Mytanski sportski mediji

[Mytanija]

MYTANAR UNIVERSITIES FOOTBALL 28/29 SEASON REVIEW

The twenty-eight tertiary education institutions in Mytanija are not generally funded for sports in the same manner many universities and colleges are in other nations around the multiverse. Their main focus is education and students may join a sports club at their institution to compete in their spare time, most of Mytanija's best athletes in team sports are already picked up by professional teams at an early age given the significant reach of the academy systems and youth recruitment of many of these teams. For example, most talented young footballers will be in a professional team's academy by the age of around 12 or 13 and as they get to around the age of 16-18 their main focus will be on honing their craft for the professional team they play for and breaking into the first team rather than trying to impress recruiters and attain a scholarship as might happen in other countries. This does mean that the standard of sports at many institutions will not be comparable to that of other nations' student athletes, most of the competitors are playing for fun and there are very few scholarships available for sporting purposes.

There are of course a few exceptions, notably at the Mytanski Institut za Sport which is essentially a state-run sporting programme designed to support Mytanija's best athletes in non-football team sports, individual and winter sports. Top athletes will be given scholarships to complete their studies whilst being given access to some of the best coaching, facilities, medical care, nutrition and recovery available to sportspeople in Mytanija; those who have completed their studies may be given government grants in order to support their competitive pursuits despite no longer being under the auspices of the Institut. Many students do go to the Mytanski Institut za Sport just to study, but it is usually to study something tangentially related to sports performance like physiotherapy, psychology or sports science - these students get to work with top sportspeople whilst completing their studies, the aim being to keep them involved in the development of Mytanija's next great cyclists, handball teams, skiers, swimmers and volleyball stars. One of Mytanija's Winter Olympics medal hopefuls Slava Preobrazhensky is highly involved with the Mytanski Institut za Sport, demonstrating their reach and influence.

Outside of that, some foreign readers may be familiar with the University of Alzburg-Dyka, two-time NSCF champions in college gridiron. UAD are a member of the Rose League, a group of seven of Mytanija's oldest and most prestigious education institutions and they are historically the most successful of those seven when it comes to sport. They no longer offer scholarships for gridiron as they used to, nor do they operate such an enormous foreign recruitment drive as they did in that sport. Nowadays gridiron is unfavourably linked with the long deposed monarchy given its historic popularity among high society during the Kombarov era and as a result is often seen as outdated. There are occasionally murmurings that UAD may return to the NSCF, but nothing has come to fruition on that front as of yet and it may never do so. In terms of other institutions which enjoy sporting success, it is usually those with the larger student bodies which do well given the in-built advantage they have in being able to draw talent from a larger group of people. This means that the likes of the University of Thessia, Alex Util Politehnička; MIZT, National University, Decraa College; and the University of Arsika and TS-Prizren traditionally do well in their various leagues. Usually the Mytanski Institut za Sport win, though, meaning thankless seasons for generations of Mytanar students who try to compete against the omnipotent Institut.

Let's take a look at how the results of the latest football season went:

##  Rose League                       Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 University of Alzburg-Dyka          12   12   0   0    33    8  +25    36  Q, IUCC
02 Vedran University                   12    6   4   2    19   18   +1    22
03 Kavka University                    12    5   1   6    14   16   −2    16
04 Trojstva College                    12    4   2   6     9   16   −7    14
05 Centralni Univerzitet               12    4   1   7    15   17   −2    13
06 Stratenberg University              12    3   3   6    13   19   −6    12
07 Dorotea Fazlic                      12    2   1   9    18   27   −9     7

The University of Alzburg-Dyka win the Rose League with an unbelievably dominating season, winning all twelve of their games and scoring 33 goals at an average of 2.75 per game and only conceding 8 all season. A perfect year for them and back-to-back Rose League titles too, UAD remains the Rose League school with the best sporting reputation. Vedran University from Decraa actually had a decent season, losing only two games over the course of the campaign, but they just couldn't keep up with UAD. That represented a huge improvement for Vedran University from last season, when they finished bottom of the Rose League, but it just demonstrates the volatility of university football in Mytanija where the universities don't have the same enormous resources available to put towards scholarships for student-athletes as those that exist in other countries. UAD remain at the top of the Rose League because their history with sports attracts students with better sporting backgrounds to the university, those students want a chance to compete at a high level in sports (but were not quite good enough to sign for a professional team or attend the Mytanski Institut za Sport), whilst attending a university with a top academic background - something all Rose League schools can boast. It's difficult to see where a challenger for UAD will come from, but all it takes is one down year and we could see their hegemony at the top of Rose League football broken. For now, they'll have another chance at the finals group of the Mytanar universities championship and they will play in the IUCC once again.

##  Northern League                   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 University of Thessia               12   11   1   0    33   10  +23    34  Q, IUCC
02 Alex Util Politehnička              12    9   1   2    26   10  +16    28
03 University of Zavolja-Sigurno       12    4   3   5    13   17   −4    15
04 Ebor Geološka Škola                 12    3   4   5     9   16   −7    13
05 University of Rauchnya              12    3   3   6    12   19   −7    12
06 TI-Snezhnaya                        12    3   2   7    13   20   −7    11
07 TU-Ibon                             12    0   4   8    17   31  −14     4

There is always a great rivalry between the University of Thessia and Alex Util Politehnička and that especially manifests itself on the football pitch given the popularity of the sport in Thessia and across Mytanija more generally. The University of Thessia has Mytanija's largest student body and it gives them a broad range of potential players to draw from and that was demonstrated in their excellent run in the Northern League this season. They dropped points in only one game, the away game at Alex Util Politehnička where they drew, but other than that their record was flawless and it meant that they could win the Northern League this season ahead of their great rivals. Alex Util Politehnička won it last year, but this time they couldn't get close despite only finishing a point worse off compared to last season. TU-Ibon had a particularly bad year as they dropped from 3rd all the way down to bottom, not winning a game all season and that perhaps shows what a few top players graduating can do to your chances of doing well in university football. It is also rather telling that the University of Zavolja-Sigurno finished up in 3rd by only gaining two more points than they did all last season, with the Northern League being a tale of the big two and then the other five as the University of Thessia and Alex Util Politehnička fight for the title and the rest just fight for third place.

##  Central League                    Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Mytanski Institut za Sport          12    7   4   1    25    8  +17    25  Q, IUCC
02 National University                 12    7   2   3    26   16  +10    23
03 MIZT                                12    5   5   2    31   23   +8    20
04 Decraa College                      12    5   3   4    23   21   +2    18
05 IO-Esca                             12    4   3   5    12   15   −3    15
06 PSEPN                               12    2   2   8     7   18  −11     8
07 PJSMB                               12    1   3   8     9   32  −23     6

It would be deeply embarrassing for the Mytanski Institut za Sport to finish anywhere other than top of the Central League given their in-built advantages as basically a government-funded sports programme for most of the non-football team sports Mytanija competes in, with students studying degrees which tend to be tangentially related to sport in some way. You will often find future handball and volleyball stars or summer and winter Olympians studying at the Institut whilst receiving government grants to support their sporting development alongside their studies. Those that choose to play football for the Institut have access to all of those same facilities those top athletes have access to, as well as often being future physiotherapists and sports scientists, giving them a greater understanding of the sport they compete in. That makes seasons it all the more impressive when other schools run them close for the Central League title as the National University did this season, finishing only two points behind the Institut at the end of the campaign. The Institut was pretty dominant defensively, but they ended up drawing a few games instead of winning them, which made the final standings a little tighter than they would have hoped. Still, they progress safely through to the finals group and few would bet against them making it two championships in two seasons.

##  Southern League                   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 University of Arsika                12   11   1   0    26    9  +17    34  Q, IUCC
02 TS-Prizren                          12    6   3   3    24   13  +11    21
03 Ostrova Tech                        12    4   2   6    16   19   −3    14
04 Avnalia Agricultural College        12    4   2   6    23   31   −8    14
05 Prizren School of Art               12    3   4   5    21   24   −3    13
06 Tsrvena College                     12    3   2   7    17   23   −6    11
07 Trunca Nautički Institut            12    1   6   5    19   27   −8     9

The University of Arsika goes back-to-back with an identical record, winning 11 games and drawing 1, they very nearly even have the same goal difference with the +17 from this year comparing favourably to their +16 of last season. They were similarly stifling defensively, conceding only 9 goals all season but they were better going forwards. TS-Prizren gave it a good go in trying to keep up with the Arsika school, but it was a futile task. The consistency of TS-Prizren is promising for them, they repeated their second place from last year but the rise of Ostrova Tech is perhaps the most impressive thing as they moved up from 6th to 3rd in the Southern League. It could be a difficult task for the other Southern League teams to try and overhaul the University of Arsika but the consistency of TS-Prizren the ability to improve of the other schools is promising and the organisers of football at university level will be hoping that it means we will see a different team qualifying out of the Southern League in the next couple of years. Nobody wants to see a Rose League scenario where one school is levels above the rest when it comes to sport.

##  Mytanar Universities Final Group  Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Mytanski Institut za Sport           6    4   2   0    11    7   +4    14  C
02 University of Thessia                6    3   0   3    12    8   +4     9
03 University of Arsika                 6    2   1   3     7    8   −1     7
04 University of Alzburg-Dyka           6    1   1   4     8   15   −7     4

Well, whilst the Mytanski Institut za Sport may have had an under-par Central League campaign, they showed their quality in the finals group. They were nowhere near as dominant as they were last time (20 goals scored to only 6 conceded), but they actually went undefeated this time around where they dropped a game last year. It's difficult to know whether the end result of accruing more points and not losing a game means it is less competitive or whether the Institut being less free-scoring and defensively smothering makes it more competitive. The games were better anyway and that's only a good thing. The University of Thessia finish in second, splitting their record perfectly with three wins and three losses; whilst the University of Arsika end up two points further back - they can be proud of managing a draw against the Institut though. The University of Alzburg-Dyka also managed a draw against the Institut and were much improved in the finals group compared to last year, managing to get some points on the board this time around. It is another championship for the Mytanski Institut za Sport though and it will be hard for anyone to stop them making it three-in-a-row next season.

[Mytanija]

MKA LIGA BASKETBALL 28/29 SEASON REVIEW

MKA Liga Basketball History

Year   Champion               Runner-Up       
00/01  Košarka Esca    75–60  Atletik
01/02  Košarka Esca    79–74  Dinamo
02/03  Dinamo          71–59  BK Magevskaya
03/04  KK Rauchnya     65–63  KK Prizren
04/05  Olympic         71–70  Atletik
05/06  Košarka Esca    77–74  KK Rauchnya
06/07  Dinamo          84–80  Zenit
07/08  Zenit           81–79  Dinamo
08/09  Zenit           78–74  Dinamo
09/10  Zenit           75–70  Košarka Esca
10/11  BK Magevskaya   79–72  KK Rauchnya
11/12  KK Rauchnya     64–62  NK Dyka
12/13  KK Rauchnya     70–69  Olympic
13/14  Košarka Esca    74–65  Dinamo
14/15  Košarka Esca    88–68  Zenit
15/16  Košarka Esca    80–74  BK Magevskaya
16/17  Košarka Esca    74–73  KK Rauchnya
17/18  Padina          60–59  Košarka Esca
18/19  Atletik         75–71  Zeljeznicar
19/20  KK Rauchnya     72–51  KK Avnalia
20/21  Dinamo          71–70  Zenit
21/22  KK Avnalia      88-85  KK Prizren
22/23  Olympic         90–78  Atletik
23/24  Košarka Esca    95–82  KK Rauchnya
24/25  KK Rauchnya     93–92  Košarka Esca
25/26  Zenit           81–58  Košarka Esca
26/27  KK Avnalia     101–60  Zenit
27/28  Košarka Esca    83-75  Zenit
28/29

Team           Championships
Košarka Esca   9
KK Rauchnya    5
Zenit          4
Dinamo         3
Olympic        2
KK Avnalia     2
Atletik        1
BK Magevskaya  1
Padina         1

Basketball is a popular sport in Mytanija, in terms of participation it is one of the stronger sports, with plenty of Mytanar kids playing street basketball in the infamous 'cages' found in many deprived areas in Mytanar cities when a football isn't being kicked around. The MKA Liga, Mytanija's top level of competition, lags behind other sports in terms of commercial revenue and television coverage which means it is often considered to be behind football (obviously), handball and volleyball in terms of popularity. The MKA (the Mytanar Basketball Association), is trying to change that by negotiating better contracts for the TV rights to show MKA Liga games. This could involve streamlining the current format of the league, with some feeling that 28 teams is too many and dilutes the quality of the league that is meant to represent the best basketball in Mytanija has to offer. Any change of format would likely be met with fierce opposition given the structure of many of the teams as part of wider sports clubs that participate in various sports (e.g. Atletik, Crvena Zvezda and Dinamo to name but a few), that are owned and run by their members and usually (except for their football sections), aren't especially profitable. Increased commercialisation would be seen as anathema to the very values of many of these teams that are run for their members and are quite principled regarding community involvement in their clubs and staying in touch with their roots.

Mytanar basketball is characterised by finesse and skilful play, with passing and sharing the ball being crucial to the way teams play. Even bigs will boast the ability to make difficult passes and make solid reads and court intelligence is one of the most important things in the Mytanar game. Generally there are not specific players that dominate the points per game statistic. It is arguably more of a team-oriented style and players will also change position and can be tasked with taking on multiple roles in a game. There's less isolation plays than in a lot of other countries and athleticism isn't as important either, although this is something which is gradually changing as Mytanar basketball enters the international arena. Mytanija's 23rd place finish in the most recent International Basketball Championship (with a 5-5 record and 3rd place in Group H), demonstrated that the team could compete on the global stage but still has some way to go to reach the level of the likes of Banija, Delaclava, Newmanistan etc. Zelimir Ateljevic was a vital part of that team, with some of the team's younger players - those who have grown up watching international basketball - actually suiting the IBC style better than some of the more experienced campaigners. This could see a continued shift away from the more team-orientated style we have seen in Mytanija down the years.

Last year we saw Košarka Esca win their 9th MKA Liga title, their first since the 23/24 season, it was particularly important for them as a team because of the back-to-back final defeats they experienced following that last victory. This win allowed them to exorcise some of the demons of those defeats. Zenit Esca - last season's runners-up - have gone through the same experience, winning the championship in the 25/26 season and then tasting defeat in back-to-back finals since then. They may well see Košarka Esca's victory as a good omen for them ahead of this season as they look to end their woes. Away from the two finalists from last year we can expect good seasons from the likes of Atletik Thessia, a team which boasts two of the more impressive young performers from the national team in Besir Sijercic and Mario Djokanovic. Keep an eye for KK Avnalia too, they have an embarrassment of riches with the likes of Darko Belicanec and Tose Lekov on their team. Veterans Zharko Kostojcinovski and Teodor Mitrovski flattered to deceive at the IBC though, so maybe their championship window is closing? KK Rauchnya and NK Thessia have some good youngsters coming through the ranks and BK Magevskaya can always resort back to their fruitful production line if necessary too, Evgeny Fomin is a phenom at domestic level even if he had some inconsistent performances for the national team. It has all the hallmarks of an interesting year, let's see what happened:

## MKA Liga              Pld    W   L
01 KK Avnalia             54   45   9  Q 2R
02 BK Magevskaya          54   43  11  Q 2R
03 NK Thessia             54   40  14  Q 2R
04 Košarka Esca           54   37  17  Q 2R
05 KK Rauchnya            54   34  20  Q 1R
06 Zenit                  54   34  20  Q 1R
07 Atletik                54   34  20  Q 1R
08 Padina                 54   34  20  Q 1R
09 KK Prizren             54   32  22  Q 1R
10 Ribari                 54   31  23  Q 1R
11 Litala ’93             54   31  23  Q 1R
12 KK Miago               54   29  25  Q 1R
13 Torpedo                54   29  25
14 Rotor                  54   27  27
15 Dinamo                 54   26  28
16 Granica                54   23  31
17 Akademija              54   23  31
18 Zeljeznicar            54   21  33
19 Partizan               54   20  34
20 CDSA                   54   20  34
21 Crvena Zvezda          54   20  34
22 Olympic                54   20  34
23 NK Istina              54   19  35
24 Meja                   54   19  35
25 Tekstil                54   17  37
26 NK Dyka                54   16  38
27 Slovan                 54   16  38
28 Turbine                54   16  38

An exceptional regular season for KK Avnalia who lose only 9 games on their way to the #1 seed for the play-offs. Their good mix of youth and experience seemingly paid off, with some of the older heads like Kostojcinovski and Mitrovski who were not particularly impressive with the national team demonstrating exactly why they were picked for that. There's an argument that Darko Belicanec is the best point guard in Mytanija at the moment, although NK Thessia's Zahir Dedic would have something to say if you said that to his face. Belicanec was the great facilitator for this KK Avnalia team, but he still used his 197cm frame to good effect when driving to the basket. He is a great example of the more physically gifted players that are coming through the ranks, players that have grown up watching IBC games and who have grown up playing in some of the infamous inner-city 'cages' where so much good street basketball is played in Mytanija. These players are breaking out of the mould of role-players within a greater team and are capable of individual brilliance, something which could be very useful for the national team in the future. Tose Lekov was once again impressive, the 20 year old big scoring plenty of points by simply dominating opponents with his size and athleticism.

BK Magevskaya's focus on youth is bearing fruit increasingly well in recent years and they secured a well deserved #2 seed this year. Evgeny Fomin is the main man for the Magev team, the big centre being surprisingly adept in possession and very useful in creating angles for his team mates in the post. His passing ability remains unmatched among Mytanar big men. We should also mention 21 year old point guard Damian Tsitnikov and 23 year old wing Yevgeniy Razuvayev. The pair have come up through the ranks at the club together and formed a very useful points-scoring tandem, it is very easy to imagine Razuvayev - who prefers to go by the nickname Zhenya - being paired with Zelimir Ateljevic for the national team and causing havoc given the similarity between the two players. NK Thessia also qualify directly to the second round, people thought their team was good but that it might be a year too early for them to be challenging for a top four seeding, but Zahir Dedic is a fantastic leader at the tender age of 21 and Aldin Nikic and Ajdin Pejic perhaps overperformed compared to where people thought they were at in their developmental trajectory. Last year's champions, the always dangerous Košarka Esca sneak in at #4 and the phenom Zelimir Ateljevic was the scoring leader once again this season, we saw an increased role for centre Ljes Borisavljevic too and he could become a really important player for the capital club over the coming years.

We then see four teams who all share 34-20 resumes, only separated by their head-to-head records and head-to-head points differentials. This would have been exactly around what KK Rauchnya were aiming for coming into the 28/29 season, they perhaps weren't good enough to truly fight for a top four seeding but they would have definitely wanted to finish high up in the first round seeds and to secure #5 and one of the easier ties in the first round of the play-offs will be encouraging for them. Last season's runners-up are at #6 and they will believe that that could see them through to the final going off Košarka Esca's rise from #8 to the championship last season. Zenit coach Mirko Lazetic returned to the MKA Liga off the back of coaching the national team at the IBC and he came up with some interesting schemes throughout the season, perhaps testing some new ideas he has learnt out in the domestic game. Atletik have three starters under the age of 23 and appear to be a team that is on the rise, everybody knows about Besir Sijercic and Mario Djokanovic so it was left to point guard Uzejir Juric to surprise a few people this season. Juric is a very capable creator in the mould of an Albin Jausovec but he also boasts strong shooting ability from the outside which makes him a real boon to any team as they try to keep the court spaced out. Padina are the perfect example of a small-market team who gets things right, the Zolota-based team only have a catchment area of around 200,000 people but they regularly challenge the big boys in the MKA Liga and they finish in the top eight this term. Their behemoth centre Ruslan Mihajlovic will give opponents nightmares with his 221cm, 129kg frame and guard Vojin Simic appears to be one for the future too.

KK Prizren will be very pleased with how their season has gone so far and even if it ends in the first round of the play-offs they will see this as a successful season given that they're rebuilding after a few key retirements at the end of the last campaign. They've only had a drop-off of four wins and that is a very encouraging sign for a city which deserves a strong basketball team. It's a sport they're still yet to win a championship in, something which seems vaguely ludicrous for a city the size of Prizren. Ribari Palilula are another small-market team who are heading in the right direction, their investment in youth is paying early dividends with the likes of Cvijetin Andric and Stracimir Nastasic coming through, a play-off berth bloodying the noses of some teams from much bigger cities whilst perhaps raising questions about those teams' recruitment and training procedures. If little Ribari can do it how are CDSA and Olympic so far down the standings? The last two teams into the play-offs are #11 Litala ’93 and #12 KK Miago. Both had terrible seasons last year, Litala ’93 finished bottom of the regular season standings with a 7-47 record but what a turnaround, they won 24 more games this season compared to last and richly deserve a play-off place as a result. KK Miago have a similar story, they finished 26th out of 28 last season and now they're in the play-offs. Much improved performances from both those teams and a lot of credit has to go to the coaching staff at both clubs for ironing out the issues which caused them to have such poor seasons last time out, it should offer hope for some of those teams down at the bottom this season.

First Round
#5 KK Rauchnya 73–77 #12 KK Miago
#6 Zenit 73–60 #11 Litala ’93
#7 Atletik 63–66 #10 Ribari
#8 Padina 90–76 #9 KK Prizren

KK Miago's great season got even better in the first round of the play-offs, it is possible that #5 seed KK Rauchnya rather underestimated their opponents and it is possible that we did too when we said the KK Miago match-up was one of the 'easier' ties that KK Rauchnya could have asked for. It was a close game right until the end though and KK Miago needed a couple of big stops inside the final minute to ensure they won the game, big man Ivo Mikulec drained two crucial free throws inside the final minute too, but the Rauchik club will be pretty disappointed when they perhaps felt that this was a season where they could have really challenged for the championship. Zenit and Litala ’93 met in an Escan derby game and as expected it was Zenit who came off the better of the two teams, Ivica Lazic was the games leading scoring with 23 points, the 22 year old point guard was 3/3 from behind the arc in a performance which really allowed that Zenit lead to stretch out to the 13 points difference between the two teams by the final buzzer. Ribari shocked Atletik in Thessia, the Palilula team needed a Cvijetin Andric three-pointer as time expired to beat Atletik. Ribari will believe they can beat anyone in these play-offs, Thessia is notoriously a difficult place to go and win and they held their nerve brilliantly to win a tough match-up. Padina were pretty dominant in their win over KK Prizren, holding a twenty point lead for large stretches of the game and only really allowing it to come in once they had removed their starters late in the game. Vojin Simic was once again impressive with a triple-double (28pts/11rbs/11asts), the shooting guard was central to everything Padina did in their win.

Second Round
#1 KK Avnalia 94–75 #12 KK Miago
#2 BK Magevskaya 82–51 #10 Ribari
#3 NK Thessia 74–78 #8 Padina
#4 Košarka Esca 66–56 #6 Zenit

KK Avnalia ended KK Miago's cinderella run with a dominant performance in Zvornik, Lekov and Belicanec combined for 61 points and generally showed why they are two of the top ten best Mytanar players at the moment. KK Miago had good moments in this game and some of the other teams remaining in the play-offs may take some heart from KK Avnalia's occasional lapses of concentration on the defensive end of the game. Still, scoring 94 points means you don't have to worry about that too much. BK Magevskaya were the opposite against Ribari, holding the Palilula team to a mere 51 points and generally locking them down no matter what they tried on the offensive end. Fomin was fantastic, coming down with 16 rebounds and making three blocks too. Zhenya Razuvayev was the leading scorer with 24 points from an exceptional 70% shooting from the field. Padina continue their run with a narrow win over NK Thessia, Zahir Dedic fouled out of the game early and left his team with an uphill struggle against the always spirited Padina team. Ruslan Mihajlovic was dominant in the paint and Ajdin Pejic struggled at times against the bigger centre, Mihajlovic scored ten unanswered points in a two-and-a-half minute run in the dying stages of the game and that allowed Padina some leeway as they faltered a little against a late NK Thessia charge. Košarka Esca enter the fray in a repeat of last season's final against Zenit and this was a game where neither team wanted to give each other very much and for that reason it was at times a drab affair. Zelimir Ateljevic never really got going but he still chimed in with a third of his team's points, Mirko Lazetic knew Ateljevic's strengths from working with him on the national team but was never really able to fully combat the wing. Zenit looked a bit blunt offensively at times and in the end the better team won and continued on in the hope of winning back-to-back MKA Liga titles.

Semi Finals
#1 KK Avnalia 78–65 #8 Padina
#2 BK Magevskaya 92–85 #4 Košarka Esca

KK Avnalia cruelly ended Padina's hopes of a second MKA Liga title with a professional performance in the semi final, as you would expect from a #1 seed. Kostojcinovski showed a bit of the skill which got him onto the national team with 22 points and 9 assists, the sort of thing which was at times lacking in his performances in the IBC. Padina were mostly held at arms length by the Avnalia team, never really able to build up a head of steam, Tose Lekov did a fantastic job in defending against the giant Ruslan Mihajlovic (occasionally assisted by Teodor Mitrovski). KK Avnalia look a scary prospect and few would bet against them winning their 3rd championship in 7 seasons at this moment in time. BK Magevskaya and the defending champions Košarka Esca treated us to one of the games of the season in their semi final, it was clear to anybody watching that this was two of the really exceptional teams in Mytanar basketball at the moment. Pundits were running out of superlatives to describe the effort put in by BK Magevskaya's Evgeny Fomin, the centre raised his game to another level to outduel his national team colleague Zelimir Ateljevic. Fomin was responsible for over a third of his team's scoring with an enormous 31 points, also coming down with 13 boards and 7 dimes for good measure. Ateljevic (23pts/10rbs/11asts) was also brilliant for Košarka Esca but it wasn't enough in the face of a breakout performance from Fomin. He might be the best player in Mytanar basketball at the moment.

MKA Liga Championship
#1 KK Avnalia 78–80 #2 BK Magevskaya

We have had some rather one-sided championship games in the past few seasons, not since the one-point game between KK Rauchnya and Košarka Esca in 24/25 have we had a game as exciting as this one and it may be a sign of the quality of the MKA Liga improving that this was such a brilliant encounter. BK Magevskaya needed a buzzer beating three pointer from Zhenya Razuvayev to win the game. Evgeny Fomin had posted up and backed in on Tose Lekov to try and score in the paint but defensive help came from Teodor Mitrovski meaning that Fomin chose to go off-plan and pass out to Razuvayev who knocked down a contested three. Sime Zdravsky had tried to prevent the pass from Fomin reaching Razuvayev, but he failed and this left him that second later in trying to block Razuvayev's shot. It was the split-second Razuvayev needed and it brought BK Magevskaya from one point behind to win the game as time expired. This BK Magevskaya team is stacked for the domestic level with three current national teamers in their ranks and Zhenya Razuvayev and Damian Tsitnikov who have been really impressive during this season, it is also an exceedingly young team (no starters older than 29, with four aged 25 or younger), meaning they should have plenty of opportunities to run it back. Could we be looking at a new dynasty in Mytanar basketball? Anyone around the team will be cautious with any predictions of that sort, this title was only their second and the first for nearly twenty years, not since the 10/11 season has MKA Liga glory been brought to Stratenberg. They're well set for the future though and nobody would be surprised to see them taste further success in the coming years. For now BK Magevskaya will be looking forward to their IUBC campaign; alongside runners-up KK Avnalia; and Košarka Esca who qualify by virtue of being the losing semi-finalist with the best regular season record.

