges were beaten by Junín in the Far East, for whom this victory was extremely relieving.
FC Townsville 1–2 Metropolis Alligators
Canalave Dragons 0–0 Universitario de Maldonado
Real Campo Grande 1–0 Atlético Nápoles
Deportivo Junín 2–1 AS Bezieres
Pradera FC 1–0 Nacional
Servette FC 0–1 Eterna Stars
Fontvielle Impact 4–0 Nord Energie FC
Slateport Bulls 1–0 Olympique de Fontvielle
Bohemians Metropolis 4–0 Adelaide Kickers
Marinos Metropolis 3–0 Tannenberg FC
Round 21 (July 23-24-25)
Things at the top have tightened even more after this round, since a defeat for the Alligators in Maldonado combined with a narrow win for Fontvielle Impact in a back-and-forth derby match against Olympique at the Stade de l'Amitié have left both Alligators and Bleus tied on 42 points at the summit, which would be enough to trigger a Derby de Valladares title decider in case the season ended at this point. With Nacional once again biting the dust as Deportivo Junín left the City of Metropolis Stadium with a 3-2 win which takes the Far Eastern side seven points clear of the drop zone, the Dragons took the chance to move into third place (and direct ChC qualification zone) by blowing Atlético Nápoles up at Chosroes Stadium. However, Real Campo Grande were unable to follow suit as they were beaten in the Illirian Derby by Bezieres, who earned the first victory of the Courtois administration at a crucial moment under the guidance of Gideon Riemann and Lucas Magnin and moved up to tenth place in the process. That defeat for La Academia is also celebrated by Marinos, whose race towards the top spots seems to be unstoppable as they put another nail on Townsville's coffin and are now trailing their southern neighbors by three points, as well as surprise package Nord Energie, who bounced back from the 4-0 humbling in Fontvielle last week by thumping Servette in Toril and moving within striking distance of both Nacional and Real Campo Grande. With Townsville and Servette taking missteps, just like the Kickers who were unable to beat the Bulls at home, the only team in the bottom four who could smile in this weekend was Bohemians, who fueled their hopes of survival with a big win in Carloburgo against TFC, who were dealt another blow to their own hopes of IFCF contention. The same cannot be said about Pradera, though, as the Verdiblancos were able to steal a point from the Alain Tramontin Stadium and Eterna Stars, but remained within Servette's sight as well as Bohemians' one, in the increasingly likely case the Gallo's reaction turns out to be for real...
Marinos Metropolis 1–0 FC Townsville
Tannenberg FC 0–1 Bohemians Metropolis
Adelaide Kickers 0–0 Slateport Bulls
Olympique de Fontvielle 2–3 Fontvielle Impact
Nord Energie FC 4–1 Servette FC
Eterna Stars 2–2 Pradera FC
Nacional 2–3 Deportivo Junín
AS Bezieres 4–2 Real Campo Grande
Atlético Nápoles 0–4 Canalave Dragons
Universitario de Maldonado 1–0 Metropolis Alligators
Round 22 (July 30-31-August 1)
Metropolis Alligators and Fontvielle Impact kept their head-to-head for the league championship with victories of a similar margin for both sides in this weekend, as the former had to resort to mid-range shots as a weapon to dispatch Atlético Nápoles and the latter had Alexis Ardouin turn a VAR-sanctioned penalty kick into the winning goal to see off the Kickers at home, with Canalave Dragons keeping up the pressure on both sides as they also claimed the full prize at home after beating a determined Bezieres side to remain within striking distance of the leading duo. With the title race now looking more like a three-team affair, interest in the race for the Challengers Cup play-off is now focused on four teams: Nacional, Real Campo Grande, Marinos, and Nord Energie, and two of these sides were slated to play each other in this round as La Academia made the trip to the condor's nest to take on the Verdolagas, hoping to defend their fourth place from one of their direct rivals. However, this game failed to live up to the lofty expectations raised and ended with Jonathan Bosetti's side holding their Campograndense counterparts to a scoreless draw which does nothing but leave the doors wide open to both Marinos and Nord Energie, who didn't waste their chance to get involved in the