[Mytanija]

RSM TOP LEAGUE HANDBALL 28/29 SEASON REVIEW

RSM Top League Handball History

Year   Champion        
00/01  Litala ’93
01/02  Litala ’93
02/03  Litala ’93
03/04  Litala ’93
04/05  Litala ’93
05/06  Litala ’93
06/07  Litala ’93
07/08  Litala ’93
08/09  Litala ’93
09/10  Litala ’93
10/11  Atletik
11/12  GK Magevskaya
12/13  Litala ’93
13/14  GK Magevskaya
14/15  Litala ’93
15/16  Litala ’93
16/17  Dinamo
17/18  GK Magevskaya
18/19  Dinamo
19/20  Litala ’93
20/21  Litala ’93
21/22  Litala ’93
22/23  GK Magevskaya
23/24  Litala ’93
24/25  Litala ’93
25/26  Litala ’93
26/27  Litala ’93
27/28  Litala ’93
28/29

Team           Championships
Litala ’93     21
GK Magevskaya   4
Dinamo          2
Atletik         1

Handball is a popular sport in Mytanija, with great participation among both men and women. The national side is one of the few that includes both men and women, too, with no split based on sex. Domestically handball is organised by the national governing body the RSM who run the Top League and Druga Liga. They have a similar set-up to their footballing equivalents, with promotion and relegation between the two leagues, with two going up and two going down. They both have 12 teams and it is run under a quadruple round-robin format, so each team plays every other team twice at home and twice on the road. The Top League has been dominated by Litala ’93 over the years, with the Esca-based club monopolising the title over the first decade, since then GK Magevskaya, Dinamo and Atletik have all won at least one title. None have come anywhere near breaking Litala's dominance though, with the club having an incredible 21 titles over the years. They have such history in the sport (and in volleyball, too), that they attract all the best players and build strong teams. It is very difficult for the others to come close. GK Magevskaya run a productive youth system that allows them to occasionally keep up, but they're fighting a losing battle most of the time. Let's see what happened in the latest season:

## Top League            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Litala ’93             44   40   2   2  1241 1011 +230   122  C
02 GK Magevskaya          44   31   2  11  1237 1071 +166    95
03 RK Prizren             44   25   1  18  1158 1158    0    76
04 Atletik                44   23   3  18  1177 1128  +49    72
05 Dinamo                 44   22   2  20  1159 1140  +19    68
06 RK Avnalia             44   20   2  22  1193 1197   −4    62
07 NK Thessia             44   18   3  23  1161 1194  −33    57
08 Arka                   44   15   3  26  1132 1188  −56    48
09 Olympic                44   15   2  27  1150 1237  −87    47
10 RK Rauchnya            44   13   5  26  1121 1218  −97    44
11 NK Dyka                44   13   4  27  1128 1238 −110    43  R
12 Centralni              44   12   5  27  1156 1233  −77    41  R

Litala ’93 won their 21st league title last season and then went out and bought RK Prizren's free scoring pivot Adam Dosen to complete an already incredible squad. That showed their intent ahead of the new season and their all star team went on to achieve a record points total with 122 points over the course of the season, Litala only dropped points in 4 (FOUR!) games in total with two draws and two losses. Given the club's storied history in handball this is quite the achievement, the number of league titles the club has won in this sport demonstrates the quality of their teams over the years but this current iteration is the best of the lot statistically. Some might argue that others played better handball, or were easier on the eye, but this team is brutally effective and their roster is a who's who of Mytanar handball. Dosen was exceptional in his first season at the club, whilst Roksana Pajic and Kristina Georgijevic were efficient contributors off either wing. Defensively Sava Tanackovic remains one of the best around and Goran Pantelic alongside him could well become the greatest Mytanar defensive player of all time if he continues to learn from his colleague. This league win in handball tops off a fantastic year for Litala ’93, the club's volleyball section won the MOF Top League title whilst the football section won promotion from the Druga Liga back into the top tier as well. It is a fantastic time to be a supporter of the club.

The other teams must be looking at one another and wondering how they stop the Litala ’93 steamroller. GK Magevskaya were easily the next best team, they have a promising young core coming through the ranks at the moment and they are led by the veteran defender Zina Kazantseva. Kazantseva will be 39 at the start of the new campaign and may not have too long left as a professional, she'll be hoping the youngsters can come good as soon as possible so that she can add a second league title (after the one from the 22/23 season) to her palmares before she retires. RK Prizren ended up third even without their talismanic pivot, Dosen left but they ploughed onwards and the emergence of exciting defender Luka Udarcanin will fill them with hope that they can move a little closer at the top in the coming years. Atletik and particularly Dinamo may feel that they should have done a little bit better this year. NK Thessia on the other hand had a fine season after gaining promotion from the Druga Liga last year. They were comfortably safe in the end and will be delighted to have another year of Top League handball ahead of them. It's a disappointing result for NK Dyka, who slide down to the second tier along with Centralni. It was always going to be a tough task for Centralni after being promoted last season but they actually put up a good fight, ending up only three points from safety come the end of the season with the bottom five teams actually being fairly well matched.

## Druga Liga            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Crvena Zvezda          44   31   4   9  1223 1113 +110    97  C, P
02 RK Miago               44   24   5  15  1206 1152  +54    77  P
03 Rotor                  44   24   5  15  1140 1136   +4    77
04 CDSA                   44   23   4  17  1203 1142  +61    73
05 RK Vershina            44   22   7  15  1193 1169  +24    73
06 Tekstil                44   23   3  18  1211 1213   −2    72
07 NK Istina              44   22   3  19  1169 1170   −1    69
08 Partizan               44   19   4  21  1175 1183   −8    61
09 Obolon                 44   17   2  25  1173 1201  −28    53
10 Akademija              44   16   5  23  1146 1181  −35    53
11 Zenit                  44    9   5  30  1113 1202  −89    32
12 Slovan                 44    7   7  30  1131 1221  −90    28

Crvena Zvezda get promoted straight back to the Top League after experiencing the bitter taste of relegation last time around. They were easily the best team in the division and dominated from start to finish, ending up twenty points clear of their nearest challenger. RK Miago ended up being that, albeit only on goal difference, scraping into the runners-up position and gaining promotion as a result. Every credit to them for holding off Rotor Ravnina until the end, as well as their regional rivals CDSA who will be especially disappointed in not being able to return to the Top League at the first time of asking. RK Vershina and Tekstil rounded out a competitive top-half of the Druga Liga.

[Mytanija]

SHLM LIGA ICE HOCKEY 28/29 SEASON REVIEW

SHLM Liga Ice Hockey History

Year   Champion      
00/01  Tekstil
01/02  KK Magevskaya
02/03  Tekstil
03/04  HK Prizren
04/05  HK Prizren
05/06  HK Prizren
06/07  Hajerek
07/08  Tekstil
08/09  HK Prizren
09/10  NK Thessia
10/11  HK Prizren
11/12  HK Prizren
12/13  Zavolja
13/14  Zeljeznicar
14/15  Tekstil
15/16  HK Prizren
16/17  Zavolja
17/18  Zavolja
18/19  KK Magevskaya
19/20  Zeljeznicar
20/21  NK Thessia
21/22  Hajerek
22/23  NK Thessia
23/24  Torpedo
24/25  NK Thessia
25/26  Hajerek
26/27  NK Thessia
27/28  Tekstil
28/29  

Team           Championships
HK Prizren     7
NK Thessia     5
Tekstil        5
Zavolja        3
Hajerek        3
KK Magevskaya  2
Zeljeznicar    2
Torpedo        1

Ice hockey is probably the least popular of the so-called 'major' team sports in Mytanija (i.e. football, basketball, handball, ice hockey and volleyball), with this mostly being due to its significantly restricted geographical range when compared to the others. This is mainly down to one of the key components of the sport - ice - not being in high supply in certain regions. Historically ice hockey teams were founded in cities that experience wintry conditions for longer periods of the year and often played on outdoor rinks, this ruled out lots of major cities from hosting teams in the SHLM Liga. Of course in the modern day this isn't as big an issue due to indoor ice rinks and the like, but the governing body are notoriously conservative and refuse to expand the league to feature teams from potentially lucrative markets such as Ebor, Tsrvena, Arsika or Severyan (indeed there are no teams in the league from Visoravna, Rauchnya or Nasto and Avnalia).

The sport's heartland within Mytanija is undoubtedly within the region of Thessia with teams from there having won the championship in just over half (15 out of 28) of SHLM Liga seasons. NK Thessia, Tekstil, Zavolja and Zeljeznicar are all strong outfits from the region and will usually be in the upper echelons of the league table come the end of the season. With this being said, the single strongest team in SHLM Liga history is HK Prizren who have won 7 championships down the years - but none since the 15/16 season. They're always a strong team due to the size of Prizren's population and they also draw players from throughout Vojovitica such is their reputation in ice hockey. The other Vojovitican teams (CDSA and HK Miago) cannot hold a candle to HK Prizren.

Outside of this Esca has a few teams (Akademija, BVK Dinamo, Dinamo and Zenit), but none of them have ever succeeded in winning the league title, perhaps accurately demonstrating the capital's preference for other sports. More widely in Zentria there is Hajerek and Torpedo who have both won the league title at one point or another, Obolon have surprised people a few times in recent seasons by finishing near the top of the table but they haven't managed to turn their good performances into a championship. KK Magevskaya are Magevskaya's sole representatives (perhaps unsurprisingly), and have a couple of championships which were won a long time apart. They often flatter to deceive, having good line-ups but also a tendency to self-destruct when it looks like they may be on their way to a title.

Let's see what happened this season:

## SHLM Liga             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Zavolja                34   25   6   3    84   33  +51    81  C, HCL
02 Tekstil                34   23   6   5    76   33  +43    75  HCL
03 Zeljeznicar            34   21   7   6    66   36  +30    70  HCL
04 HK Prizren             34   18  14   2    58   32  +26    68  HCL
05 Hajerek                34   19   9   6    71   42  +29    66
06 Torpedo                34   17   7  10    46   34  +12    58
07 CDSA                   34   16   9   9    53   39  +14    57
08 KK Magevskaya          34   14   6  14    43   48   −5    48
09 Slovan                 34   13   8  13    44   45   −1    47
10 NK Thessia             34   13   7  14    45   47   −2    46
11 Obolon                 34    9  12  13    47   59  −12    39
12 Akademija              34   11   6  17    37   55  −18    39
13 Olympic                34    9   8  17    37   50  −13    35
14 Atletik                34    9   5  20    35   66  −31    32
15 Zenit                  34    7   7  20    38   58  −20    28
16 Dinamo                 34    5   7  22    29   61  −32    22
17 BVK Dinamo             34    6   3  25    29   67  −38    21
18 HK Miago               34    5   5  24    31   64  −33    20

Zavolja secure their fourth SHLM Liga title and the first since they went back-to-back in 17/18 so it has been a long time coming. Their title win was built on their brilliant attacking play, they were the league leaders for scoring and their gameplan was very much built upon the goal scoring contribution of their two wings Ismet Susic and Sergej Gisic. Both topped 20 goals over the course of the season, with Susic leading the league with 25 and Gisic managing 23 of his own. They were absolutely brilliant and it helped that they both stayed injury free for all 34 games of the campaign.

Their centre Beriz Kopanja is only 20 years old but he put in performances that belied his tender years, he wasn't the main contributor in terms of scoring but he acted as a facilitator for both Susic and Gisic. He managed 18 assists for the season in addition to 12 goals of his own, a fantastic statistical performance in addition to him very much passing the eye test with how he played. His size is extremely beneficial, he stands at 194cm and weighs in at a hefty 96kg too, presumably with some room to grow and bulk up further - Kopanja could turn into a real talent if he can continue to perform like this.

At the opposite end Zavolja were led by the veteran Rahim Samardzic but it was the performance of 25 year old Elvedin Grbic which impressed the most. Grbic is a real strong two-way defenseman, capable of being physical with opponents whilst retaining the technical ability to make a difference to his team's play at the other end of the ice. Grbic was key with his shooting ability from outside, the accuracy and precision meaning opponents had to keep an eye on him which created room for other players.

All in all a really complete team and deserved champions, ice hockey means so much to the people of Zavolja - a town in the mountains of western Thessia with a population of around 300,000 - with their team being the town's most high-profile sporting representatives. The only other sports team they have are in the fourth tier of Mytanar football, so the hockey team really puts Zavolja on the map and this success allows them to get one over their closest rivals Zeljeznicar from the town of Sigurno which is the next nearest big settlement. It also allows Zavolja to put one over the rest of Thessia, the region which has provided the most ice hockey champions of all. This is now the 16th SHLM Liga title to go to a team from the region of Thessia in 29 seasons, demonstrating the dominance the region has over the rest of the country in this sport. The top three of Zavolja, Tekstil and the aforementioned Zeljeznicar demonstrate this even further, the rest of Mytanija has some ways to go to catch-up.

A win for another small market team reinforces the idea that ice hockey is a bit of a provincial sport in Mytanija too, ten titles have now been won by teams from towns with populations of less than 300,000 people, though HK Prizren, NK Thessia, Tekstil and KK Magevskaya do provide a bit of a response to that with their combined 19 titles (all have populations of at least over a million people).

[Mytanija]

MOF TOP LEAGUE VOLLEYBALL 28/29 SEASON REVIEW

MOF Top League Volleyball History

Year   Champion      
00/01  Olympic
01/02  Litala ’93
02/03  Litala ’93
03/04  Olympic
04/05  Litala ’93
05/06  Litala ’93
06/07  Litala ’93
07/08  Olympic
08/09  Olympic
09/10  Litala ’93
10/11  Olympic
11/12  Olympic
12/13  OK Rauchnya
13/14  Olympic
14/15  Olympic
15/16  Olympic
16/17  OK Rauchnya
17/18  Olympic
18/19  OK Rauchnya
19/20  Olympic
20/21  Olympic
21/22  Litala ’93
22/23  OK Rauchnya
23/24  OK Rauchnya
24/25  Litala ’93
25/26  OK Rauchnya
26/27  Olympic
27/28  Olympic
28/29

Team         Championships
Olympic      14
Litala ’93   8
OK Rauchnya  6

Volleyball is an extremely popular sport within Mytanija, particularly among women, with it enjoying the largest participation numbers for women out of any team sports. The MOF Top League is seen as the equivalent of football's Top League for Mytanar women, with wages not being significantly below those that footballers take home. Traditionally in Mytanija women have played volleyball and men have played football and this has led to the current situation with no men in the MOF Top League and no Mytanar women in football's equivalent. With the recent proliferation of foreign female footballers in football's Top League this could soon change and we may begin to see Mytanar women playing in that and Mytanar men competing in the volleyball league. Handball is the only team sport where mixed teams are the norm currently but times are changing and many feel it is only a matter of time before all sports are mixed to some degree or another.

The MOF Top League has been traditionally dominated by the sports' so-called 'big three': Olympic, Litala ’93 and OK Rauchnya. This represents quite a dramatic geographic spread of teams, with Olympic being based in Thessia, Litala ’93 in the capital Esca and OK Rauchnya in the region's second city Severyan. Due to the popularity of the sport there are teams throughout Mytanija, but only those three have ever managed to win a championship. Olympic and Litala ’93 split the first twelve seasons with 6 title apiece before OK Rauchnya burst onto the scene and since then it has pretty much always been a three-horse race for the Top League title. The three have fostered excellent youth systems for the sport, drawing the best talent from their local area and this means they consistently produce some of the nation's top volleyball stars. They often produce so many good players that some cannot actually get a game with the club's first team and therefore some women have had to leave the 'big three' clubs to leave to smaller teams in order to compete in the Top League.

In the past national team players have almost exclusively come from the 'big three' clubs, but in recent years that has changed and more teams have held onto their top players as the likes of Olympic have continued to rely upon the same players who have brought them success their local rivals Atletik have started to invest more money into the club's volleyball team and the green shoots of potential success have started to grow as Atletik's young roster has developed under revolutionary coach Fatima Jovic. Atletik's team only has one player over the age of 25, whereas Olympic only have one under that age with all of their other players topping thirty years of age. We could be on the verge of a major power shift between the two Thessian clubs, Atletik have dominated football for much of their history but Olympic occupy that position in volleyball and after Olympic claimed their first ever Top League title in the football recently we may see the same for Atletik in the volleyball. A similar story can be seen with the development of players in Avnalia, with their volleyball club being relatively proficient in bringing talent through but struggling to hold onto it (unlike Atletik, who have far better resources). The Thessian clubs do have to worry about the other two of the so called 'big three' as well though and Litala ’93 in particular will have a lot to say about any title challenge, they spent a record MC 1,250,000 to bring 21 year old outside hitter Mira Gushtanova from Avnalia Odbojka to the capital and she will look to continue her excellent scoring form with her new team. OK Rauchnya are always a force too and they have Milena Spasojevic in their ranks, it is expected that she will operate from a right-sided role this season as she looks to work on her versatility ahead of Mytanija's Volleyball World Cup campaign. Keep an eye out for their 20 year old opposite hitter Alenka Kokot too, she is a huge talent. Let's see what happened this season:

## Top League            Pld    W   L    SF   SA   S. Avg 
01 Litala ’93             60   48  12   160   66    2.424  C
02 Olympic                60   47  13   158   79    2.000
03 Atletik                60   47  13   153   80    1.913
04 Avnalia Odbojka        60   39  21   146  100    1.460
05 OK Rauchnya            60   39  21   136  101    1.347
06 NK Dyka                60   35  25   130  121    1.074
07 Meja                   60   29  31   119  122    0.975
08 Akademija              60   28  32   119  119    1.000
09 NK Thessia             60   28  32   120  121    0.992
10 VK Magevskaya          60   27  33   112  131    0.855
11 Crvena Zvezda          60   23  37   105  140    0.750
12 Ribari                 60   23  37    98  137    0.715
13 Dinamo                 60   22  38   106  139    0.763
14 NK Istina              60   17  43    89  150    0.593  R
15 Zenit                  60   15  45    85  152    0.559  R
16 OK Visoravna           60   13  47    83  161    0.516  R

Despite the best efforts of the Thessian clubs it is Litala ’93 who add their 9th MOF Top League title after a thrilling title battle, the capital club were the most consistent, winning their final four matches as those around them faltered. Atletik looked like they were on the verge of a first ever title but tasted defeat twice against NK Thessia and then Olympic on the penultimate matchday, their form in those high-profile derby matches letting them down but you can be sure their young team will learn from this. For Litala ’93 it is a case of their big signing paying off as Mira Gushtanova led the team in scoring and won the player of the season award for good measure. The 21 year old will be a key player for the national team at the upcoming World Cup in Quebec and if the team is to succeed her performances will surely be a huge part of that success. Litala's strength in depth is also notable, with Ruzica Gavrilovic - a surefire starter for much of the Top League - only good enough for a place on their bench. Even Olympic and Atletik couldn't quite boast that strength in depth this season and it showed as Litala ’93 pipped them to the title.

An excellent season for Avnalia Odbojka considering they sold their best player to the champions, their production line is clearly alive and well and they even managed to break into the top four, finishing above OK Rauchnya on set average. The Rauchik club will be disappointed with that finish, they didn't quite perform to expectations - with many picking them as their choice for champion heading into the campaign - moving Milena Spasojevic to right-sided outside hitter may have had an effect in that, but it is believed that she will be taking up that position permanently as she believes the left-sided role is perhaps too competitive at national team level. Spasojevic would likely be behind Mira Gushtanova if she stuck to playing on the left, with Atletik's 18 year old starlet Majda Omeragic also impressing over the course of the last couple of seasons in that position too. OK Rauchnya won't be ripping their blueprint up, they've a solid enough team, but they clearly need to tweak a few things if they want to compete with Litala ’93, Olympic and Atletik next year. As a member of Mytanar volleyball's 'big three' finishing down in 5th is a huge disappointment for the Rauchik club and they'll want to rectify that as soon as possible.

Down at the other end of the table it is bad news for NK Istina as they go straight back down to the Druga Liga. It looked like it would be one of three promoted sides going down as Dinamo and Ribari struggled to extricate themselves from the relegation battle for much of the season, eventually pulling away from their former second tier rivals NK Istina over the final few weeks of the campaign. Zenit and OK Visoravna occupy the other two positions in the relegation zone and they couldn't improve on their performances from last season when they finished just above the drop in 13th and 12th respectively. They are replaced by Druga Liga winners Arka who absolutely crushed their opposition in the second tier with a 50-10 record, only a year on from going 16-44, the Snezhnaya team have focused on youth over the past few years and their current crop of players are the fruits of that labour. Centralni are another team who have made great strides, they finished a spot higher than Arka in the 27/28 season but will play Top League volleyball next season. The promotion spots are rounded out by Eskobirsk, a team who only improved by four wins from their performance in the previous year but given the competitive nature of the second tier and the state of flux many teams find themselves in as players sign and leave each year it is perhaps no surprise that such a minor improvement allowed them to seize that third promotion place. A bad year for the relegated teams from last season: Padina and JK Ebor narrowly miss out on an immediate return to the Top League, whilst Sigurno Odbojka suffered from losing a couple of key players to Top League clubs upon their relegation and ended up in Druga Liga mid-table obscurity as a result.

## Druga Liga            Pld    W   L    SF   SA   S. Avg 
01 Arka                   60   50  10   163   86    1.895  C, P
02 Centralni              60   43  17   153   89    1.719  P
03 Eskobirsk              60   39  21   136   95    1.432  P
04 Padina                 60   39  21   142  107    1.327
05 JK Ebor                60   38  22   143  102    1.402
06 Obalna                 60   32  28   128  123    1.041
07 Ostrova Odbojka        60   31  29   124  123    1.008
08 Sigurno Odbojka        60   29  31   118  130    0.908
09 Rudar                  60   26  34   113  124    0.911
10 Vitalia                60   25  35   121  133    0.910
11 CDSA                   60   25  35   113  140    0.807
12 OK Miago               60   24  36   107  129    0.829
13 OK Prizren             60   24  36   108  137    0.788
14 Slavia                 60   23  37   111  143    0.776
15 Rotor                  60   21  39   106  140    0.757
16 Partizan               60   11  49    77  162    0.475

[Mytanija]

MYTANAR TOP LEAGUE 29/30 SEASON PREVIEW PART ONE.

Here we are again, the start of a brand new Top League season and at Gazeta Sporta we have been working hard to preview all the teams ahead of the new campaign. We have all the transfer news, latest on managerial movements and plenty of information about each team's outlook for the new season. We'll bring you right up to date with where each team stands ahead of the new season - all the way from last season's champions Atletik Thessia right down to the three promoted sides who we welcome to the Top League: NK Dyka, Litala ’93 and BVK Dinamo. For NK Dyka it is their first ever season in the top tier of Mytanar football, whilst Litala ’93 and BVK Dinamo have bounced right back up after a season in the Druga Liga. They'll be hoping to extend their stay for a little longer this time around. Once again we will preview each team, let you know where we believe they will end up by the end of the season (by averaging our writers' predictions) and hopefully provide you with some interesting information along the way!

-- Nevenka Planinc, Dalibor Kosec, Cerim Jovic and Irma Simunec

Tactical (T) styles      Notes
Counter                  Favours counter-attacking build-up play
Defensive                Favours defensive football
Long Ball                Favours direct build-up play
Offensive                Favours offensive football
Philosopher              Strong proponents of a specific way of playing
Possession               Favours shorter build-up play
Regimented               Organised and well-drilled approach in all phases of play
Tinkerman                Regularly makes tactical changes

Recruitment (R) styles   Notes 
Buyer                    Happy to buy in what they need, has a clear idea of signings they want to make    
Developer                Develops youngsters helping them reach their potential ability
Merchant                 Happy to make lots of transfer dealings both in and out     
Resourceful              Finds novel ways to utilise players, has an eye for under-appreciated players who can improve their team
Thrifty                  Disinclined to spend money and prefers to work with what they have

Personality (P) styles   Notes
Abrasive                 Causes friction, both with other managers/teams and at their own club
Ambitious                Wants to succeed and manage at the very pinnacle of the sport
Casual                   Relaxed and laidback approach
Charismatic              Motivates players and keeps morale high
Intense                  Extremely focussed and involved in their job
Loyal                    Loyal to club they are at/players they currently have, remembers past allegiances
Maverick                 Unorthodox and independent-minded, expect the unexpected
Perfectionist            Strives for high standards and is annoyed by those who don't
Spirited                 Fierce competitor and highly out-spoken

ATLETIK

Location: Zenit Toranj, Thessia, Thessia
Stadium: Novi Atletskistadion (Capacity: 67,000)
Manager: Robin Hjik, 61, 2nd season in charge; T: counter, R: merchant, P: charismatic

Club synopsis: Mytanija's biggest club and boy do they let everybody know about it. They have an unparalleled level of success domestically although they are a bit sore about the fact they haven't won any international competitions outside of Rushmore (unlike Liria and 1896 Ebor). In the past they have largely tried to combine the best foreign talent with bright young stars coming through the club's youth system, but in recent years have turned to domestic talent more and more often. That has meant them buying up the best domestic talent even more often and weakening their rivals though, something they are resented for across the country. Atletik are generally expected to play attractive forward-thinking, attacking football given their history. Fans of other clubs often bemoan 'Atletik luck' whereby they seem to get big decisions at key moments or excessive amounts of added time, but they are treated with a grudging sense of respect by many.
Fanbase: The biggest club in the country and with a fanbase to match as they draw fans from all over Mytanija as well as in Mytanar immigrant communities all over the multiverse. Their traditional local supporters are fiercely working-class and left-wing and given Thessia's history of being repressed the club is a point of pride for many citizens as the club regularly get one over Zentrians, Vojoviticans and Magevs for the city and region. Despite being such a huge club Atletik do a lot of good work in Thessia and maintain their links with the local community. Their fanbase is extremely loyal but given the club's history there is an expectation of success that other clubs just don't experience and this can mean a lot of pressure on the manager. Atletik's ultras are known as the Kippax Ofras and are notable for their size and their left-wing political principles which mean they can often be found skirmishing with right-wing groups.
Rivals: Olympic Thessia (Eternal Derby); Liria Prizren (Klasicni); Tekstil Ibon (Rijeka Derby); 1896 Ebor (competitive); Energija-Nuklearna (political); SK Port Jarko (historic)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★★ / Training facilities ★★★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★★★ / Scouting ★★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★★★
Sponsors: Guinec (brewery)

Major honours: 11 x Mytanar Top Leagues (01/02, 02/03, 03/04, 04/05, 05/06, 10/11, 11/12, 21/22, 23/24, 26/27, 28/29); 7 x National Cups (00/01, 02/03, 03/04, 07/08, 13/14, 21/22, 23/24); 2 x Rushmore Copa de Campeones (7, 11)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Cerim Jovic
• Where do Atletik stand ahead of the 29/30 season?
It's a story which is well known by anyone with more than a passing interest in Mytanar football by now. Atletik Thessia were in trouble, coming off the back of a trophyless season and feeling like a major change was needed. They sacked Adem Fejzic and Robin Hjik was asked to return to Mytanija to manage the club. He gave them only one condition: sign Jezdimir Ocokoljic. Hjik felt that that was the only thing he needed to deliver Atletik their 11th Top League title and he was proven absolutely right as he tightened up the team's defence (making it the best in the league last season), whilst Ocokoljic put the goals in at the other end and wrote himself into a chapter of this club's illustrious history as the leading man in the 28/29 title win. He won the Player of the Season award and the Golden Boot, with Jasno Odonelec finishing in third place in the former competition as well. Grigorij Savicevic also won the under-23 Player of the Season award whilst Jasmin Savic came in third for the Golden Glove. It was a fantastic season both for individuals and as a team, but that has naturally brought attention to the club from abroad and they have had some high-profile outgoings as a result - something which could leave them wanting when coming up against international opposition.

Jezdimir Ocokoljic is evidently the headline name, leaving for Energija Chernovets for a Mytanar record NSD 14 million (over five and a half times what Atletik paid for him), and there is no doubting that the club will miss his goals and the aura he gave off which often scared teams into submission before the first whistle. Ocokoljic can have that effect on home soil. They will also miss Grigorij Savicevic - who has developed into a top-class ball-playing central defender - as he has moved on to Audioslavian giants Izotz Zubia, with his fee of NSD 8 million generating another sizeable profit for the club. This is all very demonstrative of the club's new model, using their financial hegemony to buy up the best domestic talent before selling it on to secure their financial position and then rinsing and repeating. They have done exactly that by bringing in the talented 22 year old central defender Andrija Ugljanin from Energia-Nuklearna, he will be Savicevic's replacement and is very much in the same mould - a defender who is highly comfortable in possession. Hjik will want to fine tune his skills, particularly his positioning and anticipation but also his habit of dwelling on the ball slightly too long. Atletik also brought in two inexpensive additions in central midfielder Gavril Atsev and Astograthian forward Nahia Legarra. Atsev follows the route from Rudar to Atletik which Branko Brkljacic first laid out and the youngster will hope he can have a similar career to that which Brkljacic has enjoyed at the club. Sources at Atletik believe Legarra can be similar to cult hero Chiki Larrimbe long-term, though he will likely start on the bench this season.

• What represents success for Atletik in 29/30?
This is a club which doesn't accept second best and that means anything other than winning the league is a disappointment. That remains true this season and likely will be permanently true. Robin Hjik came back to the club when they were in a sticky patch and he got his one wish - the nation's best player in Jezdimir Ocokoljic - and delivered a league title as a result. He'll be without Ocokoljic this season as well as another national team starter in the form of Grigorij Savicevic and his challenge will be to deliver trophies without those big name players. They'll want another league title in the sky blue parts of Thessia's Zenit Toranj neighbourhood. By the end of this season it could be six years without a National Cup for Atletik too, that's too long a time without lifting Mytanija's premier cup competition and the fans would like to see Robin Hjik lead them to it. They will also want to make it to the group stage of an IFCF tournament as Olympic did last season to serve as an indication that their top dog status isn't ending any time soon.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 1st - This was perhaps the easiest prediction for us to make this season. All four of Gazeta Sporta's writers picked Atletik as champions once again and that demonstrates the quality they have throughout their squad. They have a strong starting eleven but they also have the deepest team, with genuine quality in all areas available on the bench. Trying to replace players of the quality of Ocokoljic and Savicevic would be near impossible for most clubs but Atletik simply promoted players from within (Chiki Larrimbe now starting up front), and bought in one of the most promising young centre-backs in the country and it is unlikely that there will be much drop off in quality. Damien Gannot is likely to play an even larger role this season, whilst Bigger Mbala-Ekakia is set for a break-out year after an impressive tournament at the most recent Di Bradini Cup. Mbala-Ekakia will start alongside Ugljanin at the heart of Atletik's defence with father time beginning to slow down Josip Radonic, the 38 year old is still on the bench but he's likely to have a limited role this season. The young centre-back pairing might be the only thing which gives other teams a bit of encouragement, it could be the only chink in the armour of a team which otherwise looks made to measure for another championship.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Jasmin Savic          33   MYT      3.5
DL    Tihomir Feric         31   MYT      4.0
DC    Bigger Mbala-Ekakia   18   MYT/KET  3.5      DC/DMC
DC    Andrija Ugljanin      22   MYT      4.0
DR    Patrik Odonelec       22   MYT      4.5      DL/DR
DMC   Branko Brkljacic      30   MYT      4.0
MC    Miodrag Andrijasevic  25   MYT      4.0
MC    Jasno Odonelec        27   MYT      5.0      Captain
ST    Chiki Larrimbe        31   ASG      4.0
ST    Zlatan Andrijasevic   25   MYT      4.0
ST    Damien Gannot         21   MYT      4.0

GK    Nurija Jasarevic      23   MYT      3.0
DL    Zahir Ivankovic       17   MYT      2.0
DC    Braco Evic            23   MYT      3.0
DC    Adnan Sulejmanovic    16   MYT      3.0
DC    Josip Radonic         38   MYT      2.5
DR    Julij Svensek         19   MYT      2.5      DR/DMC/MC
DMC   Nedzad Cengic         16   MYT      1.5
MC    Neven Hjik            21   MYT      3.5
MC    Gavril Atsev          18   MYT      3.0
MC    Mehir Altikulac       18   MYT      3.0
ST    Nahia Legarra         20   ASG      3.0
ST    Efthimis Spiteroglou  20   OTH      2.5
ST    Galib Terzic          17   MYT      2.5

IN
Gavril Atsev [MYT] from Rudar to Atletik, NSD 400,000
Nahia Legarra [ASG] from Antiguoko FC [ASG] to Atletik, free transfer
Andrija Ugljanin [MYT] from Energija-Nuklearna to Atletik, NSD 1,750,000

OUT
Maciej Fomitschow [RAM] from Atletik to Vitalia, loan
Zijad Kurtcehajic [MYT] from Atletik to Litala ’93, loan
Jezdimir Ocokoljic [MYT] from Atletik to Energija Chernovets [STL], NSD 14,000,000
Grigorij Savicevic [MYT] from Atletik to AC Izotz Zubia [AUD], NSD 8,000,000
Uhaitz Sagardibelcea [EHH] from Atletik to Oxocelhaya [PRH], NSD 500,000

Legends: Marius Sadowsky (manager); Robin Hjik (player/manager); Dobroslav Stojanovic (player); Laze v Tuhinju (player); Ismet van Huijgevoort (player); Alex Gannot (player/coach); Snerik Oiskha (player)
Icons: Rob Fridrich (player); Lijenost Klinicki (player); Ibai Kiriano (player); Ildar Patreljak (player); Eligiusz Gorski (player); Kjartan Dagfinnursson (player); Thorvar Prijholm (player); Jezdimir Ocokoljic (player)

LIRIA

Location: Prizren, Vojovitica
Stadium: Westfalenstadion (Capacity: 84,000)
Manager: Danek Badjkev, 61, 4th season in charge; T: philosopher, R: developer, P: charismatic

Club synopsis: Largely thought to be the second biggest club in the country despite being the third most successful, Liria hail from arguably the most beautiful city in Mytanija and one of huge cultural and philosophical importance too. They generally pride themselves on playing possession-based football and a lot of that is down to Badjkev's influence in his two spells at the club. Liria have always had a preference for buying Mytanar talent over foreign players and this policy has largely served them well over the years as they have established themselves as one of Mytanija's 'big three'. They were the first Mytanar club to win a non-Rushmori international trophy when they won the UICA Globe Cup and that triumph is still celebrated in Prizren. Other clubs often see Liria as being a bit pretentious and aloof; as a club which lives off what are now semi-distant past glories.
Fanbase: Liria have one of the largest fan bases in Mytanija due to their history and they can draw on fans from all over the country as a result of this. Their local support is often characterised as university professors and misunderstood artists but this obviously isn't true, the Liria neighbourhood of Prizren from which they draw their name is historically a working class area but the club draw their support from all socioeconomic backgrounds. They are an expectant bunch that want trophies but also want their team to play a specific way, usually in their classic 4-3-1-2 formation with lots of possession. Their main ultras group is known as Žuti Zid and they are officially apolitical but are unfortunately made-up of different groups who all have their own political stances and can be found battling for control of the sector as much as they can be found battling with opposition groups. When they come together their choreographies are second-to-none, the size and creativity of the flags they create is unrivalled in Mytanija.
Rivals: Atletik Thessia (Klasicni); Pretia Prizren (local); Energija-Nuklearna (regional)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★ / Training facilities ★★★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★★★ / Scouting ★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★★★
Sponsors: Petromok (Astograthian oil and gas)

Major honours: 3 x Mytanar Top Leagues (13/14, 14/15, 15/16); 3 x National Cups (10/11, 11/12, 14/15); 2 x UICA Globe Cups (43, 44); 1 x Rushmore Copa de Campeones (21)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Irma Simunec
• Where do Liria stand ahead of the 29/30 season?
Finishing runners-up in the Top League usually isn't too bad but Liria believed they were in a fantastic position to seal a first title in over a decade last season. They went into the season's second Klasicni level on points with Atletik, with a mere six games left and a real fighting chance. They lost 3-2 and things rather fell apart, dropping points twice in the next three weeks and seeing the title slip away to their great rivals. It will have hurt, but they were well in contention for much of the season and things have generally been heading in the right direction throughout Danek Badjkev's second spell at the club. He ended the season with a desire for a new central midfielder and a new number ten and the club have addressed those needs pretty well. A lot will depend on the form of Strahinja Nanusevski, who was especially good last season. The striker, now 23, finished in third in both the Golden Boot race and in the under-23 Player of the Season award. His 19 goals spurred the team on and Badjkev will hope he can fire them to a trophy this time around. Liria will also want to ensure the ignominy of a third round exit from the National Cup doesn't repeat itself this year as a minimum.

Liria have essentially tried to retain those they have tried to improve upon, such as Osman Muhic and Zrinko Primorac, for greater depth. Badjkev partially attributed his team's poor late season form to tired legs and a lack of depth and keeping these players on to provide quality rotation options was a big part of their thinking over the summer. Badjkev wanted a new central midfielder and number ten and he got them, with Mersudin Smajic moving south from Ibon to Prizren for NSD 1.75 million. Smajic has plenty of experience in dealing Atletik blows in big games, beating them three times in Rijeka Derby games with Tekstil last term. Badjkev will hope that rubs off on the rest of his team. Liria have also been interested in CDSA playmaker Alen Gvetadze for a while and it was no surprise when he made the move to Liria for what could prove a very reasonable NSD 800,000. Badjkev had completed his shopping list when Astograthian central defender Hurko Germain came available - or rather, when his agent made him available - NSD 1.5 million later and the promising 20 year old will now partner Niksa Obadko in Liria's defence. They've improved the squad and held onto those that have been replaced in the starting line-up to provide more depth, all in all a very good summer for Liria, they'll want it to morph into a very good season from here on.

• What represents success for Liria in 29/30?
The easiest way to put this into context is to say that Liria have not won a trophy since the Top League in the 15/16 season. This is an enormous club which has been starved of success for nearly fifteen years! Winning a trophy is a must now, Danek Badjkev has had a few years to rehaul the team and set them up to his liking and it is coming to crunch time for him. He might be a club legend given his success managing the club the first time around but he has to start delivering this time too and there will surely come a point when the club's hierarchy decide it might be time to move on and bring in a new, younger face. Badjkev will want to go out on a high and the ideal scenario for the club, fans and Badjkev himself will be if he can sate the club's desire for a trophy. Doing that - whether through the league or the cup - would represent success for Liria this season.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 2nd - A strong summer for Liria but our writers feel they are likely to fall short once again in the title race, with their squad not quite as strong as Atletik Thessia's. The good thing for Liria is that this is definitely the closest the two clubs have been in a while and Badjkev has them heading in the right direction. We shouldn't forget the strength of Olympic and 1896 Ebor either, with several clubs improving at a rate of knots and making the top of the league more competitive. The 'right direction' phrase frustrates some because it has been used for a few years, but the danger for Liria is losing patience with Badjkev before he has completed the job as it is difficult to see who they could bring in to improve on his coaching ability. Smajic will be a crucial addition in midfield, whilst Nanusevski's goals are unlikely to stop flowing on the basis of last season. He was really dominant at times. The likes of Obadko, Nikolov, Pogaenik and Straka will want to put themselves back into national team contention with more consistent performances. Lazar Obradovic will hope that the introduction of Germain ahead of him means he has slightly less to do compared to last season. Many at Liria will believe that this is the year that they can finally end the trophy drought, but it might be through the cup rather than in the league because of Atletik's advantage in terms of star quality.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Lazar Obradovic       26   MYT      4.0
DL    Milomir Pesic         24   MYT      3.5
DC    Niksa Obadko          31   MYT      4.0      Captain
DC    Hurko Germain         20   ASG      4.0
DR    Branko Nikolov        30   MYT      3.5
MC    Radovan Pogaenik      24   MYT      4.0
MC    Mersudin Smajic       22   MYT      4.5
MC    Kostas Aklis          23   OTH      3.5
AMC   Alen Gvetadze         21   MYT      3.5
ST    Strahinja Nanusevski  23   MYT      4.0
ST    Anton-Dusan Straka    29   MYT      4.0

GK    Obren Vujic           21   MYT      2.0
DL    Bruno Zganec          18   MYT      2.0
DC    Osman Muhic           29   MYT      3.5
DC    Mahir Kapetanovic     16   MYT      3.0
DC    Miroslav Opacak       23   MYT      2.5
DR    Alen Komadina         21   MYT      2.0
MC    Mika Klyashev         22   MYT      3.0
MC    Davor Mahovlic        20   MYT      3.0
MC    Jeda Mehmedic         34   MYT      2.5
AMC   Zrinko Primorac       30   MYT      3.0      
ST    Guv Culak-Forzu       18   QUS/MYT  3.0
ST    Ante Ciabok           16   MYT      2.5

IN
Hurko Germain [ASG] from Ituraitz FC [ASG] to Liria, NSD 1,500,000
Alen Gvetadze [MYT] from CDSA to Liria, NSD 800,000
Mersudin Smajic [MYT] from Tekstil to Liria, NSD 1,750,000

OUT
Duro Galovic [MYT] from Liria to Vitalia, loan
Mirko Kosic [MYT] from Liria to NK Dyka, loan
Alen Zekic [MYT] from Liria to Litala ’93, free transfer

Legends: Danek Badjkev (manager/player); Miki Sipilainen (player); Yuri Matveyev (player); Tikhon Voronin (player); Stefan Wallinaar (player)
Icons: Miro Obad (player); Lavrentii Aliev (player); Tyko Rissanen (player); Bernd Schulz (player)

OLYMPIC

Location: Zenit Toranj, Thessia, Thessia
Stadium: Novi Kaunostadion (Capacity: 54,000)
Manager: Emil Jefak, 51, 7th season in charge; T: counter, R: developer, P: perfectionist

Club synopsis: Olympic Thessia are an extremely proud club who retain a local feel which few clubs can match despite being from Mytanija's most populous city and having a large fanbase. Long known for being Atletik's less successful sibling they have stepped out of the shadows in recent years by sticking to their principles and continuing to develop their links to their local community despite the increasing globalisation of football. This has manifested itself in a starting line-up which almost always has a couple of Thessian lads who have come up through the club's academy and more often than not happen to be supporters of Olympic too. They're a club with growing financial power, but this doesn't mean they are free-spending as they try to be smart with their scouting and find players that other clubs are not looking at for cheaper fees.
Fanbase: They have a large and passionate local fanbase and a growing fanbase across Mytanija as people enjoy the way Olympic conduct themselves as a club which is determined to maintain its ties to its local community. It is notoriously difficult to get tickets to an Olympic game with local fans filling the Novi Kaunostadion to the brim and leading to extremely lengthy season ticket waiting lists. Like most Thessians Olympic fans are mostly left-wing and extremely proud of this fact, with socialist and antifascist symbols being commonplace at their games. Their ultras group, the Kaunosgrupa are well-regarded for their choreographies before games and are known for making home games a cauldron for the opposition. In terms of expectations Olympic's fans are very patient - having had to be during most of their history - as long as they can get one over Atletik with some regularity there isn't usually too much pressure on the manager.
Rivals: Atletik Thessia (Eternal Derby); Tekstil Ibon (regional)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★ / Training facilities ★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★ / Scouting ★★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★★
Sponsors: Kafa (coffeehouses)

Major honours: 1 x Mytanar Top League (27/28)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Nevenka Planinc
• Where do Olympic stand ahead of the 29/30 season?
It's always difficult to give up a title that you're trying your very hardest to defend and tougher still when you end up giving it away to your greatest rivals. That is the fate which befell Emil Jefak's Olympic team last season and despite it always being an uphill task there is no doubt that it will have hurt. Olympic recognise that they aren't quite at the level of Mytanija's traditional 'big three' (Atletik, Liria, 1896 Ebor) in terms of reputation or financial power, but they are developing quickly and using their fantastic academy and scouting network to try and close the gap long-term. Jefak is a fine coach and has the ability to control all aspects of the club, a freedom few other coaches can boast about but reflects the amount of trust the club have in him. Olympic want to establish themselves as a regular qualifier for international competitions and enjoyed a good run in the IFCF Challengers' Cup last season, eventually knocked out by our Rushmori neighbours Urbizania Wanderers in the round of 32. That experience will definitely have whet the appetite for more international jaunts among the Olympic support, who may have been slightly disappointed by a quarter final exit from the National Cup at the hands of eventual winners Crvena Zvezda.

Characteristically solid business from Olympic in the transfer market leaves them well set ahead of the new campaign. Kamil Jernejec was sold to Chromatik for NSD 3 million and although he represents real quality at Top League level that sale financed all of Olympic's incoming moves. Josko Omerovic was brought in from Arka as a direct replacement and that seems smart business from Jefak who has replaced Jernejec with a younger talent whilst improving the squad more widely too. Licentian striker Anne-Linde van Oers is brought in to add another goal threat alongside Adamo Fallaci and Lazar Prinelec - a duo who scored 29 goals between them last season. Emil Jefak will have the nice problem of having to leave one of them out each week. Finally Itzhar Yvjoev was exchanged directly for Jeannot D'Aramitz with the Prahecqois winger fancying a move back home and Champex du Lac all too pleased to swap him directly for Prahecq-born Mytanar Yvjoev without any money changing hands. A very smart move by Olympic as they get their hands on a very exciting young prospect to add to a squad which is already full of them. The likes of captain Mojmir Anac, starlet goalkeeper Semir Besak and midfield stalwart Vilim Kupresak all return to round out a team with a lot of potential.

• What represents success for Olympic in 29/30?
We say similar things every year for Olympic, but that's because the club have set themselves goals over a timeline with a long-term view in mind. They want to make Mytanija's traditional 'big three' a 'big four' and they can't do that without setting the foundations for a club which can compete with their richer, more reputable rivals. Success for Olympic is repeating the feat in qualifying for IFCF competitions and securing the financial priveleges that confers as well as having a chance to compete in far-flung locations around the multiverse and create their own stories as they did so well in the IFCF Challengers' Cup last season with famous wins over Crisisbless and KT Itzalovalle. They'd like some more where that came from. Naturally, they wouldn't say no to a trophy either and a run in the National Cup could be on the cards if they get a favourable draw. They'll want to improve on a quarter final exit from last term, that's for sure.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 4th - Let's just caveat this prediction with the fact that it is very difficult to call where each of Olympic, Liria and 1896 Ebor are likely to end up behind Atletik and each of our writers had different ideas on the order of those three. Olympic have a very fine team: with a strong spine of Besak; Anac and Omerovic; Petrovic and Kupresak; and then a myriad of forward options. Fallaci, van Oers and Prinelec will frighten opposition defences and it means that Jefak can rotate and also have a fall-back option should injuries strike. The reason why our writers have Olympic predicted to finish 4th is that they lack a bit of depth in other areas, particularly down the right-wing and in both full-back positions. However, it is very close between the trio behind Atletik and there is an argument for any of the three to strike out and claim the runners-up position for themselves. And who knows? Olympic won the title the season before last and they could very well have another fairytale year if things fall right for them. This is the basis of a very solid squad which may well be only a couple of pieces away from beating Atletik for quality and Jefak is a talented coach who few would bet against doing exactly that over the next couple of years.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Semir Besak           19   MYT      4.0
DL    Maksim Emanuel Sulic  22   MYT      3.0
DC    Mojmir Anac           29   MYT      5.0      Captain
DC    Josko Omerovic        24   MYT      4.0
DR    Isaija Yanev          29   MYT      3.0
ML    Sasa Zebic            24   MYT      3.5
MC    Selim Petrovic        25   MYT      4.0
MC    Vilim Kupresak        27   MYT      4.5
MR    Itzhar Yvjoev         23   MYT      3.5      ML/MR
ST    Adamo Fallaci         21   EUR      4.0
ST    Anne-Linde van Oers   21   TLI      4.0

GK    Sefik Sinanovic       21   MYT      1.5
DL    Edin Topgacic         26   MYT      2.0
DC    Jasar Abadzic         21   MYT      3.0
DC    Elmedin Cengic        17   MYT      2.0
DR    Ivan Valjak           27   MYT      2.0
ML    Gojko Prcic           20   MYT      3.0      ML/MR
MC    Kasim Demirovic       19   MYT      3.0
MC    Hazim Fejzic          16   MYT      1.0
MR    Vehbija Bijedic       25   MYT      2.5      MC/MR
ST    Lazar Prinelec        20   MYT      3.5
ST    Levi Doolan           21   GAE      3.0
ST    Xer Kresp-Ucyxi       19   QUS      2.5

IN
Josko Omerovic [MYT] from Arka to Olympic, NSD 1,250,000
Anne-Linde van Oers [TLI] from Broadwood [TLI] to Olympic, NSD 1,200,000
Itzhar Yvjoev [MYT] from Champex du Lac [PRH] to Olympic, p/exchange Jeannot D'Aramitz

OUT
Jeannot D'Aramitz [PRH] from Olympic to Champex du Lac [PRH], p/exchange Itzhar Yvjoev
Teufik Bajramovic [MYT] from Olympic to BVK Dinamo, NSD 150,000
Amel Janjic [MYT] from Olympic to Pretia, NSD 150,000
Kamil Jernejec [MYT] from Olympic to Chromatik [CMT], NSD 3,000,000
Gempachi Miyashita [BAR] from Olympic to Dinamo, loan

Legends: Emil Jefak (manager); Mojmir Anac (player); Rasmus Sovak (player); Leven Vishinsky (player)
Icons: Igor Artemiev (player); Vilim Kupresak (player)

1896 EBOR

Location: Ebor, Visoravna
Stadium: Olujastadion (Capacity: 42,500)
Manager: Zdeslav Nesic, 50, 4th season in charge; T: possession, R: developer, P: ambitious

Club synopsis: Once internationally renowned club which is now perhaps a bit of a sleeping giant, far removed from their all-conquering heyday. Still one of the traditional 'big three' of Mytanar football, 1896 Ebor as a club insist upon free-flowing, pacy attacking football that is attractive on the eye. They generally buy promising young Mytanar talent to develop which they then sell-on for a profit after having got a few years of quality from them. Well-respected across Mytanija for their style of play and being the only Mytanar club to have won the UICA Champions' Cup. Often considered to be the neutral's favourite, although a spell of mid-table obscurity has slightly dulled their past lustre.
Fanbase: Large fanbase from all over Mytanija, their local supporters generally skew middle-class due to Ebor's relative prosperity because of its booming tourism industry. Their main ultras group The Northmen (which is also the club's nickname) are officially apolitical and renowned for their impressive choreographies in the Olujastadion. As a fanbase they are not the most demanding in terms of immediate success as long as they can see progression and the club's traditional style of play being implemented.
Rivals: Arka Snezhnaya (Northern Derby); Atletik Thessia (competitive); Energija-Nuklearna (historic); Litala ’93 (historic)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★ / Training facilities ★★★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★★ / Scouting ★★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★★
Sponsors: Astek (Astograthian technology)

Major honours: 3 x Mytanar Top Leagues (09/10, 19/20, 20/21); 4 x National Cups (08/09, 09/10, 20/21, 26/27); 2 x UICA Champions' Cups (52, 53); 2 x UICA Super Cups (49, 50)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Dalibor Kosec
• Where do 1896 Ebor stand ahead of the 29/30 season?
1896 Ebor finished 4th last season and for everyone involved with the Olujastadion club it was a case of feeling like they were back where they belonged, fighting it out in the upper echelons of the Top League table and qualifying for IFCF competitions. Mytanija's only UICA Champions' Cup winning club have an unmatched history in international competitions domestically and they've had to endure some barren years in terms of even qualifying, but Zdeslav Nesic has come in and signed brilliantly and all of a sudden they look like they're on the verge of being a regular challenger for the league again. They were extremely disappointed not to lift the National Cup though and that does represent a blot on Nesic's record. They came up against a determined underdog in the final in the form of Crvena Zvezda but Nesic wasn't able to add a second cup to his resume in Ebor as Crvena Zvezda put two past them in extra time. The cup and IFCF qualification would have been an exceptional season, in the end it was merely good, Nesic is ambitious though and will want more this year.

Following the good showing last season 1896 Ebor's board saw fit to fully back Nesic in the transfer market and he was able to rehaul the squad as a result, adding some new starters and some quality depth. A couple of veterans retired in the form of goalkeeper Javor Cenko and centre-half Vajko Otorepec and 1896 Ebor will need to replace their voices in the dressing room too. Oduor Bigombe is the new goalkeeper, the 22 year old joining from East Dewayo in his homeland Nyowani Kitara. He's highly rated and figures in his national team regularly and Nesic will hope he provides a boost to what was at times a leaky defence last season. Licentian central defender Chris Thompson joins from Abingdon Celtic for NSD 300,000 and he will provide some height alongside the impressive Alborz Ialamov in the centre of 1896 Ebor's defence, Thompson is a notably fiery character and may rack up bookings if Nesic can't keep him in check. The real headline signing was the addition of Ararat's key midfielder Dalibor Vlahovic for NSD 2 million. Vlahovic scored 10 goals for Ararat last season and it is expected that Nesic will play him in central midfield to provide them with a creative presence alongside the always solid Thorvar Spinkvik. We should also mention young striker Dragisa Alagic who gained many admirers with his performances in the Druga Liga for Zeljeznicar Sigurno, 1896 Ebor won the race for his signature and you feel that he will figure more and more as the season goes on.

• What represents success for 1896 Ebor in 29/30?
Many commentators feel that Zdeslav Nesic is steadily building something in Ebor and there is a feeling that he is a more possession hungry version of Emil Jefak, he's got a real knack for developing players and bending them to the demands of his system. 1896 Ebor have backed him healthily in the transfer market and that brings greater pressure to deliver results, but Nesic has earned the right to do that with constant improvement in league position over his tenure. The club's support aren't the most demanding in terms of trophies as long as 1896 Ebor play in the 1896 Ebor way and whilst Nesic's style is generally a slightly slower, more methodical approach they have warmed to him as he has lifted them from mid-table and back into contention towards the upper end of the Top League. This season will be more of the same for them and as long as Nesic can get a bit closer than the 13 points they finished behind the champions last season the club will likely be quite happy. They'd love another cup win after coming so close last time too and would probably see it as setting history right after not quite playing to their potential in the final against Crvena Zvezda.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 3rd - There is a good blend of youth and experience in this 1896 Ebor team and it makes for what could be a title challenger if Nesic can knit so many new parts into the fabric of his squad. Signing Dalibor Vlahovic from Ararat very much demonstrates the direction of the food chain within Mytanar football, even with the Severyan club being superior in recent years 1896 Ebor represent the more attractive option which can afford to splash out to bring in a key player from a direct rival for a top four spot. That will really weaken Ararat and adds Vlahovic to a line-up which includes arguably last season's best signing from abroad Alborz Ialamov, along with space-investigating winger Brajko Gavrilovic (13 goals last season) and nippy striker Josip Brajdic (15 goals last season) giving 1896 Ebor a strong spine. The likes of Srdan Vukovic, Zvonko Nestorovski and Ramiz Agic provide able assitance down the flanks too. If Bigombe is the goalkeeper the club believe he is and bench players like Krolo, Papac, Antonic, Guo and Alagic all contribute 1896 Ebor could even challenge for the league title. As it is we feel they'll move up a position, but that's still progression and Nesic might be expected to really go for the league title next year with a more settled squad after so many incoming transfers this year.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Oduor Bigombe         22   NYK      3.5
DL    Srdan Vukovic         29   MYT      4.5
DC    Alborz Ialamov        24   SRS      4.5
DC    Chris Thompson        22   TLI      3.5
DR    Zvonko Nestorovski    23   MYT      3.5
ML    Brajko Gavrilovic     27   MYT      4.0
MC    Thorvar Spinkvik      29   OPP      3.5      Captain
MC    Dalibor Vlahovic      27   MYT      4.5      ML/MC
MR    Ramiz Agic            24   MYT      3.5
ST    Josip Brajdic         26   MYT      4.0
ST    Petar Majdandzic      22   MYT      3.5

GK    Matija Jelinic        22   MYT      2.5
DL    Matko Praznik         19   MYT      2.5      DL/DC
DC    Sime Krolo            22   MYT      3.5
DC    Duje Papac            32   MYT      3.0
DR    Bruno Komljenovic     18   MYT      2.0
ML    Sebastian Nygaard     19   MYT      2.5      ML/MC
MC    Dejan Antonic         33   MYT      3.5
MC    Hong Guo              19   YZH      3.0
MC    Obrad Jakolinic       34   MYT      2.5
MR    Gabrijel Vranjkovic   16   MYT      1.0
ST    Dragisa Alagic        20   MYT      3.0
ST    Rafal Ojrzynski       16   RAM      2.0

IN
Dragisa Alagic [MYT] from Zeljeznicar to 1896 Ebor, NSD 200,000 + Andrija Cicak
Oduor Bigombe [NYK] from East Dewayo FC [NYK] to 1896 Ebor, free transfer
Hong Guo [YZH] from RB Shanbei [YZH] to 1896 Ebor, free transfer
Chris Thompson [TLI] from Abingdon Celtic [TLI] to 1896 Ebor, NSD 300,000
Dalibor Vlahovic [MYT] from Ararat to 1896 Ebor, NSD 2,000,000

OUT
Andrija Cicak [MYT] from 1896 Ebor to Zeljeznicar, p/exchange Dragisa Alagic
Samy De Gieter [CRE] from 1896 Ebor to Lok. Cassia, loan
Eldin Hadzic [MYT] from 1896 Ebor to Litala ’93, free transfer
Jasmin Valentic [MYT] from 1896 Ebor to NK Thessia, loan

RETIRED
Javor Cenko [MYT], GK, 39
Vajko Otorepec [MYT], DC, 38

Legends: Vaclav Simon (manager/player); Hasato Kimiki (player); Dzala Ertobashia (player); Andoni Bidigain (player)
Icons: Agil Ojdanic (player); Adama Diarra (player); Oskar Nielsen (player); Moses Uijtdewilligen (player); Txordin Zerubeltzak (player); Aran Miller (player)

[Mytanija]

MYTANAR TOP LEAGUE 29/30 SEASON PREVIEW PART TWO.