battle by winning their matches against two relegation-threatened rivals: the Marineros halted Bohemians' enthusiastic reaction by beating them in Barrio Jardín, and the Electric Boys made life even harder for Pradera by winning at the Antioquia state capital. On the other hand, the Bulls and TFC kept missing more chances to get back on track for international contention as they cancelled each other out at the Estadio de la Riviera with a scoreless draw which drove both sides further away from the battle. In the relegation battle, a dramatic win for Servette against Olympique de Fontvielle meant really bad news for all sides other than Lukas Farrell's Grenat, including Olympique who were once again dragged into the conversation, since Servette are now tied on 24 points with Pradera, and managed to cut the gap with l'OF to just two points while moving five clear of both Adelaide and Bohemians who lost on this matchday. The Stars, who were beaten in Junín, have also started to see themselves threatened as their cushion got reduced to just three points, whilst Universitario, who had the chance to move away from the rising lava with a victory against the team with the worst home form of the season ended up capitulating to Townsville in Victoria and giving the White-Greens a reason to keep fighting for salvation.
FC Townsville 3–1 Universitario de Maldonado
Metropolis Alligators 1–0 Atlético Nápoles
Canalave Dragons 2–1 AS Bezieres
Real Campo Grande 0–0 Nacional
Deportivo Junín 3–2 Eterna Stars
Pradera FC 0–1 Nord Energie FC
Servette FC 2–1 Olympique de Fontvielle
Fontvielle Impact 1–0 Adelaide Kickers
Slateport Bulls 0–0 Tannenberg FC
Bohemians Metropolis 1–3 Marinos Metropolis
Round 23 (August 6-7-8)
The battle for this season's Liga-1 crown between Metropolis Alligators and Fontvielle Impact remains on fire as neither side is willing to give an inch to their rivals, with the Titan pushing Bezieres into the relegation bonfire with their victory over Les Rouges at the Stade de Foix and the Hexachampions making their move by claiming a comeback win over a plummeting TFC side at White Meadow Arena. In third, Canalave Dragons are still lurking and waiting for the moment to hit as they opened up a bigger gap between them and the teams immediately behind them with a win over Nacional in Metropolis. Speaking of which, that defeat for La Academia coupled with an electrifying 2-2 draw in the Blue Derby between Marinos and Slateport Bulls some blocks to the southwest were greatly celebrated in Campo Grande and Toril as they allowed both Real Campo Grande and Nord Energie to take the lead in the race for the ChC play-off: the Verdolagas won in Eterna City with a goal by Tikariotan midfielder Bradley Dadomo to move into fourth place, and Nord Energie are now enjoying the fruits of their reserve league championship last season as their new blood helped them demolish Junín and leapfrog Nacional and Marinos for fifth place. Meanwhile, the relegation struggle was set on fire on this matchday with four matches involving direct rivals in that fight: Servette were once again up to the task of taking points off their relegation race rivals and made an even stronger statement with a 2-0 win in Hoxford over the Kickers which helped the Metropolitan side leave the bottom four and further sink the Westlander boat into the relegation zone. With this win for Servette, the matches in Fontvielle between Olympique and Pradera and the Atlético Nápoles-Universitario showdown in the federal capital gained even more relevance since whoever ended up losing them would be very badly off, ending the round in the relegation play-off zone. And that would be Olympique, who were beaten by Pradera at the Stade de l'Amitié and ended up in a three-way tie with Atlético Nápoles and Universitario, who were unable to separate from each other at Chosroes Stadium and settled for a 1-1 draw which left both sides in trouble. In the remaining critical match of the round, Bohemians did their job against Townsville and cut the gap with both the play-off and safety zones to four points while pushing Townsville even closer to the drop. And look, Tannenberg, the Stars, and Bezieres are now only 3 points away from the red zone...for even more drama.