Tactical (T) styles      Notes
Counter                  Favours counter-attacking build-up play
Defensive                Favours defensive football
Long Ball                Favours direct build-up play
Offensive                Favours offensive football
Philosopher              Strong proponents of a specific way of playing
Possession               Favours shorter build-up play
Regimented               Organised and well-drilled approach in all phases of play
Tinkerman                Regularly makes tactical changes

Recruitment (R) styles   Notes 
Buyer                    Happy to buy in what they need, has a clear idea of signings they want to make    
Developer                Develops youngsters helping them reach their potential ability
Merchant                 Happy to make lots of transfer dealings both in and out     
Resourceful              Finds novel ways to utilise players, has an eye for under-appreciated players who can improve their team
Thrifty                  Disinclined to spend money and prefers to work with what they have

Personality (P) styles   Notes
Abrasive                 Causes friction, both with other managers/teams and at their own club
Ambitious                Wants to succeed and manage at the very pinnacle of the sport
Casual                   Relaxed and laidback approach
Charismatic              Motivates players and keeps morale high
Intense                  Extremely focussed and involved in their job
Loyal                    Loyal to club they are at/players they currently have, remembers past allegiances
Maverick                 Unorthodox and independent-minded, expect the unexpected
Perfectionist            Strives for high standards and is annoyed by those who don't
Spirited                 Fierce competitor and highly out-spoken

ARARAT

Location: Severyan, Rauchnya
Stadium: Korecky Road (Capacity: 25,000)
Manager: Misel Ravnjak, 52, 6th season in charge; T: defensive, R: resourceful, P: spirited

Club synopsis: A provincial club that have punched well above their weight over the years, Ararat are mostly known for being a horrible team to come up against on the pitch (especially in Severyan); and for the carnival atmosphere their supporters create on the terraces. Ararat as a football club and Rauchnya as a region more generally have been on the receiving end of some of the worst examples of ethnic discrimination in Mytanija, anti-Rauchik sentiment still pervades in some of the other regions and footballers have refused to sign for Ararat because of their views in the past. Severyan as a city mirrors Rauchnya as a whole by being slightly poorer than the national average and Ararat and their supporters mirror this too. The club have links to Catholicism - evident in the team's name - but this is less relevant than it used to be and they are perhaps defined more by their links with Severyan's fishing industry than anything else.
Fanbase: Ararat are well-supported within Rauchnya but their support does not go beyond Rauchik territory, a situation which perhaps says more about those in other regions (except Thessia and Visoravna who have always stood alongside Rauchnya) than it does about Ararat and Rauchnya. Their supporters are known for being welcoming once their hard-nosed, distrusting exteriors are broken (an unsurprising symptom of historical ill-treatment). As a fanbase they are quite reasonable with their expectations and if you speak to an Ararat supporter they often cannot believe their luck that their team is regularly fighting it out towards the top of the Top League nowadays. Cirkusgrupa are their ultras group and they are known for being active regarding social issues: often creating displays relating to anti-racism, LGBT rights, immigration issues and Mytanar unity (they're particularly involved in this due to Rauchnya historically being painted as non-Mytanar, particularly under Kalinina's regime). This is in direct contrast to their great rivals Lok. Cassia who are fierce Rauchik nationalists, right-wing and massively racist towards outsiders.
Rivals: Lok. Cassia (Rauchik Derby); 1923 Esca (political)
Facilities: Stadium ★★ / Pitch ★★ / Training facilities ★★★ / Youth academy ★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★ / Scouting ★★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★
Sponsors: Air Rauchnya (airline)

Major honours: 2 x Mytanar Top Leagues (12/13, 24/25)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Irma Simunec
• Where do Ararat stand ahead of the 29/30 season?
It was an odd season for Ararat which sadly ended with them being pipped at the post for IFCF football. They went into the final day level on points with 1896 Ebor and only needing to better their result to finish 4th and qualify, with the Ebor club playing champions Atletik (a club they have a huge competitive rivalry with). In the end Ararat couldn't take care of business on their own end, losing at home to CDSA whilst Atletik - who probably had one eye on their summer holidays given that they already had the title wrapped up - could only draw with 1896 Ebor. That left Ararat on the outside looking in after a season where they had challenged for the title up until the last five weeks of the campaign. Misel Ravnjak was quick to point out the reasons why they hadn't quite got things over the line: their previous defensive solidity had gone out the window, with Mingrong Yuan being the best of a bad bunch at the back. For Ravnjak - a defensive genius - this was anathema and he was confident in asserting that he would be taking his players back to basics this season. A fourth round exit in the cup will have been disappointing too, but Ararat aren't really a club that is going to be capable of fighting on two fronts all that regularly given that they don't have the financial clout to match the squad depth of other teams.

Failure to qualify for IFCF football isn't the end of the world for a club of Ararat's size, they temper their expectations in Severyan, but the most disappointing part of it is that it has meant that they have had to sell one of their key players in Dalibor Vlahovic. Worse still, he has been sold to the club who narrowly beat them to that IFCF spot, with 1896 Ebor snapping up the creative midfielder for NSD 2 million. That has weakened Ararat and strengthened a direct rival and Misel Ravnjak was quick to voice his concern following the move. Oppic winger Viggo Sjostrom will have a job on his hands to replace Vlahovic's contribution to the team. That sale did secure the club's finances though and has allowed them to bring in a couple of players who could play an important role at the club in the coming years. Omer Kuhar-Arh returns to his home region of Rauchnya after coming through the ranks at Akademija, his fee of NSD 300,000 could look like a bargain if he delivers on his undoubted potential. Miralem Mazar was also signed from CDSA for NSD 200,000, the 23 year old should provide some useful depth for Ararat in an area which they were very weak last season with Jonatan Rebernik the only back-up option behind Stojkovic and Todorov if they got injured. Ravnjak now has options with Mazar and Rebernik, but perhaps most intriguingly with 16 year old Dordo Urbanc - a player the Severyan club have extremely high hopes for.

• What represents success for Ararat in 29/30?
Losing Dalibor Vlahovic is a big blow and will mean that expectations have been lowered ever so slightly in Severyan. The supporters will believe that they can achieve amazing things whilst Ravnjak is at the helm though, as he has done over the past five seasons. Many commentators - including some at Gazeta Sporta - believed that last season could have been one of transition for Ararat given that they were introducing some inexperienced players into their team. They still fought for top four all season though, only missing out on the final matchday and they were in the title picture for much of the campaign too. This season looks even more like one of transition than last time, particularly given the loss of Vlahovic and the introduction of the likes of Urankar, Sjostrom and Kuhar-Arh to the starting line-up. Ravnjak could prove people wrong again, but this time it really does feel like a finish in the top six would be a good showing, never mind battling with the big guns in the IFCF positions.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 7th - Our writers' prediction for Ararat perhaps demonstrates why finishing in the top six would be a good season for the club. The loss of Vlahovic to a direct rival for an IFCF spot has weakened them and it is difficult to see how Maurizio Scianna - exceptional last season, scoring 18 league goals - will receive quite the same level of service without Vlahovic. Kuhar-Arh looks like one for the future and could soften the blow slightly, whilst Ermin Urankar is a good prospect who can play on the left side of midfield as well as at left-back. Defensive resurgence will rely upon Mingrong Yuan's prowess (and Ravnjak's coaching!) and the club hope that Pedja Kasun can return to the inspired form which has won him multiple Golden Glove awards in the past. The midfield axis of Mateja Stojkovic and Grigor Todorov provides nous in the middle of the park, even if both are slowing down slightly as they enter the twilight years of their careers (young Urbanc should be a game replacement off the bench for them). If Ravnjak manages to tighten things up at the back again then Ararat could continue their fight against their richer, more reputable rivals in the upper reaches of the Top League. As it is, we see them slipping down a couple of places, they will always be hard to beat but the loss of Vlahovic could mean that the goals dry up.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Pedja Kasun           29   MYT      4.5
DL    Ermin Urankar         22   MYT      3.5      DL/ML
DC    Zelimir Apostolov     32   MYT      3.5
DC    Mingrong Yuan         24   YZH      4.0
DR    Mario Uzelac          32   MYT      2.5
ML    Viggo Sjostrom        23   OPP      3.0      ML/MR
MC    Mateja Stojkovic      34   MYT      3.0      Captain
MC    Grigor Todorov        34   MYT      3.0
MR    Rajmund Krizman       26   MYT      3.0
AMC   Omer Kuhar-Arh        19   MYT      3.0
ST    Maurizio Scianna      25   AUS      3.5

GK    Lin Ipavec            20   MYT      1.5
DL    Zoran Vlasic          34   MYT      2.0      DL/DC
DC    Drazen Zupan          35   MYT      3.5
DC    Josip Cermelj         22   MYT      2.5
DR    Belmin Kodrie         23   MYT      1.5
MC    Dordo Urbanc          16   MYT      3.0
MC    Miralem Mazar         23   MYT      2.5
MC    Jonatan Rebernik      20   MYT      2.0
AMC   Lamine Benbrika       25   IMA      3.0
AMC   Tine Prijatelj        16   MYT      1.5
ST    Maxi Zorita           19   PDH      2.5

IN
Omer Kuhar-Arh [MYT] from Akademija to Ararat, NSD 300,000
Miralem Mazar [MYT] from CDSA to Ararat, NSD 200,000

OUT
Slavko Lalic [MYT] from Ararat to Akademija, free transfer
Dalibor Vlahovic [MYT] from Ararat to 1896 Ebor, NSD 2,000,000

Legends: Lev Repin (player); Iuliu Zaplatic (player); Aleks Kulikov (player)
Icons: Dobroslav Stojanovic (player); Misel Ravnjak (manager); Pedja Kasun (player); Mateja Stojkovic (player)

NYVA

Location: Zvornik, Avnalia
Stadium: Stadion Sime Pandev (Capacity: 20,000)
Manager: Vasil Janevski, 55, 6th season in charge; T: possession, R: merchant, P: charismatic

Club synopsis: A provincial team from a town of around 200,000 people, Nyva are the biggest club from the chain of islands which make up the sub-region of Avnalia. Their supporters will happily recognise that they are currently living through their team's 'golden age' with a sustained presence in the Top League, a shiny new stadium and a first ever major honour as they won the 27/28 National Cup. Nyva are inherently linked to Zvornik's agricultural workers, starting out as a club for them and still maintaining those links to this day. The perception of clubs from Avnalia and Nyva specifically as being run by poorly educated rural bumpkins couldn't be further from the truth nowadays with the club intelligently investing in improving their infrastructure off the field and playing on their links with food production to sign a lucrative sponsorship deal with one of the country's largest supermarkets Agrokomerc.
Fanbase: Nyva is an extremely working-class club which is enormously proud of their links to agricultural workers, their support doesn't really have a true political stance the way other clubs do but is slightly left-leaning on economics whilst being socially conservative in line with their rural locale. There is little pressure to succeed with Nyva, their fans just want to maintain their Top League status for as long as possible. Nyva's main ultras group is Gate 9 and they are apolitical. They lag behind some of the large groups from the mainland in terms of choreographies, but they are known for extremely violent displays of hooliganism, a result of many of the more historic ultras groups seeing them as little more than rural pretenders. This assumption made Gate 9 eager to prove themselves and they've collected quite a bloodthirsty reputation as a result.
Rivals: Rudar Uchenik (All-Avnalia Derby); FK Arsika (regional)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★★ / Training facilities ★★ / Youth academy ★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★ / Scouting ★★ / Youth recruitment ★
Sponsors: Agrokomerc (supermarkets)

Major honours: 1 x National Cup (27/28)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Nevenka Planinc
• Where do Nyva stand ahead of the 29/30 season?
Nyva followed up their famous National Cup winning season with a brilliant 6th placed finish in the Top League. Vasil Janevski has done brilliantly at the club and is collecting himself a bit of a reputation as a manager who is able to make a squad achieve more than the sum of its parts. Janevski won the Manager of the Season award for his team's exploits and was rewarded with a new long-term contract after an amazing couple of years at the club. Nyva's success has been built upon Anton Derajevic's amazing late career maturation, with the striker now 32 and coming off the back of one of his best ever seasons. He scored 20 goals in 28 games last season - displaying a level of focus and maturity which he has sorely lacked for much of his career - to finish second in the running for both the Player of the Season and Golden Boot awards. There will have been some disappointment that their defence of the National Cup ended at the second hurdle, in the fourth round of the competition, but finishing 6th in the league will have more than made up for that.

In general it seems to be a good time to be a Nyva Zvornik fan and due to their sensible financial management over the past few years they have been able to spend a little more than usual on their customary single incoming transfer, something which could mean that the good times are here to stay if the move works out. Savigliano central defender Alexandre Onio has joined from Nazionale Acqui Bollente for NSD 1.5 million and Janevski will hope that the talented 20 year old can mimic other foreign central defenders like Alborz Ialamov (1896 Ebor) and Mingrong Yuan (Ararat) in taking to the Top League very quickly. Nyva already had a solid defence, the fourth best in the Top League last season, but they had to replace an aging Goran Najdoski and Onio seems the perfect candidate to fit Janevski's possession-based approach. Some think that Nyva are just tight with money, unwilling to take risks in the transfer market, but it is more because the club don't have very much money in the first place. They are also paying for their new stadium, which should help financially in the long-term, but one thing they have always done well despite financial restrictions is retain their players and they have done that fantastically once again.

• What represents success for Nyva in 29/30?
After the past couple of years anything seems possible for Nyva but given their resources they are still a club which is very much doing well to consistently retain their place in the Top League. They have a small budget and the NSD 1.5 million they spent on Alexandre Onio represents a big outlay for the club, but it also is an indication of what the board are trying to do. They want to make 6th place finishes like last season the norm, even if the journey to doing that is difficult. It is good that both the club's board and their supporters are reasonably realistic and recognise that this will be an incremental process rather than something which will be achieved overnight. Finishing in the top-half of the league table would be a successful season for Nyva, though there isn't going to be any great pressure on Vasil Janevski if they fail to do that given the amount of credit he has built up at the club. Nobody would be surprised if he manages them to another deep run in the cup this season either.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 9th - Nyva might slow down a little this season after two amazing years, one with a trophy at the end of it and the second with one of the club's best ever league finishes. For that reason we see them at the upper end of the lower-half of the table. The addition of Alexandre Onio shows real ambition and the Savigliane central defender fits in with Janevski's style of play ideally, being extremely comfortable in playing out from the back. Ivica Svok should provide a good foil too, being more comfortable with the physical side of the game than his colleague and the two could form a strong partnership. Anton Derajevic will always be important for Nyva for as long as he calls the club home and he will be the team's main source of goals, though there does remain a question around how sustainable his superlative form from last season actually is. Rudi Prosenik will wear the captain's armband due to Ilija Lambulic and Goran Najdoski dropping out of the starting eleven due to their advancing years, though both remain in the squad and their experience will be useful behind the scenes as Janevski tries to integrate some younger players. Prosenik provides a strong base to their midfield which should free up the likes of Vasilij Arzensek and Luka Zmajevic to contribute higher up the pitch alongside Momcilo Pavlovic. Nyva are a bit weak on both sides of their defence, though right-back Zyn Wanar-Xeral could blossom into a fine player given time.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Marko Babic           29   MYT      3.0
DL    Andrei Vasiliadis     25   MYT      2.0
DC    Alexandre Onio        20   SVG      4.0
DC    Ivica Svok            25   MYT      3.5
DR    Zyn Wanar-Xeral       20   QUS      2.5 
DMC   Rudi Prosenik         29   MYT      3.5      Captain; DC/DMC
MC    Vasilij Arzensek      24   MYT      3.0
MC    Luka Zmajevic         20   MYT      3.0      DMC/MC
AMC   Momcilo Pavlovic      26   MYT      3.0
ST    Drazen Zhivkov        26   MYT      3.0
ST    Anton Derajevic       32   MYT      4.0

GK    Petar Solakov         22   MYT      2.5
DL    Ilija Lambulic        37   MYT      1.5
DC    Goran Najdoski        34   MYT      2.5
DC    Sinisa Manevski       23   MYT      2.5
DR    Velyo Kralevski       24   MYT      2.0
MC    Sasho Koncaliev       21   MYT      2.5
MC    Cvjetko Tokic         29   MYT      2.5
MC    Miro Tadic            39   MYT      1.5
AMC   Conor Kilkenny        20   GAE      2.0
ST    Ljubisa Bacic         29   MYT      2.0
ST    Lecho Cinika          16   MYT      2.0

IN
Alexandre Onio [SVG] from Nazionale Acqui Bollente [SVG] to Nyva, NSD 1,500,000

Legends: Sime Pandev (player); Anton Derajevic (player)
Icons: Vasil Janevski (manager); Vladimir Shervashidze (player); Ilija Lambulic (player)

TEKSTIL

Location: Ibon, Thessia
Stadium: Gradski Stadion (Capacity: 20,000)
Manager: Emir Saric, 58, 6th season in charge; T: philosopher, R: developer, P: charismatic

Club synopsis: Well-supported if unfashionable club who have spent most of their history in the shadow of larger clubs in their home region. Tekstil are a club that value hard work and a strong work ethic is instilled in all who come through the club's celebrated youth academy. They generally try to rely on their own production line where possible and usually keep a tight-grip on the purse strings which can sometimes limit a manager's ability to improve their team, but the club prefer to rely on their own players instead of buying in ready-made talent from elsewhere. For many Mytanars Tekstil are defined by two things: 1) their inherent link with Ibon's textiles industry, resulting in the club's eponymous name; and 2) the rivalry between the cities of Ibon and Thessia, with Atletik being the main focus of Tekstil (and Ibon's) ire nowadays.
Fanbase: An extremely loyal fan base that have stuck with the club through thick and thin. They have seen their club plumb the depths of the Treća Liga (taking sizeable followings to all sorts of provincial venues in the third tier), but they have also experienced the high of seeing their team lift the National Cup at Radnika. They keep a good perspective on things and follow their team around the country, often not expecting too much. They value hard work above all, symptomatic of their fanbase's working class roots. Their ultras group are known as the Ibon Boys and have a small hooligan element, they have no official political ideology but are known to lean leftwards like many citizens of the Thessia region.
Rivals: Atletik Thessia (Rijeka Derby); Olympic Thessia (regional)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★ / Pitch ★ / Training facilities ★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★ / Scouting ★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★
Sponsors: m:tel (telecommunications)

Major honours: 2 x National Cups (18/19, 24/25)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Cerim Jovic
• Where do Tekstil stand ahead of the 29/30 season?
A 7th placed finish last term was about where the club were expected to finish, although our writers did predict the club to finish a position higher prior to the season. Few could have predicted the season Nyva Zvornik had though and they were the ones who occupied that 6th position in the league table. Tekstil had the most draws in the Top League last season with 12, a number which hindered their chances of finishing a little higher as they ended up eight points behind Nyva directly above them. Turning four of those draws into wins would have moved them a place higher and that will be something to ponder for Emir Saric ahead of this season, though he will have been pleased with how defensively sound and difficult to beat his team was. They had the third best defence in the league and only eight defeats all season, so Saric's 4-5-1 remains as hard to break down as ever. Tekstil will have been slightly disappointed with their semi final exit from the National Cup to eventual winners Crvena Zvezda, that looked an eminently winnable tie beforehand but the Ibon club collapsed at home in the second leg.

The loss of Mersudin Smajic will hurt but the writing has been on the wall for a while, with the midfielder being a real talent who has had big clubs sniffing around him for years. Smajic has given the club a few years at the start of his career and left the door open to returning one day after an NSD 1.75 million move to Liria Prizren. Ilija Blagojevic also left the club to join Litala for NSD 350,000, which does mean that Tekstil are a bit lighter in midfield, but they have promoted from within with Zbynek Havlik expected to replace Smajic's creativity and Evripidis Zervakis coming in to try and replicate Blagojevic's box-to-box energy. Tekstil have brought in promising midfielder Miomir Krsmanovic from Druga Liga side Zenit Esca and the 19 year old does seem to be more in the Smajic mould as a conductor in the centre of the pitch, but Saric sounded caution on bringing him into the starting line-up straight away with a period of acclimatisation required both to get used to Top League standards and to Tekstil's way of playing. All of that does mean that it is very much a new look midfield for Tekstil and their success this season could hinge upon how well Saric gets them playing.

• What represents success for Tekstil in 29/30?
A strong season for Tekstil would be to break back into the top six, but that seems like a struggle without a player of the quality of Mersudin Smajic in their line-up. Tekstil look a lot weaker for his loss and despite the emergence of Damir Milcic is a top full-back and the presence of the perennial goalscorer Nebojsa Aleksic at the other end they will find it more difficult to compete this season. They have managed to regularly finish just outside the IFCF positions in recent years and if they could manage it again without Smajic it would bode very well for the next few years given some of the quality young players they have coming through. Going one better than last season and reaching the National Cup final will be on Emir Saric's mind too, it represents Tekstil's best chance of silverware and they were disappointed with the manner in which they went out last season.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 8th - It feels like there's a few teams improving around Tekstil whilst they have lost their most influential young talent and that's why we see them dropping down a place in the table. If this decline continues it will worry the club as they seem to be finishing a position worse off each season which could possibly mean that they haven't capitalised on the good seasons to try and ensure they become a permanent fixture in the upper reaches of the league. It is likely that Tekstil's season will depend on the form of their new look midfield, with Saric retaining faith in his system and believing that players like Havlik and Zervakis can slot into it where needed because of the tactical focus of his training sessions. Nebojsa Aleksic is likely to be as crucial as ever to their chances, he scored 18 goals last season but may find it more difficult without Smajic setting up the chances for him. At the opposite end Tekstil have one of the finest young defenders in the country in Damir Milcic, although they are a bit weak on the opposite side of their defence. Zafer Muminovic remains a fine goalkeeper and he will want to win the Golden Glove this season rather than finishing second.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Zafer Muminovic       26   MYT      4.0
DL    Damir Milcic          23   MYT      4.0
DC    Svetozar Golubovic    23   MYT      3.5
DC    Amel Memic            25   MYT      3.5
DR    Vlado Kovac           27   MYT      2.5      DR/MC
ML    Domagoj Kokic         26   MYT      3.0
MC    Zbynek Havlik         21   POB      3.0    
MC    Mehmet Elvahic        33   MYT      3.5      Captain
MC    Evripidis Zervakis    21   OTH      3.0
MR    Mevludin Kadic        28   MYT      2.5
ST    Nebojsa Aleksic       31   MYT      4.0

GK    Ruaidhri Flanagan     21   GAE      1.0
DL    Mika Spasojevic       20   MYT      2.0      DL/DR
DC    Izet Sarajlic         22   MYT      3.0
DC    Uhin Elizabe          17   ASG      2.5
DC    Luka Cvitanic         31   MYT      2.0
DR    Bakir Mulic           17   MYT      1.5
ML    Kwang-Seok Cho        23   KUL      2.5
MC    Miomir Krsmanovic     19   MYT      3.0
MC    Said Radovanovic      16   MYT      2.5
MR    Sacir Milosevic       17   MYT      2.0
ST    Neven Krnic           22   MYT      3.0
ST    Nihad Milicevic       16   MYT      2.5

IN
Uhin Elizabe [ASG] from Echegoyan FC [ASG] to Tekstil, free transfer
Miomir Krsmanovic [MYT] from Zenit to Tekstil, NSD 500,000

OUT
Ilija Blagojevic [MYT] from Tekstil to Litala ’93, NSD 350,000
Eldar Novakov [MYT] from Tekstil to BVK Dinamo, NSD 150,000
Mersudin Smajic [MYT] from Tekstil to Liria, NSD 1,750,000

Legends: Nebojsa Aleksic (player); Emir Saric (manager)
Icons: Swen Kislasson (player); Mehmet Elvahic (player); Zafer Muminovic (player)

CDSA

Location: Decraa, Vojovitica
Stadium: Psenicova (Capacity: 27,500)
Manager: Slavko Jelic, 54, 7th season in charge; T: counter, R: developer, P: loyal

Club synopsis: One of only four teams that has never played outside or been relegated from the Mytanar Top League, CDSA are regarded as one of Mytanar football's traditional clubs despite never really having a sustained period of success to be able to point to. They are a team that was historically linked with the military, a heritage that has long been cast-off as CDSA are now one of the most staunchly left-wing clubs in the country (a thread which runs through everything they do, running their own social programmes and regularly being involved in charitable causes). CDSA have never really subscribed to a specific style of play, but they have long been regarded as one of the best clubs for producing young talent - especially skillful attacking midfielders. CDSA are a club which have many fan friendships and fierce rivalries around Mytanija due to their left-wing politics, but they are also largely respected across the board due to their traditions and history.
Fanbase: CDSA's moderately sized fanbase is drawn from a wide mix of socioeconomic backgrounds, but is generally considered to be middle-class - a stereotype which is reflective of Decraa being a city that is home to multiple universities. CDSA's supporters are very proud of the fact their club has never been relegated from the Top League and of the team's uncanny ability to keep producing quality young players. Their supporters love to see a local kid given a chance in the starting line-up. Expectations at the club mostly stay quite low, the fans are happy enough as long as their club are doing good deeds and their ever-present top-flight status isn't under threat. Lijeva are the club's largest ultras group and they are fiercely left-wing. They can be violent, particularly when it comes to fixtures against clubs whose ultras groups hold opposing political views.
Rivals: Energija-Nuklearna (North Vojovitican Derby); Turbine Decraa (local); 1923 Esca (political); Lok. Cassia (political)
Facilities: Stadium ★★ / Pitch ★★ / Training facilities ★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★ / Scouting ★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★★
Sponsors: KPK (dairy)

Major honours: 2 x National Cups (06/07, 19/20)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Dalibor Kosec
• Where do CDSA stand ahead of the 29/30 season?
Slavko Jelic's side struggled to score goals at times last season, with Dejan Zgela and Alen Gvetadze accounting for nearly 60% of them as they meandered through the season on their way to an 8th place finish. It was an issue which held the team back as they were found wanting if either of their main two players didn't finish off chances, despite the creative ability of the likes of Alen Hrdaljko, Vasa Vojev and Hus Gerol-Ajark behind them. They were also knocked out of the cup in the third round - the first point Top League sides enter the competition - although there was arguably a big mitigating factor to that with a tough draw against Ararat. CDSA were victims of their own inconsistency throughout last season and Jelic will hope that his team can put together longer runs of positive results this term. They would often follow an important win with a disappointing defeat last season and it constantly undid their good work. It is understood that Jelic will be switching to the 4-5-1 formation he has used in the past this season too, believing it is more conducive to his counter-attacking philosophy as well as the players he has at his disposal following the summer transfer window.

Normally people would expect a club to try everything in its power to hold onto two players that accounted for just under 60% of their goals in a season but CDSA have taken an altogether different approach due to a combination of the club wanting to look after its finances and the manager's belief in some of the players he has developed at the club. Dejan Zgela has been a key player for CDSA for a few years and leaves to Damogran FC for NSD 3 million after scoring 15 goals last season, replacing his tactical flexibility will be difficult. Alen Gvetadze has also moved on with Liria Prizren signing him for NSD 800,000, a move which might represent a bit of a punt for Liria given that he has a habit of drifting in and out of form but among better players he could improve his consistency. Slavko Jelic didn't replace either with signings, preferring to change formation to the 4-5-1 he has used in the past and promote Kosta Urosevic to the starting eleven. Urosevic is a talented player and should compliment Hrdaljko and Gerol-Ajark's qualities in a well-balanced midfield. The other Gvetadze, Dario, has also been promoted as Zgela's replacement and whilst a small step down in quality and a completely different type of player he could actually suit Jelic's style of play better. Goran Stojkov was the most high-profile incoming transfer from relegated Rudar and he'll improve the left side of CDSA's defence.

• What represents success for CDSA in 29/30?
Finishing above Energija-Nuklearna again? The North Vojovitican Derby is normally the most important thing for both of these clubs and particularly in recent years given that the Miago side are no longer challenging for trophies. CDSA fans would be pleased if that was the case again this season. More widely they might find it difficult without Dejan Zgela and Alen Gvetadze but they have also done well to keep a player like Alen Hrdaljko for so long. It feels like other teams have lost out on more integral components of their sides whilst CDSA have lost some, but most importantly have held onto the key part. For that reason CDSA might want to set their sights a little higher and aim for a top six spot and a cup run, it's been a long time since they've won a trophy and although expectations are never too high they'd at least like to be in contention whilst they still have Hrdaljko in their ranks. He supports the club but he will surely want the chance to win some trophies at some point in his career.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 6th - As alluded to, CDSA have lost some key players this summer and replacing Zgela's goals in particular will be difficult. Alen Gvetadze could prove to be a big loss too, though both Slavko Jelic and the CDSA support were occasionally frustrated with his rollercoaster form. It does feel like some of those that finished above them last season either overperformed and won't be able to maintain that (ie. Nyva Zvornik) or have lost more important parts of their teams (ie. Vlahovic leaving Ararat or Smajic leaving Tekstil). CDSA still have their best player and captain Alen Hrdaljko running their midfield and that could be enough for them to jump up a couple of places in the league table. There is a feeling that this could be a real breakout season for a couple of CDSA players too, with Slavko Jelic very positive about Kosta Urosevic and Dario Gvetadze during pre-season. Urosevic was heralded as a signing with the future in mind when he was brought in from Partizan at the start of last season and he will get his chance this year, whilst Dario Gvetadze's high-energy, high-pressing style could fit in with Jelic's counter-attacking tactical approach and help the Decraa side win possession higher up the pitch. CDSA have always been quietly solid at the back under Jelic and if Ezib Salihovic can lead them well once again then this could be a good season for the club.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Visa Marinkovic       23   MYT      3.0
DL    Goran Stojkov         22   MYT      3.0
DC    Ezib Salihovic        25   MYT      3.5
DC    Novak Pap             24   MYT      3.0
DR    Radoje Jesic          28   MYT      2.5
ML    Vasa Vojev            24   MYT      3.5
MC    Kosta Urosevic        23   MYT      4.0
MC    Alen Hrdaljko         25   MYT      5.0      Captain
MC    Hus Gerol-Ajark       26   QUS      3.5
MR    Maksim Malchikov      29   MYT      2.5     
ST    Dario Gvetadze        23   MYT      3.5

GK    Slobodan Ivanovic     17   MYT      1.5
DL    Zrinko Kodratov       28   MYT      2.0
DC    Lubo Korlenko         27   MYT      2.5
DC    Denis Klasic          16   MYT      2.0
DR    Janko Gotovina        22   MYT      2.0      DR/MC
ML    Dragan Jovanovic      23   MYT      2.0      ML/MR
MC    Zarko Mrsic           21   MYT      3.0
MC    Momchil Klemetic      40   MYT      2.5
MR    Marin Boglic          17   MYT      2.0
ST    Tasos Svarnas         17   OTH      2.0

IN
Goran Stojkov [MYT] from Rudar to CDSA, NSD 350,000 + Ivica Ivezic
Tasos Svarnas [OTH] from Mythikos [OTH] to CDSA, NSD 100,000

OUT
Ivica Ivezic [MYT] from CDSA to Rudar, p/exchange
Alen Gvetadze [MYT] from CDSA to Liria, NSD 800,000
Miralem Mazar [MYT] from CDSA to Ararat, NSD 200,000
Dejan Zgela [MYT] from CDSA to Damogran FC [SRS], NSD 3,000,000

RETIRED
Borislav Crncevic [MYT], GK, 36

Legends: Ruben Almerique (manager/player); Elaine Everdeen (player/coach); Ismet van Huijgevoort (player)
Icons: Alexey Tatarchuk (player); Roman Benarik (player); Vaclav Soacek (player)

[Mytanija]

MYTANAR TOP LEAGUE 29/30 SEASON PREVIEW PART THREE.

Tactical (T) styles      Notes
Counter                  Favours counter-attacking build-up play
Defensive                Favours defensive football
Long Ball                Favours direct build-up play
Offensive                Favours offensive football
Philosopher              Strong proponents of a specific way of playing
Possession               Favours shorter build-up play
Regimented               Organised and well-drilled approach in all phases of play
Tinkerman                Regularly makes tactical changes

Recruitment (R) styles   Notes 
Buyer                    Happy to buy in what they need, has a clear idea of signings they want to make    
Developer                Develops youngsters helping them reach their potential ability
Merchant                 Happy to make lots of transfer dealings both in and out     
Resourceful              Finds novel ways to utilise players, has an eye for under-appreciated players who can improve their team
Thrifty                  Disinclined to spend money and prefers to work with what they have

Personality (P) styles   Notes
Abrasive                 Causes friction, both with other managers/teams and at their own club
Ambitious                Wants to succeed and manage at the very pinnacle of the sport
Casual                   Relaxed and laidback approach
Charismatic              Motivates players and keeps morale high
Intense                  Extremely focussed and involved in their job
Loyal                    Loyal to club they are at/players they currently have, remembers past allegiances
Maverick                 Unorthodox and independent-minded, expect the unexpected
Perfectionist            Strives for high standards and is annoyed by those who don't
Spirited                 Fierce competitor and highly out-spoken

1923 ESCA

Location: Centralni, Esca, Zentria
Stadium: Radnika (Capacity: 60,000)
Manager: Sava Grgurovic, 56, 4th season in charge; T: regimented, R: developer, P: loyal

Club synopsis: Perennially underachieving club from the capital, 1923 Esca have all the infrastructure of a would-be big club but have always found a way to shoot themselves in the foot to prevent them from competing like that infrastructure suggests they should. Due to their links with Mytanar financial institutions in the country's capital they used to have a habit for being a little free-spending which at times left them in financial trouble, they have moved away from this approach in recent years and now tend towards decent scouting and strong youth recruitment. 1923 Esca are seen as being the emblematic capital club and the club of the establishment, thought of as aloof and even snooty, this does mean that they aren't particularly well-liked around Mytanija. The dichotomy between how important the club and its fans believe 1923 Esca to be within Mytanar football and the club's lack of historic success is widely regarded as proof of the capital's detachment from the reality of the rest of Mytanija.
Fanbase: A large, loyal and extremely passionate fanbase which only serves to add to the sense of underachievement for 1923 Esca. The self-importance many Escans feel is evident in the expectations the club's supporters have for the club with 1923 Esca's fanbase being one of the most demanding in Mytanija. They have a huge role in the running of their club too and if the fans aren't happy with how the club are doing managers will be sacked and board members will be removed from their posts. Odeljak 1-11 is the club's ultras group and they possess an outsized influence at the club, acting as the voice of the supporters on all sorts of decisions. They are notoriously nationalistic and were supportive of the Kalinina regime and this leads to them getting in all sorts of clashes with clubs in Thessia, Rauchnya and Visoravna; and especially clubs with left-wing ultras groups. In the they stadium are known for producing good choreographies and their loud presence behind one of the goals at Radnika.
Rivals: Litala ’93 (All-Esca Derby); Ararat Severyan (political); CDSA (political)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★★ / Training facilities ★★★★ / Youth academy ★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★ / Scouting ★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★★
Sponsors: IOK (finance)

Major honours: none

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Nevenka Planinc
• Where do 1923 Esca stand ahead of the 29/30 season?
Sava Grgurovic has really endeared himself to the 1923 Esca support over the past couple of seasons, few were pleased when he was handed the job but he has improved the club's league position season-upon-season and it really does look like the club are moving in the right direction for once. Grgurovic steered them to 9th last term to earn himself 2nd place in the Manager of the Season award and they weren't that far off a place in the top-half of the table either, with the likes of Remy Vandendriessche and Dino Racic impressing throughout the campaign. Thanasis Panagakos was also integral, the Othilean target man scored 13 goals last season and at 22 years of age the club believe he can still improve. The only blot on the team's record from last season was their exit from the National Cup at the earliest opportunity, but there is no shame in being put out by a resurgent 1896 Ebor side. The key for Grgurovic and 1923 Esca's board is to use this solid season as a springboard onto greater things because with their notoriously expectant fanbase the tide could soon turn against both manager and board.

One thing they do have in their favour is the enormous backing of Mytanar financial powerhouse IOK. That has allowed them to keep hold of all their key players despite interest in Dino Racic from Atletik Thessia and Liria Prizren sniffing around Remy Vandendriessche. It is a coup for 1923 Esca to keep hold of them both and improves their chances this season, Grgurovic rewarded Racic in particular with the captain's armband for his loyalty. In terms of incoming transfers 1923 Esca looked to improve the left side of their team, with tireless left-sided midfielder Sava Karanovic joining the club from relegated Partizan and marauding full-back Armoni Okombo becoming the second player from Nyowani Kitara to move to a Mytanar Top League club. Those moves could represent a shrewd pair of investments as the club look to move away from their free-spending past. Loronhalense midfielder Evandro has been promoted to the starting line-up too in a move which Grgurovic will hope takes the creative burden off Vandendriessche, though they may be wary of the duo being a bit too attack-minded. It is expected that Zeljko Kuzmanovic will replace the veteran striker Edin Zahovic as Panagakos' partner in attack.

• What represents success for 1923 Esca in 29/30?
1923 Esca supporters would probably say a top-half finish and that would be about right, it would be a very good year for them if they could manage that and it would be further proof - if it were necessary at this point - that Grgurovic is a good manager who is doing good things with the club. A top-half finished will be difficult, there are some teams which under-performed last season and there are others which might have overtaken 1923 Esca with more aggressive financial backing (1923 Esca are supported by IOK, but it hasn't really manifested itself in huge transfer fees into the club). Tempering expectations at a club like 1923 Esca can be difficult, the supporters want their club to do better than they have in the past and given the influence of Odeljak 1-11 - the club's main ultras group - it can lead to greater pressure on the team as well as kneejerk decisions regarding coaches if things aren't going quite so well. If they have a rough patch this season and avoid the pressure and kneejerk decisions (and keep Grgurovic, most importantly) then that would also be a successful year for them.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 11th - We think 1923 Esca will drop down a couple of positions, they're in good shape moving forward but this is a young team and they might not quite maintain the discipline of last season's team. Grgurovic has proven people wrong in the past though and with a bit of luck it could be another season of improvement for the club from the capital. The signings of Okombo and Karanovic look to be smart, reasonably priced additions to this squad and addressed two real areas of need too. Grgurovic is known for always having a supremely organised team and you would presume that that will be no different this season with his usual 4-4-2 shape. There are two questions regarding that though: 1) will a central midfield partnership of Vandendriessche and Evandro be as defensively responsible as Grgurovic would usually like and; 2) will such a young team be able to keep up the levels of organisation as well as a Grgurovic team usually would? The answers to those two questions will likely tell us how well this 1923 Esca team can do, if the youngsters can maintain shape and concentration they will be very tough to beat and if Vandendriessche and Evandro - offensively-minded by nature - remember their defensive duties then this could be the best team of Grgurovic's tenure.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Isak Vennerod         21   OPP      2.5
DL    Armoni Okombo         24   NYK      3.5
DC    Dino Racic            23   MYT      4.0      Captain
DC    Mojsije Lazovic       23   MYT      3.5
DR    Julijan Birsa         27   MYT      2.0
ML    Sava Karanovic        25   MYT      3.0
MC    Remy Vandendriessche  21   CRE      4.0
MC    Evandro               19   LOR      3.0
MR    Milan Bojevic         23   MYT      2.0
ST    Zeljko Kuzmanovic     23   MYT      3.0
ST    Thanasis Panagakos    22   OTH      3.0

GK    Rade Nikolic          17   MYT      1.5
DL    Vojislav Nenadovic    22   MYT      2.0      DL/DR
DL    Jezdimir Popovic      28   MYT      2.0
DC    Pribislav Siljan      22   MYT      3.0
DC    Val Nexev-Pilta       18   QUS/MYT  2.5
DR    Petar Pejakovski      16   MYT      1.5
ML    Todor Pajic           24   MYT      2.0
MC    Admir Zubovic         35   MYT      2.0
MR    Milos Bajic           16   MYT      2.0
ST    Edin Zahovic          35   MYT      3.0
ST    Emanuele Manzo        18   AUS      2.5
ST    Pawel Kwasniowski     19   RAM      2.5

IN
Sava Karanovic [MYT] from Partizan to 1923 Esca, NSD 400,000
Armoni Okombo [NYK] from Teglhus United [NYK] to 1923 Esca, free transfer

OUT
Luca Cugno [AUS] from 1923 Esca to BVK Dinamo, NSD 250,000

RETIRED
Dragan Antic [MYT], GK, 38
Jeda Stilic [MYT], MC, 38

Legends: Milos Funda (player)
Icons: Miroslav Filo (player); Igor Artemiev (player)

CRVENA ZVEZDA

Location: Tsrvena, Zentria
Stadium: Stadion Ljudi (Capacity: 25,000)
Manager: Luka Kostic, 51, 8th season in charge; T: offensive, R: resourceful, P: casual

Club synopsis: Crvena Zvezda have a growing reputation thanks to two double-winning seasons in the last decade and being the place where national hero Jezdimir Ocokoljic came through the ranks. They're a club which values entertaining football and it is rare that they will turn to a manager who doesn't have attacking instincts first and foremost. They have also produced a number of national team players in recent years, something that Crvena Zvezda supporters are extremely proud of and something which fans of other clubs recognise and credit the club for. The club were founded through politics, they were the sporting arm of a local youth socialist movement before gradually separating and becoming a sports club in their own right. They still have ties to trade unions in Tsrvena, particularly in the city's shipping and fishing industries.
Fanbase: A moderately sized fanbase which has grown during the past decade due to the club's successes, Crvena Zvezda fans are inextricably linked to left-wing politics by the club's name. This is left-wing in terms of economics, with most of their supporters combining their socialist economic beliefs with Zentrian nationalism. This puts Crvena Zvezda supporters at odds with pretty much every other fanbase in Mytanija (they arguably have more in common with their local rivals Partizan when it comes to politics than any other club!). They are quite patient as a fanbase and aren't demanding of success, however they do expect their team to at least play good football and if that requirement isn't met they become extremely vocal about it. Ultras DRCZ are their ultras group and they get in violent clashes everywhere they go due to their complicated politics.
Rivals: Partizan Tsrvena (local); Pamuk Trunca (regional)
Facilities: Stadium ★★ / Pitch ★★ / Training facilities ★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★ / Scouting ★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★
Sponsors: Saposoft (technology)

Major honours: 2 x Mytanar Top Leagues (22/23, 25/26); 3 x National Cups (22/23, 25/26, 28/29)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Cerim Jovic
• Where do Crvena Zvezda stand ahead of the 29/30 season?
Last season Luka Kostic silenced the naysayers by proving that he could win a trophy without Jezdimir Ocokoljic. The club's third National Cup triumph may be the most impressive as they knocked out four Top League clubs (Arka, Nyva, Olympic, Tekstil) before beating one more in the final as they put two past 1896 Ebor in extra time to lift the trophy. Dusko Ocokoljic was the club's player of the season, following in his older brother's footsteps whilst captain (and club legend) Damir Azanovic was inspirational at times and scored the winner in the cup final. The club's eventual league position of 10th covered up some dire mid-season form, with a decent start and strong end really marred by that inconsistency. Kostic managed to win the cup and finish in a respectable league position without Ocokoljic, but the club's financial issues remain and whilst he proved his coaching ability last season it is a widely recognised fact that the 29/30 season could prove to be the most difficult that the manager has had at the club.

Kostic wanted some reinforcements but the club's financial restrictions ensured that that was always unlikely, so he had to work with what he already had at the club and that has meant replacing ageing players and outgoings with youngsters. Left-back Loann Fandeau returned to Prahecq by moving to SS Plumelec for NSD 700,000, severely weakening the left side of Crvena Zvezda's defence. The 22 year old Ilija Opukovic will be his replacement and it is likely that that will be a weak spot which is targeted by opponents throughout the season. Stevan Ninkovic - now 33 - doesn't quite have the same energy in midfield and that gives the 20 year old Marek Ladicorbic an opportunity to impress. Ladicorbic is fairly well-rated by Crvena Zvezda and could become a big part of their team going forward, likely playing a more conservative role alongside Senekovic and Dusko Ocokoljic. Petr Isaev is the best of a bad bunch defensively, which is not to disrespect Damir Azanovic and his excellent career but the centre-half is now 38 and this is likely to be his last season at the club. It might well be a difficult campaign for the Tsrvena club.

• What represents success for Crvena Zvezda in 29/30?
Staying up. Crvena Zvezda supporters are rightly very proud of the last decade, with the club winning two league titles and three cups, but as we enter the 30s mid-way through this season it does appear as if their fortunes might be changing. The new decade could bring disappointment, with the club's financial problems severely hindering any attempts to maintain the quality of the squad and the club's greatest assets having to be repeatedly sold off to the traditional big clubs. This season could be a battle for Crvena Zvezda with a relatively young team and Luka Kostic is going to have a real battle on his hands to keep them up, but he has pulled off unlikely feats before (not least their cup win last season), so there will be a belief that he can do it once again. Would they take a relegation if it meant them defending the National Cup? That's a question for Crvena Zvezda supporters, it could be a good way to cap off a successful decade but it could also consign them to years in the lower leagues, making it a bit of a conundrum.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 14th - This might well be the end of the road for this Crvena Zvezda team. What a decade the club has had, winning five trophies over the past ten years and producing one of the finest talents Mytanija has ever seen in the form of Jezdimir Ocokoljic. Their financial problems might have finally put the last nail in the coffin though as they have prevented a major overhaul of a squad whose best years are behind them. Azanovic still leading the defence at the age of 38 tells you a lot given the amount of times quick forwards gave him issues last season. Mercifully Stevan Ninkovic will play a role off the bench rather than starting given the emergence of Marek Ladicorbic. Despite Zivadinovic's ascent into club folklore by scoring a pivotal goal in the cup final last season he isn't regularly prolific and it is difficult to see where the goals are going to come from. Crvena Zvezda scored 35 goals in 30 games last season (the worst of any team that wasn't relegated) and whilst Kostic proved he could win a trophy without Jezdimir Ocokoljic last season the manager could sure do with some of his goals this time around. Dusko Ocokoljic carried much of the creative burden last season and he'll likely do it again this year, but this team looks weak in too many areas and it could be a sour end to what has been an unbelievably sweet decade for Crvena Zvezda.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Mislav Pejic          33   MYT      2.0
DL    Ilija Opukovic        22   MYT      1.5
DC    Damir Azanovic        38   MYT      2.5      Captain
DC    Zdevko Tosor          21   MYT      2.5
DR    Petr Isaev            31   MYT      4.0
DMC   Jetmir Podgorsek      23   MYT      3.0
MC    Azem Senekovic        25   MYT      3.5
MC    Marek Ladicorbic      20   MYT      3.0
MC    Dusko Ocokoljic       21   MYT      3.5
ST    Danijel Antolovic     27   MYT      2.5
ST    Zdeslav Zivadinovic   33   MYT      2.5

GK    Arsenij Tomic         20   MYT      1.0
DL    Luka Karadordic       16   MYT      1.5
DC    Nikola Salopek        21   MYT      2.0
DR    Teodor Trlajic        20   MYT      2.5
DMC   Otmar Pajk            25   MYT      2.5
MC    Dragutin Despotovic   24   MYT      2.5    
MC    Stevan Ninkovic       33   MYT      2.5
ST    Dabiziv Cvetkovic     25   MYT      2.0
ST    Ognjen Obrenovic      16   MYT      2.0

OUT
Loann Fandeau [PRH] from Crvena Zvezda to SS Plumelec [PRH], NSD 700,000

Legends: Jezdimir Ocokoljic (player); Damir Azanovic (player); Petr Isaev (player)
Icons: Luka Kostic (manager); Zdeslav Zivadinovic (player)

ENERGIJA-NUKLEARNA

Location: Miago, Vojovitica
Stadium: Miagostadion (Capacity: 50,000)
Manager: Duje Madar, 37, 1st season in charge; T: counter, R: thrifty, P: intense

Club synopsis: Energija-Nuklearna are a historic Mytanar club who many consider to have underperformed in terms of success relative to their size in the past. They are another of the four ever-present Top League teams, although as an achievement it is held in less regard here than it is at their rivals CDSA (they like to lord their two Top League titles over CDSA, though). Their historic financial difficulties have made it a semi-official club policy to be almost entirely averse to buying players and they rely on their fantastic youth academy as much as possible. As a club they are inextricably linked with Miago's coal and nuclear power stations with workers from the energy sector founding the team - there's an irony in the fact that Miago's air pollution is the worst in the country. They aren't particularly well-liked outside of their home city, many see them as self-important without the success to back it up and lots of clubs with left-wing links despise Energija-Nuklearna due to their ultras' well-documented far-right sympathies.
Fanbase: They have a large fanbase across Mytanija, drawing supporters from all over the country given the way they bounced back from financial difficulties to win the league in the 18/19 season. For the most part their supporters are considered to be working-class and with Miago being a one-club city Energija-Nuklearna are often the talk of the town and people in all professions can be found discussing the team's fortunes as they go about their day-to-day work. This rather ramps the pressure up for the manager, with expectations usually being quite high. Grolija are the club's largest ultras group and they hold incredible sway behind the scenes regarding all sorts of decisions which affect the club's future. Grolija are infamous for their right-wing political beliefs and can often be seen raising fascist salutes and chanting about how they'd like to eradicate all Thessians and Rauchiks in their sector at the Miagostadion.
Rivals: CDSA (North Vojovitican Derby); Liria Prizren (regional); 1896 Ebor (historic); Atletik Thessia (political)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★ / Training facilities ★★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★ / Scouting ★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★★★
Sponsors: Kikinda (confectionery)

Major honours: 2 x Mytanar Top Leagues (06/07, 18/19); 2 x National Cups (15/16, 17/18)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Irma Simunec
• Where do Energija-Nuklearna stand ahead of the 29/30 season?
Where to even start with Energija-Nuklearna? Vasya Kanadin was always seen as an outsider by sections of the fanbase, so it was always going to be an uphill struggle for him to win over those sections of the notoriously hard to please support. As soon as the results started to go against him and the team it looked like things could only ever end one way. The fallout of his sacking mid-way through the previous campaign will have huge ramifications for how the club will do this season, particularly due to the transfers which have more or less been forced by the club getting rid of Kanadin. Energija-Nuklearna were in 12th and only two points clear of the relegation zone when the decision was made to tell Kanadin to clear his desk and after that Duje Madar took on the role of player-manager and steered them to 11th, which was only a place higher in the table but was more importantly 11 points clear of the drop. Whether the team's play improved under his management is another thing entirely, but the supporters were pleased that they had someone familiar with the club in charge and for many surrounding the Miago side that seems more important than the results on the pitch. They were knocked out of the cup in the 4th round by Olympic Thessia after being made to work very hard to get past third tier Radnik Avtovac a round earlier.

Duje Madar will have a difficult task in his first full season as manager and it will be a lot more difficult this season without Maks Shishkin, the diminutive number ten had followed Vasya Kanadin to Energija-Nuklearna from FK Magevskaya and was not impressed with the way the club sacked him. Shishkin publicly demanded a move away from the club at the end of the season and he was granted his wish after the club's board decided that his position was untenable following protests from the main ultras group Grolija. He was sold to Ko-orenite side Maethoru SC for NSD 5 million, but despite the useful remuneration the club will struggle without his influence this season. Andrija Ugljanin was also reportedly unimpressed with the way Kanadin was treated but he was less demanding of a move away from Miago, but when Atletik came in for him as a replacement for Grigorij Savicevic it was difficult to say no and Energija-Nuklearna happily banked the NSD 1.75 million fee. With Duje Madar retiring to take over the manager's job Energija-Nuklearna needed a replacement and despite burning a few bridges with former FK Magevskaya people in Kanadin and Shishkin that didn't affect their interest in Vitomir Sukhorukov who will now shield their defence alongside Predrag Vukomanovic after his NSD 500,000 move.

• What represents success for Energija-Nuklearna in 29/30?
Not forcing a good manager out would be a start, but Energija-Nuklearna supporters never fully got on with Vasya Kanadin and as soon as the results turned everybody could see how it would end. Despite Duje Madar's lack of experience as a manager it will be much more difficult to force him out because he's Miago born and bred and knows what makes the club tick. Sometimes it seems like that's the most important thing to Energija-Nuklearna supporters rather than on-field success. On the pitch Energija-Nuklearna shouldn't be struggling as much as they did last season and they should really be a top-half team every year, but given their historic financial issues they are wary of spending and whilst their academy is producing good players they need a few years to develop into a really strong team. For that reason - and the fact that they have an inexperienced manager - a safe mid-table finish would represent a good year for them.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 12th - Duje Madar is unproven as a manager and Energija-Nuklearna accumulated around 1.4 points per game under his leadership towards the end of last season. Over the course of thirty games that could be good enough for around 42 points, a total which would have placed them in the top-half last term. That was only in a small sample size of nine games though and there wasn't an enormous improvement in the way Energija-Nuklearna played following Kanadin's departure. Madar also won't have Shishkin to create chances for his team (nor the 8 goals Shishkin scored himself) and there is a really noticeable lack of creativity in this team without him. Zdenko Smolic is only 16 years of age and whilst he was key in Energija-Nuklearna's youngsters winning the Spirit of Youth Trophy last season it is obvious he will have some growing pains in adjusting to senior football. It will be difficult to rely upon him for that creative spark. Luckily for Madar he has some solid players to work with in other areas, Mijat Simic is a promising poacher who scored 14 goals last season and is excellent at leading the press. Jasmin Bertovic is a reliable young goalkeeper and the base of midfield is solid with Vukomanovic and Sukhorukov. Energija-Nuklearna's games could be boring this season, they won't have as many moments of inspiration without Shishkin, but boring would be fine for Duje Madar in his first full season as manager. We think they have enough to be comfortably safe, finishing around 12th.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Jasmin Bertovic       22   MYT      3.5
DL    Lucijan Baljak        23   MYT      2.5
DC    Luka Bobic            32   MYT      3.0      Captain
DC    Nebojsa Guzina        27   MYT      2.5
DR    Dusan Gojkovic        26   MYT      3.0
DMC   Predrag Vukomanovic   27   MYT      4.0
DMC   Vitomir Sukhorukov    21   MYT      3.0
AML   Vedran Grcic          23   MYT      2.5      AML/ST
AMC   Zdenko Smolic         16   MYT      2.0
AMR   Renato Ivezic         24   MYT      2.5
ST    Mijat Simic           22   MYT      3.0

GK    Sasa Stjepanek        20   MYT      2.0
DL    Stjepan Viskovic      20   MYT      2.0      DL/DC
DC    Bruno Saranic         16   MYT      2.0
DR    Zlatko Svalina        20   MYT      2.5      DC/DR/DMC
DMC   Dejan Jovev           21   MYT      2.0
AML   Sandro Pijevic        17   MYT      2.0      AML/AMC
AMR   Vedad Alomerovic      32   MYT      2.0
ST    Willi Meindl          19   TEU      2.0
ST    Ricardo Sculac        16   MYT      2.0

IN
Vitomir Sukhorukov [MYT] from FK Magevskaya to Energija-Nuklearna, NSD 500,000

OUT
Maks Shishkin [MYT] from Energija-Nuklearna to Maethoru SC [KOR], NSD 5,000,000
Andrija Ugljanin [MYT] from Energija-Nuklearna to Atletik, NSD 1,750,000

RETIRED
Igor Kasunic [MYT], AML, 36
Duje Madar [MYT], DMC, 37

Legends: Kristian Haugen (player); Miroslav Filo (player); Niklas Kulmala (player); Mario Tschauner (manager)
Icons: Filip Wachsmuth (player); Omet Drazaal (player); Carlos Alberto Saez (player); Duje Madar (player/manager)

ARKA

Location: Snezhnaya, Visoravna
Stadium: Arka Park (Capacity: 32,000)
Manager: Nikola Zivic, 63, 1st season in charge; T: offensive, R: thrifty, P: casual

Club synopsis: Arka have a strong regional presence in Visoravna and are arguably the best-run club in Mytanija due to their emphasis on sustainability. They use their world class scouting networks to identify talent other clubs don't and then they set about improving those players before selling them on for a profit. It has allowed Arka to become one of the most financially stable clubs in Mytanija. Their fanbase identify strongly with a possession-based approach which the club have implemented across all age-levels, you will find Arka's youth teams all playing the same way as the first team and that eases the transition to the senior game for academy graduates. They are generally well-respected across the country for how their club is run and particularly for winning a couple of titles without ever changing their principles or breaking the bank and risking the club's future as some other teams have done.
Fanbase: A fanbase which is mostly limited to Arka's home region of Visoravna and has strong links to Snezhnaya's sea-related industries, they're known for filling out the thrillingly modern Arka Park and making it a hostile venue for opposing teams to come to. The thing they get most frustrated about is the club's board not reinvesting money on the pitch when they sell some of their better players; given how well-run the club is there isn't the same need to sell players like other clubs, so when that happens the supporters want to see money spent to ensure the squad doesn't fall back. The board's penny-pinching can grate, but there isn't pressure for success as there is at some other clubs. Krivulja Sjever are the club's main ultras group, they're formally apolitical with their main focus being supporting Arka away from any political stances, they are known to enjoy a bit of hooliganism though and particularly when they meet 1896 Ebor.
Rivals: 1896 Ebor (Northern Derby)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★★ / Training facilities ★★★★ / Youth academy ★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★ / Scouting ★★★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★
Sponsors: Plazibat Plovidba (shipping)

Major honours: 2 x Mytanar Top Leagues (16/17, 17/18); 1 x National Cup (16/17)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Dalibor Kosec
• Where do Arka stand ahead of the 29/30 season?
For a club (and more specifically a board) which prefer consistency and hate unnecessary drama last season ended up being a bit of a travesty for Arka Snezhnaya, particularly because of the way things panned out over the summer. Arka were meant to review Nemanja Pivec's position as manager once the season ended after the club finished a disappointing 12th and a third round cup exit to Crvena Zvezda. Many believe that the club's decline over the past few years is more due to the board's repeated reluctance to spend to replace top players that have been sold (although the financial stability that has brought the club is something they have been praised for in the past) than any failure on the part of Pivec, with his coaching more or less guaranteeing Top League football each season. After some time to consider their options, Arka's board agreed with that assessment and Pivec was kept on as manager and told to prepare for the new season. That was absolutely fine until two players - Josko Omerovic and Kemal Gajic - were sold under the manager's nose. That proved the final straw for Pivec and he resigned. With very little time before the new season Arka's options were limited in terms of securing a new manager and they have had to plump for 63 year old Nikola Zivic, the man who has only ever managed Granica before this and who got relegated to the third tier with them last season. He is a legend at Granica, but this will be his biggest job and although he fits in with the board's recruitment policy it is not an appointment which has inspired the club's fans who are extremely disappointed that Pivec has gone.