Bohemians Metropolis 1–0 FC Townsville
Marinos Metropolis 2–2 Slateport Bulls
Tannenberg FC 1–2 Fontvielle Impact
Adelaide Kickers 0–2 Servette FC
Olympique de Fontvielle 1–2 Pradera FC
Nord Energie FC 3–0 Deportivo Junín
Eterna Stars 0–1 Real Campo Grande
Nacional 0–1 Canalave Dragons
AS Bezieres 1–3 Metropolis Alligators
Atlético Nápoles 1–1 Universitario de Maldonado
Kings' Shield Round of 16 (August 11-12)
The Kings' Shield is also entering its time for definitions, with 16 teams still in contention for a berth to the next Challenger's Cup and Cup Winners' Cup, and there will be only 8 lucky ones advancing to the quarter-finals. The trio of current Shield holders Nacional, Marinos Metropolis, and Fontvielle Impact, who by this point are the strongest candidates remaining, had to sweat in order to clear one more round towards the final match at Swangard, with La Academia once again having to hop on a plane headed to the Westlands to defeat Liga-3 side Northport Bears, Fontvielle Impact bringing Deportivo Cerrito's cup adventure to an end in Columbus, and Marinos avoiding a massive upset against Eternan side AC Huez on penalty kicks after a scoreless draw after 120 minutes, and with third GK Agustín Sosa being the hero for Ronald Labbadia's side by saving two out of Huez's four kicks. Pradera will also be joining the Liga-1 contingent at the quarter-finals, also needing 120 minutes to see off SC Alcázares from the Mountbatten state league, along with Nord Energie's youths who left regional rivals Mont-Blanc along the way. However Servette, who have been on fire in the most recent Liga-1 games, were unable to replicate such a performance as their cup run was cut short by Liga-2 outfit Defensores de Villafuerte in Westporte. Defensores won't be the sole second tier representative left, with CAP and FC Sillimus also advancing to the next round after beating Racing de Corania and Hoxford Rovers, respectively.
Defensores de Villafuerte 1-1 Servette FC (3-2 AET) @ Riverside Stadium, Westporte, Canalave
Nord Energie FC 3-1 AS Mont-Blanc @ Stade de Charmilliot, Bezieres, Foix
AC Huez 0-0 Marinos Metropolis (0-0 AET, 2-4 PKs) @ Estadio Municipal, Arma, Alto Danubio
CAP 0-0 RC Corania (1-0 AET) @ Parken Road Stadium, Carloburgo, Mountbatten
Fontvielle Impact 2-0 Deportivo Cerrito @ Estadio Parque Armenia, City of Columbus
FC Sillimus 1-0 Hoxford Rovers @ Estadio Tricentenario, Valencia, Antioquia
Pradera FC 2-2 SC Alcázares (3-2 AET) @ Estádio Paulino de Araciba, Cidade do Leste, Chiquito
Northport Bears 0-1 Nacional @ Albert Field, Edmonton, WestlandsRound 24 (August 14-15-16)
The 24th Liga-1 matchday brought key matches for the title aspirations of both Metropolis Alligators and Fontvielle Impact as both sides were set to play two of the sides involved in the "race for fourth" with the Alligators hosting sixth-placed Nacional in the rematch of the Derby Añejo and l'Impact having seventh-placed Marinos in town who were looking to pick up points to get back on track in that battle. And whilst Marco Hertel was there to give Fontvielle Impact the win against the Marineros, the Alligators were unable to meet their end of the bargain and allowed Nacional to claim victory in the oldest rivalry of both Metropolis and Valladares with a goal by Franco Becker, also offering Les Bleus the chance to go as sole leaders. In Canalave the Dragons suffered their own derby blues, getting a 3-0 thumping courtesy of E1 Derby rivals Eterna Stars which left Mezei Orbán's side stuck to third place as their gap with the top increased to six points. Meanwhile, Campo Grande's Estádio Estadual hosted an even bigger match for IFCF contention with Real Campo Grande and Nord Energie facing each other and of course, looking to detach from each other as they reached this round tied on points for fourth place and with Nacional exerting pressure and Marinos still looking from afar, victory was imperative for both sides. However, this time, the enthusiasm and fieryness displayed by Nord Energie's younguns was no match for the Verdolagas' experience, and the hosts claimed an important 4-1 win to strengthen their grip on fourth place whilst the Electric Boys see themselves leapfrogged for fifth place by Nacional. Meanwhile, a win for Bohemians in Slateport is more than enough to tighten the battle against the drop as it brings the squad managed by Marcelo Castellón within one single point from safety, although this was helped by the fact that none of the teams tied for 17th place was able to get a single point on this matchday: Olympique de Fontvielle returned empty-handed from their trip to the Far East to play Junín, who have quietly sneaked into the upper half of the table by ruining the plans of the teams troubled by relegation, Universitario were unable to hold on to a 3-1 lead at halftime and ended up capitulating 4-3 to a Bezieres side that moved five points clear of the pink zone (aka the relegation play-off), while Atlético Nápoles gave more life to Townsville by losing to the Westlander side in Victoria. On the other hand, the Kickers have already hit the panic button as they were thrashed in their visit to Pradera and are now closer to last place than to safety, while Servette missed a chance to move further away from the fire by allowing Tannenberg to rescue a 2-2 draw at the Stade de la Gare.
FC Townsville 1–0 Atlético Nápoles
Universitario de Maldonado 3–4 AS Bezieres
Metropolis Alligators 0–1 Nacional
Canalave Dragons 0–3 Eterna Stars
Real Campo Grande 4–1 Nord Energie FC
Deportivo Junín 2–0 Olympique de Fontvielle
Pradera FC 4–1 Adelaide Kickers
Servette FC 2–2 Tannenberg FC
Fontvielle Impact 1–0 Marinos Metropolis
Slateport Bulls 0–1 Bohemians Metropolis
Round 25 (August 20-21-22)
What seemed to be a neck-to-neck race for the title has radically changed in a week, with Fontvielle Impact taking full advantage of a harsh defeat for the Alligators in Eterna City by beating their traditional bogeyman in Bohemians at Barrio Jardín and opening up a healthy 6-point gap with the Titan. This also offered Canalave Dragons yet another chance to move into second place, but for that, the Canalese side first had to deal with Nord Energie in their Toril fortress, which turned out to be easier said than done as the Electric Boys and the Dragons cancelled each other in their match at the Municipal Stadium, which kept the side coached by the Pasargan Mezei Orbán in third and Gustavo Franco's squad still unable to regain positions in the table. This draw, along with Real Campo Grande's loss at the hands of Olympique de Fontvielle, was great news for Nacional, who moved into fourth place by beating Universitario de Maldonado and now have direct IFCF qualification within reach, whilst Marinos missed a great chance to cut the gap with their rivals for ChC playoff contention as they drew with Servette in an all-open game that ended in a 4-4 draw to further frustrate the Marineros. Going down into the relegation race, Olympique's win against Real Campo Grande broke the three-way draw between the squad managed by Glenn Anderson and Universitario de Maldonado and Atlético Nápoles, and also lifted l'OF out of the relegation play-off zone at the expense of the Albirrojo, who were thrashed in their visit to Bezieres. In Carloburgo, TFC claimed the Western Valladares derby to their name and prevented Pradera from moving away from the relegation-threatened group, and the Kickers and Townsville earned bittersweet draws which keep them away from safety, as the former tied with Junín at home and the latter successfully endured the onslaughts from the Slateport Bulls players and returned home with a scoreless draw.