As mentioned, Josko Omerovic and Kemal Gajic have both left the club and that has left Arka much weaker on the pitch. Omerovic was Olympic Thessia's replacement for Kamil Jernejec, moving for NSD 1.25 million. Kemal Gajic moved to FK Arsika for NSD 2 million, with the much improved wages on offer at the west Nasto club a major factor in his decision to move to a club which finished below Arka in the league last season. Starting goalkeeper Jozi Peklenik also moved on to NK Thessia on a free transfer as the club declined to renew his contract. Sergei Khlebov is a definite improvement in that area of the pitch, arriving from relegated FK Magevskaya for NSD 400,000. He was signed by Nemanja Pivec before his resignation and it isn't clear if he would have made the move if Nikola Zivic had already been in charge. It's going to be a tough season for the veteran coach, he doesn't have much authority at the club and the supporters don't seem to be enthused with his appointment so it could prove very difficult to win them over if he gets off to a bad start.

• What represents success for Arka in 29/30?
The club just seem to be happy to retain their Top League status each season and benefit from the television money they receive to continue feathering the club's proverbial nest. Arka fans seem to be getting tired with this approach though, with the praise for the club's financial stability meaning little to them when they just want to see their club progressing a little bit on the pitch. This is especially the case when they know that there is money there, particularly after regularly lucrative transfer fees for some of the club's better players (eg. Omerovic and Gajic this summer). The fans want a bit more than this and who would blame them? However, with this group of players and Zivic as manager - he got relegated with Granica in his only other Top League season - merely retaining the club's Top League status would be a good season, even if it does seem like that's just a continuation of the club meandering to nowhere as they have over the past few years.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 13th - This is a less than ideal way to come into a job for Nikola Zivic, particularly given he had just got relegated with Granica and some were wondering if it was time for him to retire after his long period of service to that club. For Zivic this will be his last job and the last chance to manage at the top level and for the club it was a case of having few other options. The loss of Omerovic will be felt deeply in the Arka defence and it means club captain Martin Zvokelj - a central midfielder for most of his career - will have to deputise at the back given the lack of any other experienced options at the club. Zvokelj could be in for a tough season playing in an unfamiliar position. Aca Zivanovic replaces Kemal Gajic and it will be very difficult for the 23 year old to replicate Gajic's quality down the wing. A lot is riding on how well Leandre Junior can play, he scored 9 goals last season and Arka will need a similar contribution this term. Safet Smajlovic's hold-up play is invaluable, but Zivic will want more than 6 goals from him this season too. Look out for young Bruno Ozmec in midfield, it's unlikely Zvokelj would have been put into defence without Ozmec's emergence, he looks like he could be a talented player. It looks like Arka have enough decent players to scrape over the line, we've predicted them to stay up narrowly in 13th, it could be close though.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Sergei Khlebov        23   MYT      3.0
DL    Veselin Hristov       23   MYT      3.0
DC    Martin Zvokelj        33   MYT      2.5      Captain; DC/MC
DC    Sinisa Jaksic         26   MYT      2.5 
DR    Sime Dujmic           25   MYT      2.5      DL/DR
MC    Bruno Ozmec           20   MYT      3.0
MC    Dejan Pavlovic        27   MYT      3.0
AML   Cosme Morillo         27   DOM      2.5 
AMC   Leandre Junior        21   LOR      3.5      AMC/ST
AMR   Aca Zivanovic         23   MYT      2.5      AMR/ST
ST    Safet Smajlovic       25   MYT      3.0

GK    Antonio Pueko         24   MYT      2.0
DL    Adam Grdic            16   MYT      1.0
DC    Ezi Yivix-Zenon       19   QUS      2.5
DR    Gordan Cindric        31   MYT      2.5      DL/DR
MC    Vinko Zagorac         16   MYT      2.0
MC    Marko Maras           16   MYT      1.0
AML   Ilija Canic           22   MYT      1.0      AML/AMR
AMC   Dario Lukacic         17   MYT      1.5
ST    Toro Martinez         19   AZT      2.5
ST    Samir Mevzelj         33   MYT      2.5

IN
Sergei Khlebov [MYT] from FK Magevskaya to Arka, NSD 400,000

OUT
Kemal Gajic [MYT] from Arka to FK Arsika, NSD 2,000,000
Josko Omerovic [MYT] from Arka to Olympic, NSD 1,250,000
Jozi Peklenik [MYT] from Arka to NK Thessia, free transfer

Legends: Mikkel Kohlemainen (player); Daniel Schiffer (manager); Nate Parkinson (player); Leandre (player)
Icons: Tim Dalgaard (player); Samir Mevzelj (player); Obioma Chukwufumnanya (player); Hans Nielsson (player); Martin Zvokelj (player)

[Mytanija]

MYTANAR TOP LEAGUE 29/30 SEASON PREVIEW PART FOUR.

Tactical (T) styles      Notes
Counter                  Favours counter-attacking build-up play
Defensive                Favours defensive football
Long Ball                Favours direct build-up play
Offensive                Favours offensive football
Philosopher              Strong proponents of a specific way of playing
Possession               Favours shorter build-up play
Regimented               Organised and well-drilled approach in all phases of play
Tinkerman                Regularly makes tactical changes

Recruitment (R) styles   Notes 
Buyer                    Happy to buy in what they need, has a clear idea of signings they want to make    
Developer                Develops youngsters helping them reach their potential ability
Merchant                 Happy to make lots of transfer dealings both in and out     
Resourceful              Finds novel ways to utilise players, has an eye for under-appreciated players who can improve their team
Thrifty                  Disinclined to spend money and prefers to work with what they have

Personality (P) styles   Notes
Abrasive                 Causes friction, both with other managers/teams and at their own club
Ambitious                Wants to succeed and manage at the very pinnacle of the sport
Casual                   Relaxed and laidback approach
Charismatic              Motivates players and keeps morale high
Intense                  Extremely focussed and involved in their job
Loyal                    Loyal to club they are at/players they currently have, remembers past allegiances
Maverick                 Unorthodox and independent-minded, expect the unexpected
Perfectionist            Strives for high standards and is annoyed by those who don't
Spirited                 Fierce competitor and highly out-spoken

FK ARSIKA

Location: Arsika, Nasto
Stadium: Novi Zavej Park (Capacity: 30,000)
Manager: Veton Rashaikov, 48, 6th season in charge; T: regimented, R: merchant, P: spirited

Club synopsis: A team which hasn't had much to shout about over the years despite hailing from a one-club city of over 1 million people, FK Arsika have recently come into money under the ownership of concrete and chemical tycoon Sacha Dobruzhanski. Dobruzhanski has big dreams for his hometown club and has the money needed to pursue them, with an aim of eventually qualifying for international competitions. Arsika's warm weather, youthful population and status as Nasto and Avnalia's largest city makes it an attractive place to live and the club have employed an aggressive approach in the transfer market to try and improve the squad with that offer. Dobruzhanski is prepared to use his cash to improve the team but he's also spent money on the club's facilities - including a new stadium - all this money being thrown around has made other clubs dismissive of FK Arsika and prepared to disparage any successes as the mere result of being nouveau riche. Given the financial situations many Mytanar clubs find themselves in it is possible they are also a little envious.
Fanbase: A growing fanbase who are slightly split over their club's ownership situation, some seeing it as a necessary evil in the modern game and others uncomfortable with Dobruzhanski taking the club away from its roots. Their expectations are similarly split between those who'd like the club to succeed immediately due to the new money and those who'd like to see sustainable development over time. The atmosphere at Novi Zavej Park has the most 'foreign feel' of any Mytanar grounds with a more family-orientated approach and less being run by ultras. Their support is also split on politics, this time along age lines with older supporters being more right-leaning (and potentially supportive of the Kalinina regime during its time); and younger fans being left-leaning. This hasn't manifested itself as a battle on the terraces yet, FK Arsika are one of few Mytanar clubs without an active ultras group.
Rivals: Rotor Ravnina (West Nasto Derby); Nyva Zvornik (regional)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★★ / Training facilities ★★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★★ / Scouting ★★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★
Sponsors: Dobruz Industries (construction/chemicals)

Major honours: 1 x National Cup (05/06)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Dalibor Kosec
• Where do FK Arsika stand ahead of the 29/30 season?
FK Arsika had an exceptional first-half of last season, starting well and sitting in 7th at the halfway point. Their fast start slowed down considerably over the second-half of the campaign but they managed to stay away from danger and finished nine points clear of the drop despite only finishing a place outside the relegation zone in 13th. The comfort with which they managed to stay up was mainly down to the partnership between their two foreign strikers, the Squornshelan Juljana Chmela and on-loan Nepharan forward Ava Linfield, with the pair combining for 24 of FK Arsika's 47 goals last term. Veton Rashaikov decided not to extend Ava Linfield's loan as he wanted to change to a single striker formation ahead of the new season and we will see how much that affects FK Arsika given that Linfield's on-field relationship with Chmela was near telepathic at times and the Brinemouth loanee created lots of chances for her strike partner. The Nasto side exited the National Cup in the quarter finals at the hands of eventual finalists 1896 Ebor after a decent run in the competition.

Everybody knew that Sacha Dobruzhanski would be prepared to pump money into the club to improve their team this summer. Dobruzhanski has huge ambitions and wants FK Arsika to be battling for IFCF spots regularly so whilst finishing 13th allowed the club to further establish themselves in the Top League, the wealthy owner will want to see a return on his investment this season and that might mean greater pressure on Veton Rashaikov. A net spend of over NSD 5 million shows that Dobruzhanski isn't messing about, Rashaikov wanted to switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation and his owner has given him the resources to fit out the formation exactly how he wanted to. There has been a shift towards signing talented young Mytanar players, with pacy winger Kemal Gajic joining from Arka for NSD 2 million and Prahecqois-born midfielder Sefir Ajanovic joining for the same fee. Both have been impressive with the national team recently. FK Arsika used the Prahecq pipeline again to persuade Usten Odonelec (brother of Jasno, cousin of Patrik) to join the club and beef up their defence with his imposing physical presence. Rasim Yevstigneyev represents a cheaper option, but he looked good in limited minutes off the bench for relegated FK Magevskaya last season and could prove a useful signing long-term.

• What represents success for FK Arsika in 29/30?
This really is two-fold for FK Arsika. First, people will expect to see tangible improvement in their league position and at least the same showing in the National Cup due to the money they have spent. A top-half finish is likely to be the bare minimum that Dobruzhanski will accept and the owner will want to see a repeat of last season's run to the quarter final given that Rashaikov has a better squad. Really this team should be aiming for the top six given the signings they have made and if they cannot manage that it might be proof that a different manager is needed to get the expensive parts of the team to perform how they are supposed to. Second, it will be important to demonstrate that FK Arsika are trying to build a project which players want to buy into and aren't just joining because they pay better wages than other clubs. The signing of Kemal Gajic in particular caused uproar, with some branding the winger as a mercenary as he spoke about tripling his wages by joining the club. FK Arsika will want to shake that reputation off and show that the heart of the club is still there, even if it might be a difficult task.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 5th - It's a big jump but it's one which is fully justified on the basis of the spending FK Arsika have done over the summer. The improvements to their squad have resulted in a team which should be looking to finish in the top six as a minimum and should really be looking to fight it out for a IFCF qualifying position. The signings of Ajanovic and Gajic especially show how ambitious Dobruzhanski is, with both being established national team players and adding real quality to the starting line-up. Rashaikov has basically tried to replace Ava Linfield's creativity with that of two players in Ajanovic and Gajic, so the chances shouldn't dry up for the clinical Chmela. Yevstigneyev and Usten Odonelec will be a good partnership long-term but there could be some teething problems this season due to their lack of experience, they are flanked by another 20 year old in Dar Konda-Ulutu at left-back and club captain Gavril Toshev will have a big job in organising his young colleagues from the right side of their defence. This is a young but high quality team that has had a considerable sum spent on it to improve, at Gazeta Sporta we think they can finish 5th, but of course money doesn't guarantee success and there are still questions about Rashaikov's managerial ability. If he can't match-up to Sacha Dobruzhanski's lofty expectations by finishing around there he might well see the door, after all it's a lot easier to replace one manager than a whole squad of players.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Ljupco Cvetkov        24   MYT      2.5
DL    Dar Konda-Ulutu       20   QUS      3.0
DC    Rasim Yevstigneyev    20   MYT      3.0      DL/DC
DC    Usten Odonelec        23   MYT      4.0
DR    Gavril Toshev         26   MYT      3.5      Captain; DR/DMC/MC
DMC   Danilo Vasiljevic     24   MYT      3.0
MC    Sefir Ajanovic        23   MYT      4.5
AML   Nikola Gubec          21   MYT      2.0
AMC   Pasha Secujac         19   MYT      3.5
AMR   Kemal Gajic           22   MYT      4.0      AML/AMR
ST    Juljana Chmela        25   SRS      4.5

GK    Jezdimir Rakocevic    32   MYT      1.5
DL    Danco Stavric         16   MYT      1.0
DC    Slaven Blajojevic     27   MYT      2.5      DL/DC
DC    Radivoje Antic        29   MYT      2.0
DR    Marko Sokolic         29   MYT      1.5      DC/DR
DMC   Amynta Michail        22   MYT      2.5
MC    Bojan Velyov          16   MYT      2.0
AML   Mirza Cirkovic        34   MYT      2.0
AMC   Matvey Demenok        31   MYT      2.0
AMR   Yordan Naumov         17   MYT      2.5
ST    Damjan Degoricija     16   MYT      2.0
ST    Dzvezdan Ristov       19   MYT      1.5

IN
Sefir Ajanovic [MYT] from Stade Yvelines [PRH] to FK Arsika, NSD 2,000,000
Kemal Gajic [MYT] from Arka to FK Arsika, NSD 2,000,000
Usten Odonelec [MYT] from Clichy-sous-Bois [PRH] to FK Arsika, NSD 1,500,000
Rasim Yevstigneyev [MYT] from FK Magevskaya to FK Arsika, NSD 100,000 + Zafer Muratovic

OUT
Sasa Cosic [MYT] from FK Arsika to FK Magevskaya, free transfer
Zafer Muratovic [MYT] from FK Arsika to FK Magevskaya, p/exchange Rasim Yevstigneyev
Antoine Mushiya [KET] from FK Arsika to NK Thessia, NSD 300,000
Miralem Rakic [MYT] from FK Arsika to Lok. Cassia, NSD 250,000
Juraj Stanic [MYT] from FK Arsika to Dinamo, free transfer

Legends: Davor Kastari (player); Sacha Dobruzhanski (owner)
Icons: Zdenek Valisz (player); Gavril Toshev (player)

NK DYKA

Location: Dyka, Nasto
Stadium: Drachevo (Capacity: 12,500)
Manager: Dzvezdan Kitanchev, 40, 4th season in charge; T: tinkerman, R: developer, P: ambitious

Club synopsis: For the vast majority of their history NK Dyka have been a club which has bounced between the second and third tiers, a lower league team which watched other clubs from Nasto fight it out against the biggest names. Upon their relegation to the Treća Liga in 24/25 iconic club president Blasko Vaskanov had a dream of changing that with his data driven way of looking at the sport which he hoped could take his boyhood club to the top of Mytanar football for the first time ever. Less than 5 years later NK Dyka are regarded as a thoroughly modern club which uses statistics and data analysis to a level which has never been seen before in Mytanija, with it factoring into all levels of decision-making. Some say NK Dyka are trying to reinvent the wheel with new-fangled nonsense, but their approach has allowed them to become self-sufficient with strong youth development and scouting in stark contrast to the financial problems many Mytanar clubs experience. The city of Dyka is historically known for being where the now long deposed Mytanar royal family had their most ostentatious palace, the Alzburg. Residents of Dyka still find it difficult even now to shake the reputation of being the seat of the monarchy and aristocracy.
Fanbase: NK Dyka are reasonably well supported within their own city, though some do tend to support more successful clubs from elsewhere given the club's long history of lower-league mediocrity. The club do not have an active ultras group. Younger generations have experienced a more exciting and successful team and therefore the club is enjoying something of a boom in local support, where children may once have worn the shirts of clubs like Liria Prizren or Energija-Nuklearna they are now proud to wear the colours of NK Dyka. Dyka is an affluent, solidly middle-class city where older generations skew towards social conservatism in the face of a fiercely liberal youth populace which is particularly strong at the large university in the city.
Rivals: Rotor Ravnina (regional)
Facilities: Stadium ★★ / Pitch ★★★ / Training facilities ★★★ / Youth academy ★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★ / Scouting ★★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★
Sponsors: Notek (electronics)

Major honours: none

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Cerim Jovic
• Where do NK Dyka stand ahead of the 29/30 season?
Well, what can we say? Last season was NK Dyka's greatest ever as they got promoted to the Top League for the very first time in their history by winning the Druga Liga by a very fine margin. They won the league by a single point with the sixth best attacking output and fifth tightest defence. It wasn't a triumph of either of those things but NK Dyka got the job done by being just that bit more consistent in terms of results and it achieved Blasko Vaskanov's dream of making NK Dyka a Top League club ahead of time, in less than five years. A lot of that has to go down to their manager, Dzvezdan Kitanchev, who is thought of as one of the best young coaches in the country with his tactical understanding and creativity being particularly impressive. They were knocked out of the National Cup in the third round by Nyva Zvornik, but they beat their Top League opposition 2-1 in the away leg which is a result which should give NK Dyka confidence ahead of this season.

As a club which prides itself on being financially sustainable NK Dyka will argue that their spending this summer has been built upon years of solid financial management and is an investment geared towards allowing them to keep their Top League status. Their recruitment has been smart though, largely moving for young players that can still develop even if the club are relegated this season which should give them a chance at returning to the top-flight in the near future. Samuil Kashuba is their most expensive signing from Partizan and the young goalkeeper should be in between the posts for a long time as long as NK Dyka can keep hold of him. Vladimir Savic is an improvement on their central defensive options whilst Sinisa Vasiljev is a developmental prospect at left-back. NK Dyka's best two signings are probably their two loans into the club, with 22 year old attacking midfielder Mirko Kosic joining from Liria and promising 17 year old striker Esro Sepúlveda coming in from Audioslavian giants Izotz Zubia. Kosic hasn't ever really delivered on his potential for Liria and at 22 needs regular game-time, his time at NK Dyka could allow him to blossom. On the other hand, this is likely to be the only time NK Dyka will get a player of Sepúlveda's profile with the youngster hailing from arguably the strongest league in the multiverse at the moment. He'll add an athletic presence up-front which should provide goals if Kitanchev's team can find him.

• What represents success for NK Dyka in 29/30?
Avoiding relegation would be success for NK Dyka. Club president Blasko Vaskanov wants them to fight all the way and there is a belief that with Kitanchev at the helm it might be possible to retain their Top League status for another year. It will be a difficult task but their approach is quite unlike anything we have seen in the Top League before and their data analysis team could give them an advantage on some of the other sides which are expected to struggle. There is an understanding that promoted sides always find it tough in the Top League though and it won't be the end of the world if NK Dyka slide back into the Druga Liga, they have made signings with the intention of giving themselves the best chance of going again should they go down (eg. Kashuba, Vasiljev and Savic; but also Crelaander Jeroen van der Meiren, a potential long-term replacement for Vlado Arzhentinski). Vaskanov's long-term horizon should help them keep perspective.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 15th - NK Dyka have made some really interesting signings over the summer, using their scouting network to snare Audioslavian striker Esro Sepúlveda from Izotz Zubia and Crelaander Jeroen van der Meiren from Daring Club Schniffbeek. Kitanchev is an exceptional young manager too and everybody is expecting him to get a lot from this team, but sadly their defence could be a bit of a hindrance despite his undoubted coaching ability. Vasiljev is not yet the player he could eventually be and the likes of captain Kainovski and right-back Mile Loncar probably aren't good enough at this level. NK Dyka's best bit of summer business might well have been keeping hold of midfield schemer Vlado Arzhentinski, with the Druga Liga player of the season drawing interest from a number of more established Top League clubs. Amynta Michail returning to his parent club FK Arsika leaves NK Dyka without that same shielding presence in front of their defence, with 18 year old Blazhe Gjorgjioski expected to start there and it will be a steep learning curve for the youngster this season. Ahead of him NK Dyka have some solid players, Trajcev and Arzhentinski have a good understanding in midfield with the former doing much of the clean-up work for the latter. Kosic, Sepúlveda and Mehic (who has Top League experience with Ararat) should chip in with goals and assists. They could be an exciting team to watch going forward, but their defence is going to let them down and we see them returning to the Druga Liga.

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Pos.  Name                   Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Samuil Kashuba         19   MYT      2.5
DL    Sinisa Vasiljev        21   MYT      2.0
DC    Vladimir Savic         27   MYT      2.5
DC    Vladimir Kainovski     30   MYT      1.5      Captain
DR    Mile Loncar            31   MYT      1.5
DMC   Blazhe Gjorgjioski     18   MYT      2.0
MC    Paskal Trajcev         24   MYT      3.0
MC    Vlado Arzhentinski     22   MYT      3.5
AMC   Mirko Kosic            22   MYT      3.0      On loan from Liria
ST    Esro Sepúlveda         17   AUD      3.5      On loan from AC Izotz Zubia [AUD]
ST    Vido Mehic             24   MYT      3.0

GK    Saso Dimovski          28   MYT      1.5
DL    Hrvoje Mijatovic       33   MYT      1.0
DC    Petse Samardzhiev      18   MYT      1.5
DC    Ljupco Lukic           28   MYT      1.0
DR    Gligor Kosovich        20   MYT      1.5
DMC   Zoran Ilieva           16   MYT      1.5
MC    Emil Kitinov           18   MYT      2.5
MC    Jeroen van der Meiren  19   CRE      2.5
AMC   Zmejko Matliev         19   MYT      2.5
ST    Vancho Churanov        18   MYT      2.0
ST    Jan Zovko              35   MYT      1.0

IN
Samuil Kashuba [MYT] from Partizan to NK Dyka, NSD 300,000
Mirko Kosic [MYT] from Liria to NK Dyka, loan
Vladimir Savic [MYT] from Lok. Cassia to NK Dyka, NSD 250,000
Esro Sepúlveda [AUD] from AC Izotz Zubia [AUD] to NK Dyka, loan
Jeroen van der Meiren [CRE] from Daring Club Schniffbeek [CRE] to NK Dyka, NSD 100,000
Sinisa Vasiljev [MYT] from Pretia to NK Dyka, NSD 250,000

OUT
Pavel Georgiev [MYT] from NK Dyka to Dinamo, loan
Joakim Vaskov [MYT] from NK Dyka to Slovan, loan
Marjan Uzunovski [MYT] from NK Dyka to NK Thessia, loan

Legends: Dzvezdan Kitanchev (manager/player)
Icons: Blasko Vaskanov (club president)

LITALA ’93

Location: Litala, Esca, Zentria
Stadium: Sokolovny (Capacity: 30,000)
Manager: Mijat Krstic, 45, 7th season in charge; T: tinkerman, R: merchant, P: perfectionist

Club synopsis: Litala ’93 are a club with a storied history which can arguably lay claim to being the biggest club from the Mytanar capital. That wasn't always the case though, during their greatest period they were regarded as plucky underdogs who stuck it to the big boys. Now they are rightly seen as one of the powerhouses of the opening decade of professional football, Litala won a pair of titles under cherished manager Lukas Boronin when Erathi playmaker Isidoro Nao played in the club's famous lavender shirt. Often defined by their opposition to all things 1923 Esca, Litala are known as the club of the working class in the Mytanar capital and as such are generally the anti-establishment choice. Litala ’93 supporters never tire of rubbing their two league titles in the faces of their greatest rivals, with 1923 Esca remaining trophyless to this day despite their greater resources.
Fanbase: A large fanbase in Esca and well-supported more widely across Zentria, Litala ’93 are often seen as the rebel's choice due to their long-standing links with the capital's working class. The club fosters a great sense of inclusivity with strong volleyball and handball sections receiving just as impressive support as the football team does. As a club Litala ’93 have significant links to left-wing politics and Ultras Litala reflect that in the stands with colourful choreographies in support of socialist and anti-racist causes. They have strong friendships with left-wing teams in other regions like Atletik Thessia and Ararat Severyan, as well as with Dinamo Esca in the capital. It's a different story during games against 1923 Esca of course, they can often descend into violence and Litala don't maintain the best of relationships with other capital clubs like Zenit or BVK Dinamo due to their politics either.
Rivals: 1923 Esca (All-Esca Derby); 1896 Ebor (historic)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★ / Pitch ★★★ / Training facilities ★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★ / Scouting ★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★★
Sponsors: Pačariz (spirits)

Major honours: 2 x Mytanar Top Leagues (07/08, 08/09)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Nevenka Planinc
• Where do Litala ’93 stand ahead of the 29/30 season?
There might well be a sense of regret around Sokolovny that Litala ’93 couldn't quite secure the Druga Liga title last season, finishing 2nd behind an inspired NK Dyka side which just seemed to pull results out of the bag whenever they needed them. Litala were probably the best all-round team in the division and were near the top of the rankings for both goals scored and least goals conceded even as manager Mijat Krstic displayed a new-found sense of adventure in his team's play. They were often exciting, particularly against lesser opposition, whilst Krstic would tighten things up for the more difficult assignments. The disappointment about not winning the league title will have dissipated pretty quickly given the club's return to the Top League and that being a boon in itself. Their blend of youth and experience was ideal for the Druga Liga, but they have moved younger following their promotion and it remains to be seen whether that is a good move. 1896 Ebor dispatched their historic rivals from the National Cup in the fourth round, with a particularly painful 5-1 aggregate score line. Litala will want to avenge that this season.

Litala ’93 have a long-standing friendship with Atletik Thessia and they used that to brilliant effect by bringing in defensive midfielder Zijad Kurtcehajic on-loan. Kurtcehajic is believed to be the best defensive midfield talent in Mytanija since Branko Brkljacic and Litala have him this season whilst only having to cover his wages. It's an outstanding bit of business by the club which should suit all parties, giving Litala an exceptional talent and Kurtcehajic consistent minutes before returning to Atletik and taking over the starting role for them. It's also a move which strengthens that friendship between two fiercely left-wing clubs. Speaking of left-wing Yue political exile and civil war fighter Jiahui Wang has been granted political asylum in Mytanija and Litala ’93 moved quickly to reinforce their left-wing credentials and offer him a safe haven to compete and freely espouse his views on the situation back home. Wang is a penalty box predator and should complement another new signing, veteran targetman Alen Zekic, well given their differing qualities. Zekic arrives on a free from Liria Prizren and whilst he is slowing down his record of 109 goals in 225 Top League games demonstrates his quality and longevity. Eldin Hadzic is another veteran arrival on a free, coming from Litala's enemies 1896 Ebor and taking the captain's armband, he'll have to quickly endear himself to the partisan Litala support with good performances. Finally Ilija Blagojevic was signed from Tekstil to beef up the midfield, representing the only money spent at NSD 350,000.

• What represents success for Litala ’93 in 29/30?
The bare minimum for Litala ’93 is staying up, it's been too long since they have been an established Top League team and many across Mytanija enjoy seeing them in the top-flight given their history and fantastic support. However, this Litala team is actually strong enough to aim for a bit more with their signing policy of moving for proven Top League experience on free transfers and for small fees equipping them well. Their youth academy has done the rest by filling out the remainder of the squad with talented youngsters. Due to this Litala ’93 should be aiming to comfortably stay up, perhaps even finishing safely in mid-table, but you can understand that a top-flight starved fanbase and board would be more than happy with finishing 13th on goal difference if it meant they retain their Top League status for another year. Also, whisper it, but they'll want to ensure they don't lose out in the resumption of the All-Esca Derby this season.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 10th - Mijat Krstic seems to be a manager who has developed his tactical flexibility to a level which could really benefit Litala ’93 in the Top League, with the wide array of different teams his team will face. Different approaches are needed for games against Atletik and Liria than the ones they will use against NK Dyka and BVK Dinamo and Krstic demonstrated that he can do that in the Druga Liga last season. The club have also put together a really solid team, pairing their talented young players with lots of good quality Top League experience. Blagojevic will add steel to their midfield and was signed for a fee which could represent brilliant value. Hadzic isn't quite the player he once was but his organisation abilities will benefit this team. Litala played on their links with Atletik to bring in Kurtcehajic - who could be their best player this season - but also might have used them to bring in former Atletik targetman Zekic, the veteran should be the focal point of their attack and will give them a consistent out-ball. Jiahui Wang is the wildcard, what could his time out of the game fighting for what he believes in have done to his on-pitch ability? It's difficult to say, but he could be a good foil for Zekic and Mijat Krstic will hope young Florent-Roparzh Krstic (no relation to the manager, a boyhood Litala fan named for club legend Florent-Roparzh Le Tallec) can learn a lot from his two more experienced colleagues in the forward line. All in all this is a solid team and they should comfortably stay up and finish around 10th.