Slateport Bulls 0–0 FC Townsville
Bohemians Metropolis 0–2 Fontvielle Impact
Marinos Metropolis 4–4 Servette FC
Tannenberg FC 4–2 Pradera FC
Adelaide Kickers 3–3 Deportivo Junín
Olympique de Fontvielle 4–2 Real Campo Grande
Nord Energie FC 0–0 Canalave Dragons
Eterna Stars 3–0 Metropolis Alligators
Nacional 1–0 Universitario de Maldonado
AS Bezieres 4–0 Atlético Nápoles
Round 26 (August 27-28-29)
Fontvielle Impact have taken a crucial step towards their 15th title with a 1-0 victory over Slateport Bulls at the Stade de la Frontière while also further benefiting from an unexpected setback for Metropolis Alligators, who were beaten at the National Stadium by a Nord Energie side still in the running for a top four spot and saw how the gap separating them from Les Bleus widened to 9 points. But the side managed by Pierre Renquin wasn't the only one appreciating this defeat for the Titan, since Canalave Dragons also capitalized on it in order to finally make their assault on second place with a victory of their own against Olympique de Fontvielle at Dragon Stadium, leaving the Alligators in third place. Meanwhile, the battle for the spot into the ChC play-off between Real Campo Grande, Nacional, the Electric side, and Marinos remained on fire with the Verdolagas taking fourth place once again despite only drawing the Kickers at home as well as Nord Energie's big win over the Alligators thanks to a defeat for Nacional against Atlético Nápoles at Chosroes Stadium which puts Augusto Barbieri's side on a three-way tie with these sides but ahead of them on H2H. However, they are still under pressure from Marinos, who reignited their hopes of IFCF football next season by beating Pradera at the Estadio de la Montaña with a lone goal by Alfredo Navarro. Going down the table, a 2-2 draw at the Stade de la Gare once again prevented Servette from bidding farewell to the relegation ghost but also allowed Bohemians to finally leave the direct relegation zone and place themselves in the play-off spot at the expense of Universitario, who were beaten by the Stars in Maldonado and entered the bottom three for the first time this season, whilst Townsville were left on thin ice after losing to a Bezieres side who are suddenly thinking in giving chase to the teams involved in the IFCF race.
FC Townsville 0–1 AS Bezieres
Atlético Nápoles 1–0 Nacional
Universitario de Maldonado 0–1 Eterna Stars
Metropolis Alligators 0–2 Nord Energie FC
Canalave Dragons 1–0 Olympique de Fontvielle
Real Campo Grande 3–3 Adelaide Kickers
Deportivo Junín 4–3 Tannenberg FC
Pradera FC 0–1 Marinos Metropolis
Servette FC 2–2 Bohemians Metropolis
Fontvielle Impact 1–0 Slateport Bulls
Round 27 (September 3-4-5)
With Fontvielle Impact strenghtening their grip on first place and pushing Townsville even closer to relegation by beating them at the Stade de la Frontière and Canalave Dragons beating the Kickers in icy conditions at Westlands Stadium to keep the 8-point gap between both sides unaltered, the news at the top of the table is the Alligators' fourth straight loss, as the side managed by Martin Boyle were beaten in their trip to the Stade de l'Amitié by an Olympique de Fontvielle side in great need of points to avoid the drop. This loss for the Alligators has kept third place within reach for both Real Campo Grande and Nord Energie despite their draws on this matchday, as the former tied TFC in Carloburgo and the latter saw how Universitario returned home with an important point for their aspiration of retaining Liga-1 status for the next season. Nacional also had the chance to seize fourth place, but the side managed by Jonathan Bosetti capitulated to Bezieres and a goal by Fabián Villafañe at Barrio Poblado, whilst Marinos were also prevented from moving level with Real and Nord Energie as they failed to break Junín's sturdy defense in what ended up being a scoreless stalemate at Estadio Zachary Fortin. Meanwhile in the relegation zone, Universitario's draw in Toril as well as a loss for Bohemians in a six-pointer against Pradera at home saw the Gallo and the U exchange positions once again, with the former returning to the bottom three and the latter moving up to the relegation play-off, Servette were finally able to distance themselves from the red zone as a brace by Matthias Lussier and a big win in Slateport against the Bulls have moved the Grenat side six points clear of 17th place, while Atlético Nápoles remain endangered as they were narrowly beaten by the Stars in Eterna City.
Fontvielle Impact 1–0 FC Townsville
Slateport Bulls 1–2 Servette FC
Bohemians Metropolis 0–1 Pradera FC
Marinos Metropolis 0–0 Deportivo Junín
Tannenberg FC 1–1 Real Campo Grande
Adelaide Kickers 1–3 Canalave Dragons
Olympique de Fontvielle 1–0 Metropolis Alligators
Nord Energie FC 1–1 Universitario de Maldonado
Eterna Stars 1–0 Atlético Nápoles
Nacional 0–1 AS Bezieres
Round 28 (September 10-11-12)
Fontvielle Impact's race towards a new Liga-1 title got a minor speed bump in this round as the team managed by Pierre Renquin was held to a 1-1 draw by Servette in the Metropolis suburbs, which in turn helped Canalave Dragons deduct a couple of points from their gap with the leaders as they beat Tannenberg at Dragon Stadium. In third place we've still got Metropolis Alligators, who were able to put an end to their losing streak and kept their chances of retaining the Liga-1 title alive by beating the compromised Kickers in Swangard. Meanwhile Campo Grande was once again set to host a decisive game in the IFCF race, in which Real Campo Grande further derailed Marinos' international bid while remaining strongly in hold of fourth place by beating Ronald Labbadia's side by a 2-0 score. And with Nord Energie failing to bring more than a scoreless draw from their match against Atlético Nápoles at Chosroes Stadium, Nacional took the chance to retake fifth place by beating the dying Townsville in Victoria and keep the Verdolagas within sight, whilst Bezieres are now starting to threaten the IFCF contenders after thrashing the Stars at the Stade de Foix which took Les Rouges to eighth place, level in points with Marinos. Going to the relegation struggle, a defeat for Universitario at the hands of Olympique de Fontvielle in yet another six-pointer in that zone coupled with a 2-0 win for Bohemians in Junín brings yet another position swap between the Crema and the Gallo, with Atlético Nápoles nervously staring as their arch-rivals are now trailing them by a single point. Pradera were unable to take a big step towards salvation as Slateport Bulls were able to rescue a 2-2 draw from the Estadio de la Montaña with a last-minute goal by Bryan Moreira, whilst TFC's defeat in Canalave has dragged the Citizens into the relegation conversation.
FC Townsville 2–3 Nacional
AS Bezieres 4–1 Eterna Stars
Atlético Nápoles 0–0 Nord Energie FC
Universitario de Maldonado 0–1 Olympique de Fontvielle
Metropolis Alligators 2–1 Adelaide Kickers
Canalave Dragons 2–0 Tannenberg FC
Real Campo Grande 2–0 Marinos Metropolis
Deportivo Junín 0–2 Bohemians Metropolis
Pradera FC 2–2 Slateport Bulls
Servette FC 1–1 Fontvielle Impact
Kings' Shield Quarter-Finals (September 15-16)
The Kings' Shield has now entered into its final stretch with 8 teams still remaining in contention for the Shield, but only 4 will remain after this round. The quarter-finals saw three out of four matches going to extra time as the contending teams were unable to separate from each other after 90 minutes, however both Marinos and the current Shield holders Nacional were able to confirm their presence in the final four by breaking the resistance of their rivals in those 30 additional minutes: the Marineros had in Aldo Pereira their saviour, who scored in the 112th minute to beat Pradera in Eterna City, whilst Nacional beat CAP in Fontvielle with a counterattack finished by Marcelo Ponce. The other match that went to extra time was another all-L1 affair between Nord Energie and Fontvielle Impact, which unlike the aforementioned matches had goals in 90 minutes and had even more goals in extra time as both sides forgot that defenses existed and engaged in an exchange of blows on the field of Slateport's Estadio de la Riviera in which the Electric Boys would eventually have the last laugh and knocked the current Liga-1 leaders out of the competition with an uncontested goal by young striker Tyler Acosta. And in the only match not involving top-tier sides...and also the only one that didn't go to extra time, Defensores de Villafuerte and Sillimus were left to decide who would be the Liga-2 representative in the semi-finals, honor that ended up going to the Sillimese side as they defeated the Auriverde side by a 2-1 score at Bohemians Metropolis' stadium.
Pradera FC 0-0 Marinos Metropolis (0-1 AET) @ Alain Tramontin Stadium, Eterna City, Eterna
Defensores de Villafuerte 1-2 FC Sillimus @ Arena Bohemians, Metropolis, District of Metropolis
CAP 0-0 Nacional (0-1 AET) @ Stade de la Frontière, Fontvielle, Foix
Nord Energie FC 1-1 Fontvielle Impact (3-2 AET) @ Estadio de la Riviera, Slateport, EternaRound 29 (September 18-19-20)
With this round we have completed 75% of the season, and Fontvielle Impact have managed to keep a healthy 7-point gap at the top despite dropping two points at home against Pradera thanks to a defeat for Canalave Dragons in their trip to the federal capital to play Marinos. The Dragons are now under pressure by Metropolis Alligators, who took advantage of TFC's poor recent streak to beat the Citizens at White Meadow Arena and place themselves just one point adrift from the Canalese side and 8 adrift from l'Impact. With the top three having already moved away from the rest of the league, the battle to decide who will get the right to face Eterna Stars for the last Challengers Cup berth between Real Campo Grande, Nacional, Marinos, and Nord Energie has seen the inclusion of a new contender in Bezieres, who confirmed their new status by beating the Electric side in Toril and placing just two points away from the Verdolagas (who were beaten by Bohemians in Metropolis) and the Albo (held to a scoreless draw by the side coached by Leonardo Conavacio). Meanwhile, with Townsville heading closer to doom and Servette closer to salvation as the latter defeated the former, and Adelaide Kickers taking another step towards a return to Liga-2 by losing a crucial six-pointer to Universitario de Maldonado, the relegation race is seeing more changes as Atlético Nápoles are sent to the red zone after getting thumped by Olympique in Fontvielle, whilst the "U" moved into the pink zone and Bohemians got a temporary relief as they are currently safe. With nine matches to go in this season, Olympique and Servette looking close to clinch safety, and the league's two Westlander sides seemingly headed towards the abyss, it looks like Atlético Nápoles, Universitario, Bohemians, and even Tannenberg will be the main candidates to join them in Liga-2 if they are unable to chain a string of good results in this upcoming final stretch. However, Pradera and even the Bulls who are only five and six points clear aren't that far yet, and might be feeling the pressure at some point if they keep stumbling...
Servette FC 2–1 FC Townsville
Fontvielle Impact 2–2 Pradera FC
Slateport Bulls 1–1 Deportivo Junín
Bohemians Metropolis 2–0 Real Campo Grande
Marinos Metropolis 2–1 Canalave Dragons
Tannenberg FC 1–2 Metropolis Alligators
Adelaide Kickers 1–2 Universitario de Maldonado
Olympique de Fontvielle 3–0 Atlético Nápoles
Nord Energie FC 0–2 AS Bezieres
Eterna Stars 0–0 Nacional
Standings after Matchday 29
Valladar Liga-1 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1Fontvielle Impact 29 18 8 3 49 25 +24 62
2Canalave Dragons 29 16 7 6 49 31 +18 55
3Metropolis Alligators 29 17 3 9 42 29 +13 54
4Real Campo Grande 29 13 9 7 39 31 +8 48
5Nacional 29 13 9 7 37 28 +9 48
6Marinos Metropolis 29 13 7 9 47 42 +5 46
7AS Bezieres 29 13 7 9 42 38 +4 46
8Nord Energie FC 29 13 7 9 41 36 +5 46
9Eterna Stars 29 11 7 11 43 41 +2 40
10Deportivo Junín 29 11 7 11 37 41 −4 40
11Olympique de Fontvielle 29 11 5 13 44 42 +2 38
12Servette FC 29 9 10 10 50 56 −6 37
13Slateport Bulls 29 8 12 9 32 33 −1 36
14Pradera FC 29 9 8 12 43 50 −7 35
15Tannenberg FC 29 8 10 11 38 40 −2 34
16Bohemians Metropolis 29 9 5 15 38 42 −4 32
17Universitario de Maldonado 29 8 6 15 36 45 −9 30
18Atlético Nápoles 29 8 6 15 24 42 −18 30
19Adelaide Kickers 29 4 9 16 36 57 −21 21
20FC Townsville 29 5 4 20 25 43 −18 19
Liga-2 Standings after Matchday 32
Valladar Liga-2 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1Defensores de Villafuerte 32 17 8 7 43 38 +5 59
2Hamanos Athletic Club 32 16 6 10 57 42 +15 54
3Yumbo FC 32 14 12 6 47 36 +11 54
4FC Sillimus 32 15 8 9 52 43 +9 53
5Gatineau UC 98 32 16 5 11 49 43 +6 53
6AS Montreux 32 15 4 13 49 50 −1 49
7AS Mont-Blanc 32 15 3 14 51 48 +3 48
8Étoile Verte 32 14 5 13 55 39 +16 47
9FC Westporte 984 32 13 8 11 44 43 +1 47
10Edmonton United 32 13 8 11 53 54 −1 47
11Real Pradera 32 13 6 13 49 47 +2 45
12Ajax Carloburgo 32 12 9 11 46 52 −6 45
13FC Maritime Westporte 32 10 10 12 45 49 −4 40
14Pumas Maldonado 32 10 10 12 46 49 −3 40
15Libertad 32 11 6 15 39 44 −5 39
16Bretford Royals 32 11 6 15 54 53 +1 39
17AD Cerro 32 9 9 14 51 59 −8 36
18Stanford United 32 10 5 17 39 51 −12 35
19Carloburgo Phoenix 32 8 7 17 42 54 −12 31
20CAP 32 6 9 17 36 53 −17 27
Liga-3 Standings after Matchday 32
Valladar Liga-3 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1Danubio FC 32 17 8 7 52 41 +11 59
2AS Vaud 32 15 10 7 50 38 +12 55
3Sporting Florencia 32 14 10 8 57 46 +11 52
4AC Tallin 32 14 8 10 53 49 +4 50
5Talleres (CP) 32 14 8 10 48 41 +7 50
6Canalave Rangers 32 15 5 12 55 50 +5 50
7Hoxford Rovers 32 13 10 9 54 46 +8 49
8Eterna Celtic 32 13 10 9 58 53 +5 49
9Dynamo Metropolis 32 13 9 10 49 44 +5 48
10AS Lausanne 32 12 11 9 53 43 +10 47
11Northport Bears 32 13 7 12 56 51 +5 46
12FC Fauxham 32 13 7 12 36 35 +1 46
13Minault United 32 12 9 11 56 45 +11 45
14Alianza Antioquia 32 12 6 14 50 53 −3 42
15Real Guadír 32 10 5 17 43 55 −12 35
16RC Belfort 32 9 8 15 45 56 −11 35
17EC Comercial 32 8 11 13 53 57 −4 35
18Deportivo Aguablanca 32 8 7 17 31 50 −19 31
19CA Lierravus 32 7 6 19 30 55 −25 27
20Corumbá EC 32 5 11 16 50 71 −21 26
FC Columbus 13 8 0 5 30 27 +3 24
Valencia FC 13 7 2 4 24 26 −2 23
Stade Foixien 13 3 4 6 16 24 −8 13
Villaznia AC 13 1 0 12 15 28 −13 3
Western Suburbs FC 13 5 4 4 23 21 +2 19
Estrella Roja 13 1 4 8 18 33 −15 7
Bellavista Jets 15 4 4 7 18 23 −5 16