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Pos.  Name                    Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Dragisa Lazarevic       20   MYT      3.5      
DL    Zivorad Moldovan        20   MYT      2.5
DC    Eldin Hadzic            35   MYT      2.0      Captain
DC    Atan Bojanic            28   MYT      2.0
DR    Antun Spiridonovic      21   MYT      3.5
DMC   Zijad Kurtcehajic       21   MYT      4.0      DMC/MC; On loan from Atletik
MC    Ilija Blagojevic        30   MYT      3.0
MC    Efthimis Vasseas        18   OTH      3.0
ST    Florent-Roparzh Krstic  18   MYT      3.0
ST    Alen Zekic              33   MYT      3.5
ST    Jiahui Wang             24   YZH      4.0

GK    Ljuba Carapic           18   MYT      1.0
DL    Braco Lazarevic         17   MYT      2.0
DC    Stanislav Zoric         35   MYT      1.5
DC    Radenko Pejakovski      17   MYT      1.0
DR    Ljes Velimirovic        18   MYT      1.5
DMC   Atanasije Tanackovic    18   MYT      2.0
MC    Boza Despotovic         17   MYT      2.5
MC    Nado Maricic            34   MYT      1.5
MC    Dragoljub Vlahovic      18   MYT      1.0
ST    Damilola Camara         20   KET/MYT  2.5
ST    Milanko Trkulja         29   MYT      2.0

IN
Ilija Blagojevic [MYT] from Tekstil to Litala ’93, NSD 350,000
Eldin Hadzic [MYT] from 1896 Ebor to Litala ’93, free transfer
Zijad Kurtcehajic [MYT] from Atletik to Litala ’93, loan
Jiahui Wang [YZH] from Yuezhou to Litala ’93, free transfer
Alen Zekic [MYT] from Liria to Litala ’93, free transfer

OUT
Duro Filipovic [MYT] from Litala ’93 to BVK Dinamo, free transfer
Jovan Resetar [MYT] from Litala ’93 to Zeljeznicar, NSD 250,000
Georgij Tasic [MYT] from Litala ’93 to Dinamo, free transfer

Legends: Isidoro Nao (player); Lukas Boronin (manager); Florent-Roparzh Le Tallec (player)
Icons: Vagn Meyer (player); Musa Kiril (player/manager); Miska Kasvio (player); Musa Pechachek (player)

BVK DINAMO

Location: Besnik, Esca, Zentria
Stadium: Stadion Pavel Vyoral (Capacity: 20,000)
Manager: Konstantin Rajkovic, 55, 9th season in charge; T: counter, R: merchant, P: abrasive

Club synopsis: BVK Dinamo are a club which has strong links with the Mytanar army and were one of the most successful teams prior to professionalisation. Besnik, their area of Esca, is particularly bleak and completely dominated by enormous military barracks which were especially important historically. Most of the capital's industry is based in other areas and this means unemployment and crime rates are high in Besnik and it is often regarded as a particularly intimidating place to go on a trip to an away game. In recent years BVK Dinamo have become a perennial yo-yo club between the Top League and Druga Liga. Their lack of resources and poor facilities have hindered them from ever consistently establishing themselves at the top-level.
Fanbase: No one likes them and they don't care, BVK Dinamo have a long history of hooliganism and have been smashing up stadiums across Mytanija for years. This was less of an issue in the lower leagues, but since they have spent time in the Top League various institutions have tried to come up with plans to fight 'the BVK Dinamo problem'. They have the smallest fanbase of all five of the main Esca clubs (not including Akademija), but their fierce sense of loyalty creates a boisterous atmosphere at home games. Their supporters tend towards being poorer and supportive of right-wing politics, with the club's ultras group Grupa Vrata being one of the most openly fascistic in the nation. Grupa Vrata are friends with Energija-Nuklearna's Grolija which underlines their pro-Kalinina politics. BVK Dinamo don't really have a specific derby game and all games against other Esca clubs are seen as important, but they do save special ire for Dinamo Esca due to their left-wing politics and a long-standing debate over who chose the 'Dinamo' moniker first.
Rivals: Dinamo Esca (local/political)
Facilities: Stadium ★ / Pitch ★ / Training facilities ★★ / Youth academy ★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★ / Scouting ★ / Youth recruitment ★★
Sponsors: Besnik Taksi (taxicabs)

Major honours: none

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Irma Simunec
• Where do BVK Dinamo stand ahead of the 29/30 season?
BVK Dinamo sneaked into the Top League by finishing 3rd in the Druga Liga on goal difference last season, allowing them to finish ahead of Pretia Prizren by a single goal. They were slightly better in attack than their rivals for promotion, whilst Pretia were the second tier's best defence (only conceding 24 goals through 30 games!). It wasn't the most comfortable way of returning to the Top League, but it meant they returned at the first time of asking to only further confirm their reputation as a yo-yo club and manager Konstantin Rajkovic as a second tier specialist. They were eliminated from the cup in the third round by fellow Druga Liga side (at the time) Litala ’93. The pair will now play together in the Top League after both gaining promotion but Litala absolutely romped through the BVK Dinamo defence in that cup tie, routing them 6-2 over the two legs. They will now get the chance to compete against them in the top tier, with the game being an Esca derby of sorts.

A general lack of goodwill towards them among companies which could be potential sponsors means that the club's financial position is unlikely to change anytime soon, many cite BVK Dinamo's reputation for football violence and links to the far-right as reasons against helping the club. That has prevented them from signing players in the past and means that they usually have to try and use Druga Liga players to compete against Top League opposition. That hasn't changed much this summer, although the club have loosened the purse strings a little to make three signings. Similarly to NK Dyka's transfer business, the moves appear to be ones which could help them even if they are relegated. Teufik Bajramovic has joined from Olympic for NSD 150,000 and should provide something of a goal threat, though at this point in his career he seems more of a top second tier striker than a good top-flight marksman. Versatile Ausonean Luca Cugno swapped one Esca club for another by moving from 1923 Esca to BVK Dinamo for NSD 250,000, although Rajkovic has seemed unsure of Cugno's best position in pre-season. Eldar Novakov has plenty of experience and joins from Tekstil for NSD 150,000, he's likely to slot in on the left of the three in Rajkovic's 4-2-3-1.

• What represents success for BVK Dinamo in 29/30?
I'm not sure this BVK Dinamo team is quite as poor as last season's FK Magevskaya team or the 16/17 iteration of Lok. Cassia. FK Magevskaya 28/29 are officially the worst ever Top League team, relegated with a mere 10 points whilst the 16/17 Lok. Cassia team weren't much better with 12 points - so being a bit better than those two probably isn't the biggest compliment! This BVK Dinamo team look likely to get relegated and they will be hoping against hope that they can avoid going down in the annals of history with those sort of teams. The BVK Dinamo support are fiercely loyal, but they will still want their team to put up a good fight and bloody some noses along the way and doing that would be a success. Bookmakers don't look confident in their chances of staying up and 99.9% of the Mytanar punditry world agrees with that assessment, but BVK Dinamo are a club which love to be hated and are often at their best with their backs against the wall. If they did the unthinkable and stayed up with this team it would be a truly mindblowing success and be an unbelievable vindication of manager Konstantin Rajkovic.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 16th - Well, the views about BVK Dinamo's chances of staying up have been expressed pretty clearly here and elsewhere. This team is a good Druga Liga side and is likely to struggle at this level but once again they will hope to keep the team together as best as they can and give it another shot in the future. That's more or less been their plan for the last few years and it has worked, although they haven't been able to hold onto a Top League place. This time they have a couple of players who could become decent Top League players in the future in the form of central defender Krsto Tadic and defensive midfielder Velichko Zebic. Down the flanks they have top second tier quality, with the likes of Lazic and Zrinski at full-back and new signing Novakov and Sergej Krsmanovic higher up in attacking areas on the wings. If these players out-perform their abilities and can tee up Bajramovic - a striker who has scored important goals in the past for Olympic, despite never really looking like more than a substitute - they could pull off a miracle. It's difficult to see it happening though, we expect BVK Dinamo to be relegated and their main challenge will be trying to keep it respectable.

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Pos.  Name                   Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Branimir Velimirovic   22   MYT      1.5
DL    Boza Lazic             25   MYT      2.5
DC    Drago Jovic            20   MYT      1.5
DC    Krsto Tadic            20   MYT      2.0
DR    Matija Zrinski         22   MYT      2.5
DMC   Radomir Zivic          34   MYT      1.5      Captain
DMC   Velichko Zebic         20   MYT      2.0
AML   Eldar Novakov          29   MYT      2.5      AML/AMR
AMC   Zivko Jocic            20   MYT      1.5
AMR   Sergej Krsmanovic      27   MYT      2.5
ST    Teufik Bajramovic      24   MYT      2.5

GK    Arsenije Ugljanin      21   MYT      1.0
DL    Mihailo Gisic          20   MYT      2.0
DC    Sava Aleksic           21   MYT      1.5 
DC    Ivan Alekseev          34   MYT      0.5
DR    Radonja Moldovan       21   MYT      1.0
DMC   Radivoje Modric        27   MYT      1.0
AML   Ljuba Bojevic          21   MYT      1.0      AML/AMR
AMC   Resad Karlovic         33   MYT      0.5
AMR   Luca Cugno             21   AUS      2.5      AML/AMR/ST
ST    Viseslav Velimirovic   19   MYT      2.5
ST    Duro Filipovic         36   MYT      1.0

IN
Teufik Bajramovic [MYT] from Olympic to BVK Dinamo, NSD 150,000
Luca Cugno [AUS] from 1923 Esca to BVK Dinamo, NSD 250,000
Duro Filipovic [MYT] from Litala ’93 to BVK Dinamo, free transfer
Eldar Novakov [MYT] from Tekstil to BVK Dinamo, NSD 150,000

RETIRED
Borjan Brkic [MYT], DC, 35

Legends: Pavel Vyoral (player); Konstantin Rajkovic (manager/player)
Icons: Zdeslav Zivadinovic (player)

[Mytanija]

MYTANAR TOP LEAGUE 29/30 SEASON REVIEW PART 1

We're back once again to review another season of Top League action and we will be covering every goal from every game that Mytanar clubs have been involved in this year. Last time around we had a resurgent Atletik Thessia claim their eleventh league title whilst Crvena Zvezda won the cup for the third time thanks to two extra time goals against 1896 Ebor. This summer we have seen FK Arsika owner Sacha Dobruzhanski spend millions on putting together a team which he hopes will be capable of challenging for a top four place and we could see as many as four or even five teams (if Dobruzhanski's spending pays off) fight it out for the league title. Liria Prizren and 1896 Ebor will both be hopeful that this is the year that they can end lengthy title droughts, although they do have the imposing challenge of Atletik Thessia standing in their way. At the other end we could have a proper relegation battle on our hands for the first time in a few years as Arka Snezhnaya, Energija-Nuklearna and even cup-holders Crvena Zvezda appear to be at their weakest and promoted sides like Druga Liga champions NK Dyka and runners-up Litala ’93 look like they can give them a real run for their money. In this first part we will cover Mytanar clubs' adventures in qualifying for IFCF competitions, as well as the first four weeks of the league season. Let's go!

PRE-SEASON WEEK 1
Rushmore Copa de Campeones Preliminary Round 1st Leg
(XHA) Jinyu City SC 0-0 Atletik (MYT)

IFCF Challengers' Cup Extra Preliminary Round 1st Leg
(HSP) Atletikoa Haranurdina 0-0 1896 Ebor (MYT)
(HEB) Daredevils 1-3 Olympic (MYT)

Atletik wanted to win the league title last season for two reasons: 1) so that they could put Olympic back in their box; and 2) so that they could take back what they see as their rightful place in international competitions. The Rushmore Copa de Campeones is a competition Atletik have won twice and they wanted to get their campaign off to a good start against Xinhuanese champions Jinyu City. Unfortunately they drew a blank in the first leg, with a young Atletik team looking pretty toothless in front of goal. Thankfully they were solid enough at the opposite end and Bigger Mbala-Ekakia got a start as he looks to nail down a starting place ahead of this season.

1896 Ebor are Mytanija's most successful team in international club competitions boasting two UICA Champions' Cup wins (back-to-back triumphs no less). They pipped Ararat Severyan to the post for the final IFCF Challengers' Cup place at the tail end of last season and as a result enter the competition here in the extra preliminary round. A short trip across Rushmore to Hispinas was their reward and they performed manfully in holding Atletikoa Haranurdina to a goalless draw. They will hope to bring them back to a raucous Olujastadion to complete the job next week. Olympic Thessia got their campaign underway with a 3-1 win over Hebitakan side Daredevils. Olympic went on something of an adventure in this tournament last season, with their run eventually ended by Astograthian side Urbizania Wanderers. This match was against much less high-profile opposition, but it gave Emil Jefak a chance to get a good look at Fodhlan striker Levi Doolan. Doolan returns from his loan to Partizan Tsrvena and got off to a good start here by putting two past Daredevils. Jefak will hope he can continue like that as it would mean that Olympic have a fourth really solid forward option alongside Adamo Fallaci, Anne-Linde van Oers and Lazar Prinelec.

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PRE-SEASON WEEK 2
Rushmore Copa de Campeones Preliminary Round 2nd Leg
(MYT) Atletik (1) 1-0 (0) Jinyu City SC (XHA)

IFCF Challengers' Cup Extra Preliminary Round 2nd Leg
(MYT) 1896 Ebor (6) 6-0 (0) Atletikoa Haranurdina (HSP)
(MYT) Olympic (5) 2-0 (1) Daredevils (HEB)

Jinyu City made things difficult for Atletik throughout this tie and the Top League champions needed a goal from Damien Gannot to finally see off their opponents. Robin Hjik was unimpressed with his players post-game and wasn't afraid of making that known to the media. It looks like some work will be needed if they want to get into the same form that allowed them to win the Top League so comprehensively last season. This time they don't have Jezdimir Ocokoljic to rely on either.

In the IFCF Challengers' Cup 1896 Ebor were brilliant on home soil and put six past Atletikoa Haranurdina. Petar Majdandzic scored a hat-trick, displaying a level of aerial dominance not seen by a Mytanar striker since Alen Zekic was in his prime. The 22 year old could grow into a real weapon for 1896 Ebor if he is now really starting to realise his obvious potential. Olympic Thessia went into their second leg match against Daredevils 3-1 up and knowing that the first goal in the game could really decide the direction of the tie. In that spirit they roared out of the traps and scored two in the opening ten minutes, one for Lazar Prinelec and one for Vehbija Bijedic. Emil Jefak must be really pleased with this tie - in direct contrast to how Atletik's Robin Hjik is feeling about his team following their first international tie of the campaign - he was able to rest some key players and get a good look at some of those coming back to the club from elsewhere ahead of the new season. All whilst progressing very comfortably, a job well done.

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PRE-SEASON WEEK 3
Rushmore Copa de Campeones First Round 1st Leg
(MYT) Atletik 0-1 Metropolis Alligators (VLD)

IFCF Challengers' Cup First Preliminary Round 1st Leg
(MYT) 1896 Ebor 2-1 Straudum VV (KOR)
(MYT) Liria 5-2 Ostholden Town (ACH)
(GGY) VfR Steinigestrasse 1-0 Olympic (MYT)

The last thing Atletik Thessia wanted after a less than stellar performance against Jinyu City in the Copa de Campeones was to be drawn against one of the favourites to win the competition in the next round. Unfortunately for the Thessian giants that was exactly what happened and they welcomed Metropolis Alligators to the Novi Atletskistadion more in hope than expectation. These were the international nights that they had so desired. A professional Alligators' side soon dented those hopes with a 1-0 victory on Mytanar soil. Robin Hjik was much happier with his team's performance in this match than he had been following either of those against Jinyu City though and Atletik supporters will hope that the improved showing is a sign of things to come.

In the Challengers' Cup 1896 Ebor managed something of an upset against Ko-orenite side Straudum VV. Zdeslav Nesic has grown his reputation as a manager over the past few years but now people really want to see him start delivering trophies for the Northmen. More results like this will do that. Brajko Gavrilovic was sensational in scoring one and assisting Josip Brajdic to overturn Straudum's 1-0 lead. Liria Prizren entered the competition against Ancherion's Ostholden Town. Danek Badjkev's team thumped five past the away side, although the two goals conceded does still give them a chance in the second leg. Olympic Thessia were disappointed following a 1-0 defeat away to Gergary's VfR Steinigestrasse. Emil Jefak was buoyant following a rotated side's performances through their first match in the competition and he kept faith with them here, but the likes of Doolan, Bijedic and Demirovic couldn't find a way through. Still, with the deficit only at one they still have every chance heading into the second leg.

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PRE-SEASON WEEK 4
Rushmore Copa de Campeones First Round 2nd Leg
(VLD) Metropolis Alligators (4) 3-0 (0) Atletik (MYT)

IFCF Challengers' Cup First Preliminary Round 2nd Leg
(KOR) Straudum VV (1) 0-1 (3) 1896 Ebor (MYT)
(ACH) Ostholden Town (2) 0-1 (6) Liria (MYT)
(MYT) Olympic (0) 0-0 (1) VfR Steinigestrasse (GGY)

Atletik's good work in keeping the defeat to only one goal in the first leg against Metropolis Alligators was thrown aside by the Valladar club when they got their hands on Atletik in the second leg. A comprehensive 3-0 victory demonstrated the distance Mytanar clubs still have to go if they want to get back to the position they once held in international football. That gap is a yawning chasm and Robin Hjik was under no illusions about it in his post-match press conference saying that if the FSM are 'content with just being a talent factory' then it could be 'next to impossible' to see another Mytanar club win an international trophy. That's the sort of comment which indicates that Hjik may not have been as on-board with Jezdimir Ocokoljic's departure as things first appeared.

For the other Mytanar clubs there was mixed results. 1896 Ebor and Liria Prizren both completed the job in the second leg. 1896 Ebor went to Ko-oren with a 2-1 lead and not too much in the way of expectation. New signing Dalibor Vlahovic made his debut for the club and boy did he have an impact! Vlahovic scored the goal to seal the Northmen's progression to the next round, a beautiful volley from outside the penalty area and if he can continue in this vein he will be well worth the money the club spent to bring him from Ararat to the Olujastadion. Liria got a 1-0 win of their own against Ostholden Town after being 5-2 up from the first leg. Olympic put out a strong team for their second leg match-up with VfR Steinigestrasse, new signing Anne-Linde van Oers made her first appearance in an Olympic shirt but unfortunately for her it wasn't a debut to remember. Olympic huffed and puffed but the Gergarian side were dogged defensively and their 1-0 lead from the first leg ensure it would be they who would be moving on to the next round. He's won many plaudits over recent years but it was arguably Emil Jefak's early season rotation which caused their early exit and Olympic won't be overly pleased with that.

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PRE-SEASON WEEK 5
IFCF Champions' League First Preliminary Round 1st Leg
(MYT) Atletik 2-0 Pitxi-Pitxi 77 (TEQ)

IFCF Challengers' Cup Second Preliminary Round 1st Leg
(MYT) 1896 Ebor 0-1 Ludogorets Markovsky (AFT)
(MYT) Liria 3-3 Patrons (OAM)

Atletik got their IFCF Champions' League qualification campaign underway with the most difficult draw imaginable, against Tequiloan champions Pitxi-Pitxi 77. Atletik and the 77o are two of the biggest teams entering the competition at this stage and probably wanted to avoid one another. Robin Hjik was pleased at the opportunity to manage Atletik on the grandest stage in club football again though and a packed out Novi Atletskistadion welcomed the team out. Damien Gannot seems to be developing fast and he scored the opener with a fierce strike from the edge of the penalty area. Hjik will want him to be the replacement for Ocokoljic this season. Atletik's second came from Astograthian cult hero Chiki Larrimbe. Larrimbe has given his all whenever he's been called upon for Atletik and his commitment to the club was displayed with a brave diving header here. A good result for Atletik.

With Olympic's exit in the last round Mytanija only has two left in the Challengers' Cup at the moment and neither will have been pleased with their results. 1896 Ebor lost 1-0 to Fleftic side Ludogorets Markovsky. Zdeslav Nesic's team couldn't get the ball in the net and Brajdic, Majdandzic and Agic all had chances to score which they may come to regret missing. Liria Prizren had an all-Rushmori clash against Oberour Ar Moro's Patrons. The relationship between the two countries' respective football governing bodies has been soured by the clashes between Mytanar and Oberour fans at an international friendly and both would likely have preferred their clubs to avoid each other in IFCF competition. A huge Policija presence at this game ensured there wasn't a repeat of those scenes and although Liria had no trouble scoring (through Pogaenik, Nanusevski and youngster Ante Ciabok), they were also worryingly leaky at the opposite end. New signing Hurko Germain and Niksa Obadko clearly need more time to work on their on-pitch understanding and Danek Badjkev will hope they can do so quickly ahead of the second leg.

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PRE-SEASON WEEK 6
IFCF Champions' League First Preliminary Round 2nd Leg
(TEQ) Pitxi-Pitxi 77 (3) 3-1 (3) Atletik (MYT)

IFCF Challengers' Cup Second Preliminary Round 2nd Leg
(AFT) Ludogorets Markovsky (3) 2-2 (2) 1896 Ebor (MYT)
(OAM) Patrons (5) 2-0 (3) Liria (MYT)

A rollercoaster of a second leg in Tequilo nearly saw Atletik out of the competition, but another case of 'Atletik luck' conspired to keep them in as everybody's most/least favourite rule (delete as appropriate) rescued them. Atletik progressed on away goals and they actually scored it in the opening ten minutes, with - you guessed it - Damien Gannot putting them ahead. Atletik seemed to relax after that and that was a terrible idea. Pitxi-Pitxi 77 roared back into the game and scored three goals over the subsequent 75 minutes which made the final five minutes plus injury time extremely nervy. Atletik just about held on, vindication for Robin Hjik's young central defensive pairing of Bigger Mbala-Ekakia and Andrija Ugljanin. Most importantly it was safe passage to the next round after negotiating a particularly difficult tie. That's why Atletik brought Hjik back to the club and he provided the goods here.

1896 Ebor knew it was always going to be difficult going into the second leg against Ludogorets Markovsky with a one-goal deficit and they did eventually succumb to their Fleftic opponents, but they gave them a bloody nose on the way out. One more goal (or conceding one less) would have seen the Northmen through and Zdeslav Nesic's team have got their supporters excited for the first time in a really long time. Elimination from the Challengers' Cup doesn't usually do that, but it seems as if Nesic has taken the handbrake off ever so slightly with this team and if they can bring those sort of performances to the Top League then we could be in for a very interesting season. Liria didn't lose in the first leg, but they did concede three goals at home and that was a good indication of how this tie was going to play out. Patrons were solid at home and Liria looked unimaginative in attacking areas, something which might worry Badjkev given the number of good midfielders and forwards he has at his disposal. Mersudin Smajic and Alen Gvetadze were brought to Prizren for a reason and if they don't pay off then Liria might well find themselves in a situation where they need to get rid of their most legendary manager to progress. Eventually it falls at the manager's door because you can't continuously change the players. Badjkev will want to ensure that doesn't come to pass, he loves this club dearly.

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PRE-SEASON WEEK 7
IFCF Champions' League Second Preliminary Round 1st Leg
(MYT) Atletik 2-2 South Saints (ETN)

With most of the Mytanar interest in IFCF competitions ending at the conclusion of the last round we are down to our last representatives on that stage, the Top League champions Atletik Thessia. Here they were taking on Ethanian side South Saints, a difficult enough tie but one which could be dealt with if they could display a similar performance to that which they had managed in the first leg against Pitxi-Pitxi 77. Sadly for Atletik this performance had more in common with the second leg against the Tequiloan champions and South Saints scored a couple against them as a result. The only silver lining was that Atletik were more than still in with a chance, punctuating both of South Saints' goals with one of their own from captain Jasno Odonelec and stalwart striker Zlatan Andrijasevic. Giving up two away goals is never a good sign though and Atletik know all too well the impact of away goals following the manner of their 'defeat' of Pitxi-Pitxi 77 in the previous round.

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PRE-SEASON WEEK 8
IFCF Champions' League Second Preliminary Round 2nd Leg
(ETN) South Saints (3) 1-1 (3) Atletik (MYT)

South Saints completed their task with a 1-1 draw in the Champions' League second preliminary round. Atletik will drop down into the Challengers' Cup as a result after the Ethanian club did to them what they had done to Pitxi-Pitxi 77. International club football is very much a dog-eat-dog world. Miodrag Andrijasevic's driven effort from the edge of the penalty area had given Atletik the lead too, but they couldn't drive home their advantage further and South Saints came back into the game with an equaliser before half-time. The Mytanar champions were nearly undone in the second-half as new signing Andrija Ugljanin gave away a penalty, but a huge save from Jasmin Savic ensured they didn't go further behind. For Atletik fans it will be a disappointment but they will hang on to the fact that they're the only Mytanar side left in IFCF competition and hope they can give the Challengers' Cup a good whack.

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AUGUST WEEK 1
IFCF Challengers' Cup Third Preliminary Round 1st Leg
(MYT) Atletik 1-2 Letson Town (ETN)

The last thing Atletik wanted before starting their league campaign was a defeat in the first leg of their Challengers' Cup qualifier. And they were probably already sick of the sight of Ethanian teams too after South Saints put them out of the IFCF Champions' League. Letson Town won't have done too much for the reputation of Ethane in Thessia with this result, a 2-1 win at the Novi Atletskistadion leaves Atletik with an absolute mountain to climb in the second leg. It could have been worse too were it not for Nahia Legarra's injury time goal. That at least gives Atletik a semblance of hope, but they will need to score at least two if they want to progress and on Ethanian soil no less. It's not been a happy hunting ground for Atletik thus far this season. The complication of a Top League fixture either side of the second added a bit more pressure on getting a good result in the first leg too, but that didn't happen and now Atletik have a difficult assignment to turn this thing around next week.

TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 1
Arka 1–2 1923 Esca
Ararat 1–0 BVK Dinamo
FK Arsika 1–1 Litala ’93
NK Dyka 1–2 Olympic
Liria 1–1 1896 Ebor
Nyva 3–2 Tekstil
Atletik 4–1 Energija-Nuklearna
Crvena Zvezda 1–2 CDSA

The opening day of the Top League season is always eagerly anticipated around Mytanija and this season was no different with this weekend circled on everybody's calendars as the first matchday of the season. The champions Atletik got their season off to a great start with a 4-1 thrashing of Energija-Nuklearna. Robin Hjik will hope that that performance can give his team confidence ahead of their second leg tie against Letson Town. Games against Energija-Nuklearna are always potentially difficult for Atletik given the political enmity between both club's ultras groups but they skipped through this encounter relatively untroubled. Nahia Legarra built on his first goal for the club with a brace here to get them on their way. Atletik fans will hope he mirror his countryman Chiki Larrimbe's impact at the club. The biggest game of the round came between Liria Prizren and 1896 Ebor and the two couldn't be separated as Strahinja Nanusevski got the home side off to a flyer before Dalibor Vlahovic continued his good start at his new club to respond for the away side. The other top four side from last season, Olympic Thessia, got their campaign off to a winning start with a 2-1 victory over promoted side NK Dyka. It was a game for new signings to make good first impressions, with Anne-Linde van Oers scoring her first for Olympic and Audioslavian loanee Esro Sepúlveda doing the same for the home side. It was Vilim Kupresak's second-half strike which made the difference between the two sides though.

Away from the top four clubs there were wins for CDSA and 1923 Esca, with Urosevic and Panagakos grabbing the winners for their respective sides. Ararat beat promoted BVK Dinamo through a Maurizio Scianna screamer. Misel Ravnjak had said for a long time that he would be taking his team back to their 'tactical roots' ahead of this season and he will have been pleased to see how solid they were defensively there. Nyva and Tekstil had what was probably the match of the round with a 3-2 thriller in Avnalia. Anton Derajevic was inevitably at the centre of it all with a delightful double which was enough for his team to eventually win the game and finally FK Arsika's summer spending has made many tip them as a potential IFCF Challengers' Cup team for next season. Their opening game was a little underwhelming as they struggled to grab a winner against a very determined Litala ’93 (a club who the vast majority of Top League supporters are glad to see back for all they offer to the league). Kemal Gajic showed why FK Arsika had spent the big bucks to bring him in though with their first goal of the season, unfortunately for them Litala ’93 have new signings of their own and they combined beautifully to equalise when Zijad Kurtcehajic played a ball over the top for Jiahui Wang to run onto and the Yue forward deftly finished past Ljupco Cvetkov.

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AUGUST WEEK 2
IFCF Challengers' Cup Third Preliminary Round 2nd Leg
(ETN) Letson Town (5) 3-2 (3) Atletik (MYT)

Atletik went with a first choice eleven at the weekend with the exception of Nahia Legarra getting the nod ahead of Damien Gannot. Gannot was back again here and he continued his excellent form in IFCF competitions with a goal and an assist for Chiki Larrimbe. The difficulty for Atletik was that Letson Town were adept at scoring themselves too and they put three of their own past Jasmin Savic by the end of the match. A disappointing IFCF campaign for Atletik as they were unable to match Olympic's exploits in the Challengers' Cup from last season, something their neighbours will not hesitate to remind them about throughout this season. More widely it represents a really disappointing year for all Mytanar clubs as none reach the group stage of an IFCF competition and that may worry the FSM long-term. It's not a big issue right now but the wonks who keep an eye on coefficients will recognise that this is a bad year for Mytanija and will result in a major drop-off in a few seasons when last season's strong showing drops off the ledger and this one is the one that comes next up. The FSM will be hoping for improved showings in the next few years to make up for that. Atletik will have to be content with going for domestic glory again this season, though going with such a strong team mid-week could have ramifications at the weekend.

TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 2
1923 Esca 2–2 CDSA
Energija-Nuklearna 4–1 Crvena Zvezda
Tekstil 1–1 Atletik
1896 Ebor 1–0 Nyva
Olympic 0–2 Liria
Litala ’93 4–3 NK Dyka
BVK Dinamo 1–3 FK Arsika
Arka 2–2 Ararat

A Rijeka Derby game on the second week of the season is something both clubs would usually prefer to put off until later on in the season, but the FSM in their endless wisdom decided Tekstil Ibon-Atletik Thessia would go ahead at this early stage. A jaded Atletik team weren't at their best and Robin Hjik had brought in some of their rotation options to ensure a degree of freshness. Two of them combined for the opener as Gavril Atsev teed up Legarra's third goal of the league season. Tekstil were at home and their crowd seemed to be willing the ball into the net at times and eventually that pressure told on a young Atletik team, with who other than Nebojsa Aleksic heading in the equaliser. The two share the spoils, but at this stage of the season they will both probably be relatively pleased with that. Liria have been handed one tough start to the season with 1896 Ebor last week and now Olympic Thessia away from home. Danek Badjkev wanted to add some steel to his team over the summer and Hurko Germain and Mersudin Smajic seem to have provided it. Liria strangled Olympic out of the game and then Alen Gvetadze and Strahinja Nanusevski scored the game-deciding goals. 1896 Ebor did their best to keep up with the other two of the 'big three' as they beat Nyva Zvornik at home through Brajko Gavrilovic's goal.

Duje Madar had a rocky start to his first full season as Energija-Nuklearna manager as his team were on the receiving end of a 4-1 beating from Atletik. Here they managed to hand out one of their own against Crvena Zvezda. Mijat Simic grabbed his first goals of the season with a fine double. Things don't look great for Crvena Zvezda though, two losses in the opening two games with six goals conceded. Many believed they'd find it difficult this year with a transitional team and that prediction could be proven right if they continue like this. FK Arsika hammered BVK Dinamo in Esca with goals from Juljana Chmela, Pasha Secujac and Sefir Ajanovic getting them on their way before a late consolation for the home side. Promoted sides Litala ’93 and NK Dyka played out an instant classic at Sokolovny, the home side eventually edging it 4-3. Litala could be one of the most exciting attacking sides this season with the front three of Wang, Zekic and Krstic offering a bit of everything. All three got on the scoresheet today before Zijad Kurtcehajic hit the winner. It's early days and NK Dyka have lost both their games but they have shown plenty of ability in those matches and in Esro Sepúlveda they have a genuinely clinical goal scorer. They'll believe they can retain their top-flight status on the basis of these performances, although matches like today are the sort they will need to get points from if they want to do that. Meanwhile neither Arka and Ararat nor 1923 Esca and CDSA could be separated in their games with a pair of 2-2 draws providing plenty of entertainment.

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AUGUST WEEK 3
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 3
Ararat 0–0 1923 Esca
FK Arsika 2–1 Arka
NK Dyka 3–2 BVK Dinamo
Liria 2–2 Litala ’93
Nyva 1–2 Olympic
Atletik 2–2 1896 Ebor
Crvena Zvezda 0–2 Tekstil
CDSA 3–3 Energija-Nuklearna

The first week of the season where the whole focus is on the Top League comes on matchday 3 and the FSM did it justice with the fixture list throwing up two huge matches with the North Vojovitican Derby between CDSA and Energija-Nuklearna and the long-standing rivalry game between Atletik and 1896 Ebor, two of Mytanija's most successful clubs. Two thrilling draws were served up to viewers, with the fiery encounter at Psenicova seeing the lead switch three times over the course of the game. CDSA required a late leveller from Dario Gvetadze to steal a late point, though Slavko Jelic may well be pleased with that after his captain Alen Hrdaljko got sent off for a second bookable offence. He'll miss the next match. For Duje Madar the result served as a reminder of how difficult this management lark really is. Atletik went with a more familiar line-up for their game against 1896 Ebor and it seemed to pay dividends as they built a 2-0 lead inside the opening half an hour. Both goals were scored by Damien Gannot but each was assisted by a different player, first by Zlatan Andrijasevic and second by Patrik Odonelec. 1896 Ebor seem to be a different proposition this season under Zdeslav Nesic and they didn't take that lying down, a flowing move finished off by Petar Majdandzic saw them back in the game before half-time and then Ramiz Agic got his first goal of the season around twenty minutes from time to equalise. The final score of 2-2 was probably a fair result, though both teams would have wanted more.

Away from the blockbuster fixtures there was still plenty of action (although none of it was to be found in Severyan as Ararat and 1923 Esca played out a fairly nondescript goalless draw). An early skirmish in the fight against relegation was won by the odd goal in five by NK Dyka against BVK Dinamo. Vlado Arzhenstinski demonstrated why several Top League clubs were looking to sign him over the summer by bending the game-winning free-kick over the wall and into the net around ten minutes from time. Olympic got things back on track with a hard-fought win over Nyva Zvornik, goals from both Adamo Fallaci and Anne-Linde van Oers showing that those two could be on the verge of striking up a very promising partnership. Liria were twice pegged back by Litala ’93 in Prizren. The home side twice went ahead through Anton-Dusan Straka, but goals from Zekic and Krstic saw the points shared. Litala have enjoyed a good start to life back in the Top League. FK Arsika had an injury time own goal by Sinisa Jaksic to thank for their win over Arka Snezhnaya whilst Tekstil were comfortable winners against Crvena Zvezda. Alarm bells must really be sounding in Tsrvena at this point. Three games, three losses and Luka Kostic's team look to be shot of confidence. They will need both their veterans (Azanovic, Isaev, Zivadinovic) and their promising younger players (Dusko Ocokoljic, Ladicorbic and Podgorsek) to pull in the same direction if they want to get things heading in the right direction. At the minute it looks a tough ask.

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AUGUST WEEK 4
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 4
1923 Esca 4–3 Energija-Nuklearna
Tekstil 1–1 CDSA
1896 Ebor 2–2 Crvena Zvezda
Olympic 1–0 Atletik
Litala ’93 2–0 Nyva
BVK Dinamo 0–3 Liria
Arka 2–3 NK Dyka
Ararat 1–2 FK Arsika

A club the size of Atletik Thessia is pretty much always going to have an important fixture each week, whether it be because they're fighting against a title rival or their match against a weaker team means something at the top end of the table. Of course, they also have a number of derbies and rivalries and this time around the fixture is one of those. The Eternal Derby, Olympic versus Atletik, the biggest local derby in Mytanar football. The game has grown in importance in recent seasons as the pair have become title rivals and that has only added another dimension to one of the most storied rivalries in club football, this was the 56th meeting between the two sides. Both sets of supporters were up for it at the Novi Kaunostadion, revealing their pre-match choreographies and singing the songs which deride their Zenit Toranj neighbours. Olympic edged a tight encounter 1-0, with Emil Jefak's organised style stifling Atletik and Itzhar Yvjoev's second-half strike ended up the difference between the two sides. It was Yvjoev's first league goal for the club and it could hardly have come in a more important fixture. Atletik haven't been brilliant to start the season with only 5 points from their first four games.

FK Arsika beat Ararat 2-1 in Severyan with Juljana Chmela and Kemal Gajic goals putting the away side two goals to the good before an Omer Kuhar-Arh goal made for a tense finish. Liria Prizren remained undefeated with a strong 3-0 showing against BVK Dinamo (a team which has played four, lost four; scored three and conceded ten). Strahinja Nanusevski scored the best of the goals with a fine run and finish, his third goal of the season. Litala ’93 have also enjoyed a good start back in the Top League and they continued that with a comfortable 2-0 win over Nyva in Esca. Othilean midfielder Efthimis Vasseas got his first Top League goal before turning provider for Jiahui Wang's third of the campaign. 1923 Esca and Energija-Nuklearna had the game of the week in a 4-3 rollercoaster. Remy Vandendriessche was in demand over the summer but 1923 Esca kept him at the club and his double put 1923 Esca out of reach, although Zdenko Smolic's 90th minute goal will certainly have had those at Radnika of a 1923 Esca persuasion fearing the worst.

NK Dyka got another vital win against a potential relegation rival by beating Arka 3-2 in Snezhnaya, Sepúlveda was once again on hand to make the difference and the end of the game saw some particularly disgruntled Arka supporters throwing their season ticket books at Nikola Zivic, the man who has been thrust into their manager's job following the resignation of Nemanja Pivec over the summer. A late Aleksic goal rescued a point for Tekstil against CDSA whilst Crvena Zvezda also managed their first point of the season, with many being surprised it came against such talented opposition. It looked like 1896 Ebor had eliminated the soft centre which meant they lost out on wins like this, but a late fightback from Crvena Zvezda left them holding onto a draw. Dusko Ocokoljic has taken over his brother's mantle as that club's talisman and he put in a great performance with a goal and assist in this one.

## Top League             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 FK Arsika                4    3   1   0     8    4   +4    10
02 Olympic                  4    3   0   1     5    4   +1     9
03 Liria                    4    2   2   0     8    3   +5     8
04 Litala ’93               4    2   2   0     9    6   +3     8
05 1923 Esca                4    2   2   0     8    6   +2     8
06 CDSA                     4    1   3   0     8    7   +1     6
07 1896 Ebor                4    1   3   0     6    5   +1     6
08 NK Dyka                  4    2   0   2    10   10    0     6
09 Atletik                  4    1   2   1     7    5   +2     5
10 Tekstil                  4    1   2   1     6    5   +1     5
11 Ararat                   4    1   2   1     3    3    0     5
12 Energija-Nuklearna       4    1   1   2    11   12   −1     4
13 Nyva                     4    1   0   3     4    7   −3     3
14 Arka                     4    0   1   3     5    8   −3     1
15 Crvena Zvezda            4    0   1   3     4   10   −6     1
16 BVK Dinamo               4    0   0   4     3   10   −7     0

We would normally say slightly surprising leaders if we saw FK Arsika at the top of the table, but with the money that their owner Sacha Dobruzhanski has spent over the summer and the players Veton Rashaikov now has at his disposal it isn't an enormous shock to see them doing well. They've been consistent and that will worry a few teams that have designs on fighting for the title, if FK Arsika can keep it up they could be an extra complication in those plans. Olympic Thessia have started reasonably well with only one defeat. Winning the Eternal Derby always means so much to them and they managed that in the first one of the season. Liria Prizren and surprise package Litala ’93 round out the top four with 8 points apiece. Liria will be happy to be unbeaten after a pretty tough opening schedule, defensively they've been pretty solid too and Danek Badjkev will hope that that is a good sign for the remainder of the season. Litala ’93 will be delighted with their start to the season. They've added well over the summer and Jiahui Wang has hit the ground running with three goals in his first four games. He could turn into a real bargain for them this season. They will also be pleased to be in 4th when their biggest rivals 1923 Esca sit in 5th.

1923 Esca will want to overtake Litala ’93 whenever possible, but that's also a solid start to the campaign and further vindication for Sava Grgurovic. He's really won the fanbase around in the capital and if he can keep this up there's no reason why that will change. CDSA and 1896 Ebor are both unbeaten but will feel they could be doing even better. Everybody believed that Zdeslav Nesic had finally dealt with the issues which caused the Northmen to drop points but they seem to still be experiencing problems with that. It could be a blip but if it's an ongoing issue then frustration might begin to build in Ebor. NK Dyka have started brilliantly and round out the top-half of the league table. They've been outstanding in attack, with Audioslavian youngster Esro Sepúlveda demonstrating why he's thought of as such a big talent for the future, three goals in four for the 17 year old. NK Dyka will be extremely pleased that they have him for this season at least as it's unlikely they'll be able to pick him up again in the future if he can keep this form up. Dzvezdan Kitanchev will want a bit more stability defensively, ten goals conceded in four games isn't a good sign but he'll take the points and run at this juncture and six from their opening four represents a decent return.

Atletik Thessia in the bottom-half of the table is an unusual sight and their form has been indifferent to start the season. Some thought that their performances in international competitions were just teething issues as they looked to compete at that level once again, but it seems to have continued on into the start of their league season and Robin Hjik will want to correct that as soon as he can. The goals haven't been flowing quite as freely as they would have liked and at times their young central defensive partnership of Mbala-Ekakia and Ugljanin has looked nervy. It's early days but at a club which expects success it isn't the finest start. Their Rijeka Derby rivals Tekstil are right behind them in 11th and after that comes Energija-Nuklearna in 12th. Duje Madar's team have been nothing if not good value in the opening weeks, it seems as if you're guaranteed to see goals if you go to one of their games. He will want to stop the leaky defence in the coming weeks and get some more points on the board though. Vasil Janevski's Nyva are coming off the back of an impressive couple of years with a National Cup triumph two years ago and a 6th placed league finish last season, they will want to ensure that that doesn't turn sour this season. They've endured a tough start, but they've plenty of quality and will feel that they can quickly move up the table with a few good results.

That leaves Arka, Crvena Zvezda and BVK Dinamo in the relegation zone and early warning systems will be sounding at all three clubs. For Arka - arguably the best-run club in Mytanija when it comes to finances - relegation wouldn't be catastrophic, but it would cause some deep scars among a fanbase which has become used to Top League football. That financial security has seemingly come at the expense of the club's playing staff and there's very few Arka supporters that would say they're happy with Nikola Zivic as manager, Nemanja Pivec was very popular at the club and he finally left due to the board's lack of investment on players. The disconnect between club and fans could hurt their bid to stay up and captain Martin Zvokelj has been appealing to the supporters to stick with the team (and perhaps most importantly the unpopular manager) despite the poor start. Crvena Zvezda won the National Cup last season but their team is currently a mix between veterans that are on the way down and youngsters that aren't quite where they need to be as yet. The cup triumph may have papered over some cracks in their team and Luka Kostic - whilst a fine manager - may have a very tough job on his hands in keeping these players up. Dusko Ocokoljic will be crucial but he can't do it all on his own. As for BVK Dinamo, well, they don't have the greatest of expectations and few had faith in them staying up coming into the campaign. This start has been pretty much in line with that and they're going to find it very tough this year.

[Mytanija]

MYTANAR TOP LEAGUE 29/30 SEASON REVIEW PART 2

We're into the meat of the campaign now, with pre-season done and dusted and all Mytanar clubs exiting IFCF competitions early all we have to focus on is domestic competition (and the IFCF Cup Winners' Cup later on in the season!). In that spirit we get September underway with the first round of the National Cup, with all the third and fourth tier sides entering at this stage and getting their cup stories off to a start. They will be hoping to progress so that they can get a chance against the bigger clubs from the Druga Liga in the next round and will be hoping that that is just the start of things. The real prize comes after that when the Top League clubs enter the competition. Let's see what happened:

SEPTEMBER WEEK 1
NATIONAL CUP FIRST ROUND

.......Slavia   3–3 a Djakovo            2–3  1–0
         Meja   1–3   Rotor              1–1  0–2
       Ribari   4–0   Jedrenje           3–0  1–0
   NK Custica   4–6   Metalac            2–3  2–3
 NK Bijeljina   3–4   Padina             2–1  1–3
 FK Sedlovina   0–2   NK Istina          0–0  0–2
       Ibalia   1–3   Lok. Ostrova       1–1  0–2
      Granica   4–0   KF Volkovija       2–0  2–0
       Obalna a 2–2   Hajerek            0–0  2–2
 KF Shkelzena   2–2 a FK Istocna Obala   1–2  1–0
     Metalist   1–1 a Obolon             1–1  0–0
         CVMZ   7–6   Radnik Avtovac     3–2  4–4
Radnik Surcin   0–2   SK Elita Ryzaev    0–1  0–1
   Vinogradar   1–2   Spartak            1–1  0–1
        Pamuk   2–5   JK Ebor            0–0  2–5
  Međunarodna   1–0   Jedinstvo Zavolja  1–0  0–0

The pick of the ties came between CVMZ and Radnik Avtovac, both from the Treća Liga. CVMZ are a team which were in the Druga Liga not too long ago and Radnik were one of last season's surprise packages. The two teams didn't disappoint, with CVMZ narrowly edging the first leg 3-2 before a 4-4 draw in the second leg ensured that they just about made it through to the next round. The second leg was a real rollercoaster given the context of the tie and it looked like Radnik would be heading through when they were 4-2 ahead with five minutes to go, in the end two late goals for CVMZ ended their hopes. Djakovo Prizren managed to upset higher tier Slavia with the away goals rule giving them a helping hand there. Metalac's 6-4 aggregate win over NK Custica was similar to the CVMZ-Radnik Avtovac tie and ensured we'd have another team from the fourth tier of Mytanar football into the second round. Granica - relegated from the Druga Liga last season - demonstrated their ability in a comprehensive 4-0 aggregate win over KF Volkovija. SK Elita Ryzaev, named after the eponymous Mytanar Conflict war hero, negotiated a potentially tricky tie against Radnik Surcin. JK Ebor eased past Pamuk Trunca 5-2 in the second leg after a goalless first leg.

TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 5
FK Arsika 0–1 1923 Esca
NK Dyka 0–0 Ararat
Liria 5–2 Arka
Nyva 1–0 BVK Dinamo
Atletik 3–2 Litala ’93
Crvena Zvezda 0–2 Olympic
CDSA 1–2 1896 Ebor
Energija-Nuklearna 0–1 Tekstil

Olympic Thessia moved to the top of the table with a comfortable 2-0 win over Crvena Zvezda. A header from Adamo Fallaci and a excellent run and finish by Itzhar Yvjoev got them the goals they needed and Emil Jefak will hope that this a sign of things to come for his team. Their local neighbours Atletik met Litala ’93 at the Novi Atletskistadion and this match had a carnival atmosphere before kick-off with both sets of fans getting on really well and ultras from both teams revealing flags and banners celebrating the long-standing friendship between the two clubs. On the pitch the carnival continued with a festival of goals. Atletik raced into a 2-0 lead with goals from Damien Gannot and Chiki Larrimbe, but the away side pegged them back through goals from Wang and Zekic. Atletik needed a big game player to come up big for them to rescue victory and who else but Jasno Odonelec stepped up to do so with a rifled effort from the edge of the penalty area. FK Arsika tasted defeat for the first time this season at home to 1923 Esca. Sava Grgurovic has been doing plenty of good work with his team and this was a real statement of intent for them, Remy Vandendriessche has been their talisman for the past couple of years and that was no different once again here as he scored the winner.

NK Dyka got an impressive draw at home to Ararat. Misel Ravnjak seems to have shored his defence up once again, but they are finding it difficult to score and that always seems to be the danger he runs with his tactical approach. He will have to try and find a way to start scoring. Liria had absolutely no problem with that this week as they put five past Arka, Nanusevski appears to be hitting the ground running this season with new signings Smajic and Alen Gvetadze setting him up. Another two for him against Arka, who had two of their own in reply from big forward Safet Smajlovic. Nyva and Tekstil both beat BVK Dinamo and Energija-Nuklearna 1-0 with goals from Derajevic and Aleksic respectively, whilst 1896 Ebor had to overturn a 1-0 deficit in the last quarter of an hour against CDSA after an Alen Hrdaljko penalty left them in a bit of a hole. Goals from Gavrilovic and Majdandzic allowed them to get an important win there.

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SEPTEMBER WEEK 2
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 6
1923 Esca 2–2 Tekstil
1896 Ebor 3–1 Energija-Nuklearna
Olympic 1–2 CDSA
Litala ’93 3–2 Crvena Zvezda
BVK Dinamo 1–3 Atletik
Arka 1–1 Nyva
Ararat 2–1 Liria
FK Arsika 2–1 NK Dyka

1896 Ebor and Energija-Nuklearna have a historic rivalry, built largely upon being major rivals for the Top League title towards the end of the 10s. That can mean that matches between the two are highly anticipated for both sides, but you wouldn't have found too many from Miago looking forwards to it this time. 1896 Ebor seem to be on an upwards trajectory, whilst Energija-Nuklearna could well be fighting against relegation for the bulk of this season. The match pretty much played out in this fashion too, with the Northmen easing to a 3-1 win. Summer signing Dalibor Vlahovic demonstrated his worth with a brace and it's a result which won't do much to give Energija-Nuklearna fans hope. Olympic were top last weekend but a 2-1 loss at home to CDSA made that a very short-lived experience, Kosta Urosevic's winner consigning them to defeat there. That result gave FK Arsika the chance to move back to the top of the pile and they didn't let the opportunity slip away from them, winning a hotly contested Nasto derby (of a sort) against NK Dyka. The away side will have taken plenty of confidence from their opening few weeks of the season, but Juljana Chmela was too much for them here, scoring two to turn the game on its head and get a big win for FK Arsika.

Litala ’93 appear to be the great entertainers in the Top League this season as they took part in another high-scoring game, this time coming out on the right side of a 3-2 win over Crvena Zvezda. The Tsrvena club still haven't won a game this season and thought they had a draw here before Florent-Roparzh Krstic's late winner. 1923 Esca and Tekstil couldn't be separated at Radnika, but the game might be better remembered for the unsavoury scenes outside the stadium as the two clubs' main ultras groups (Odeljak 1-11 and the Ibon Boys) clashed, necessitating Policija intervention. Expect reprimands in the coming weeks. Atletik seemed to hit their groove in a 3-1 win over BVK Dinamo, Damien Gannot scoring the pick of the goals there. Their Klasicni rivals Liria tasted defeat against Ararat in Severyan, with the home side having a good relationship with Atletik's support and their team making good on that friendship in a result which could affect the title race. Maurizio Scianna scored the winner for Ararat. Arka got what was only their second point of the season in a 1-1 draw against Nyva. Vasil Janevski would have expected a bit more from that game, but Bruno Ozmec had other ideas and his free-kick meant the sides had to be content with a point apiece.

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SEPTEMBER WEEK 3
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 7
NK Dyka 1–2 1923 Esca
Liria 1–0 FK Arsika
Nyva 3–1 Ararat
Atletik 4–1 Arka
Crvena Zvezda 2–2 BVK Dinamo
CDSA 2–2 Litala ’93
Energija-Nuklearna 1–4 Olympic
Tekstil 2–2 1896 Ebor

Liria and FK Arsika met in Prizren with Liria still reeling from their defeat against Ararat and FK Arsika flying high in 1st place. The away side got a sobering reminder that it is difficult if you want to stay at the top as Danek Badjkev's team settled into their passing rhythm and denied FK Arsika time and space on the ball. Liria struggled to put their chances away before Alen Gvetadze took matters into his own hands and curled a beautiful strike into the top corner. The defeat meant that FK Arsika went from 1st to 6th in the table as pretty much every result that could went against them. Winning the title isn't just a case of spending a load of cash, clearly. Both Thessian clubs helped themselves to 4-1 wins over struggling teams. Atletik battered Arka from start to finish as Damien Gannot took himself to the stop of the scoring charts with a delightful double. Olympic did the same against Energija-Nuklearna, simply too fast and too strong all across the pitch and Anne-Linde van Oers enjoyed it scoring one and assisting another on her way to a player of the match award. 1923 Esca's win over NK Dyka took them up to the lofty position of 2nd in the league table, Zeljko Kuzmanovic and Thanasis Panagakos seem to be forming a good partnership up front for the capital club and the pair assisted one another for their goals in this game.

Nyva got a much-needed win as they thumped three past Ararat. Anton Derajevic seems to only get better with age and he helped himself to two headers against the Severyan club as Misel Ravnjak fumed with his team's defending on the sideline. Crvena Zvezda and BVK Dinamo met in Tsrvena both desperately needing wins and whilst a point is better than losing they will both see this as an opportunity missed. Teufik Bajramovic's equaliser left it as honours even at Stadion Ljudi. 1896 Ebor are one of only two teams which hasn't yet tasted defeat this season (and the other is 1923 Esca, who would have thought that before the campaign began?), but slipping to a 2-2 draw away to Tekstil having been 2-0 up will sting. Tekstil were extremely determined which is to their credit, but 1896 Ebor should probably have had the match out of sight. Litala ’93 continued their free-scoring fun away to CDSA, with the home side not doing too badly themselves either with two of their own. A 2-2 draw was a result both teams would have been happy with given the quality of the goals on display, Dario Gvetadze's clever dink possibly being the best of the lot for the home side.

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SEPTEMBER WEEK 4
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 8
1923 Esca 2–0 1896 Ebor
Olympic 5–2 Tekstil
Litala ’93 1–2 Energija-Nuklearna
BVK Dinamo 0–3 CDSA
Arka 3–1 Crvena Zvezda
Ararat 0–1 Atletik
FK Arsika 3–3 Nyva
NK Dyka 1–1 Liria

Olympic had a 5-2 win over their regional rivals Tekstil to thank for retaining top spot. Vilim Kupresak put on a clinic in central midfield, fighting for every ball but still finding time to get involved in creating chances. He capped a great performance off with a goal too. 1923 Esca's 2-0 win over 1896 Ebor made sure that Sava Grgurovic's team kept pace with Olympic at the top and handed the Northmen their first defeat of the season. Remy Vandendriessche was once again the hero for the home side, his goal securing the win late on. What a start to the season they're enjoying. FK Arsika and Nyva Zvornik are enjoying a growing rivalry as they battle for regional supremacy across Nasto and Avnalia. The two couldn't be separated in a six-goal thriller at Novi Zavej Park. Kemal Gajic's late goal was his second of the game and ensured that the home side would be taking a share of the points. Atletik have been creeping up on the leaders after a slow start and they continued that with a 1-0 win away to Ararat. Damien Gannot continued his outstanding form with his 7th goal of the campaign the difference between the two sides.

Energija-Nuklearna got a vital win over promoted side Litala ’93 (saying 'promoted side' about a club with a history like Litala's always feels strange). Zdenko Smolic's goal turned a point into all three as Duje Madar's team got only their second win of the season. Energija-Nuklearna's greatest rivals CDSA hammered BVK Dinamo 3-0 in Esca. It was an easy win for Slavko Jelic's team and it was perhaps most notable for young Othilean forward Tasos Svarnas scoring his first goal for the club after coming on as a substitute. Arka got their first win of the season over Crvena Zvezda. Leandre Junior seems to be following in his father's footsteps in becoming a real focal point for Arka and he was at the heart of everything they did in this game, also getting himself on the scoresheet in the process. Crvena Zvezda will be really worried at this stage of the season, they haven't won a match and are already five points adrift of safety. Liria Prizren seem to have been stumbling through matches a little lately and that happened again against NK Dyka. Liria were 1-0 up from the 2nd minute through Anton-Dusan Straka's goal and they held this lead until the 93rd minute when 17 year old Audioslavian Esro Sepúlveda dived to reach a Vlado Arzhentinski cross and turned the ball in. A famous result for NK Dyka.

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OCTOBER WEEK 1
NATIONAL CUP SECOND ROUND

......NK Istina   2–4   Padina            1–1  1–3
        Metalac   1–2   Lok. Ostrova      1–0  0–2
        Granica   3–2   Obolon            2–1  1–1
           CVMZ   2–1   JK Ebor           2–0  0–1
         Dinamo   6–4   Zenit             3–2  3–2
        Spartak   0–1   NK Thessia        0–0  0–1 (aet)
         Ribari   1–0   Djakovo           1–0  0–0
SK Elita Ryzaev   4–2   FK Istocna Obala  1–0  3–2
      Akademija   3–3 a Zeljeznicar       2–2  1–1
         Obalna   1–2   Lok. Cassia       0–1  1–1 (aet)
        Turbine   3–3 a FK Magevskaya     2–2  1–1
          Rudar   2–0   Arsenal           0–0  2–0
       Partizan   4–4 a Torpedo           3–3  1–1
    Međunarodna   1–3   Slovan            1–2  0–1
        Vitalia   2–1   Pretia            1–1  1–0
          Rotor   3–4   SK Port Jarko     3–1  0–3

The round where second tier sides enter the National Cup and lower league teams pray that they can draw them in the hope of a big payday. The meeting between NK Istina and Padina meant that we would definitely have a fourth tier side qualify for the next round though, when the Top League sides enter the competition and in the end it was Padina who will get that opportunity as they advanced 4-2 on aggregate. A number of third tier sides like Granica, SK Elita Ryzaev, and CVMZ will be joining them too after their wins. After that there's a lot of Druga Liga sides that did their job, even if some of them did it less than impressively. Lok. Cassia and NK Thessia needed extra time to knock Obalna and Spartak out, with SK Port Jarko needing a brilliant second leg performance to overturn a 3-1 first leg deficit. Zeljeznicar just about sent the ever controversial Akademija home with their win on away goals. Vitalia just about sneaked past Pretia Prizren, whilst Torpedo Vershina enjoyed an away goals rule win of their own over Partizan Tsrvena. Ribari Palilua made hard work of dispatching Djakovo Prizren, with the fourth tier side running them very close over the two legs. Those teams that managed to qualify will be looking forward to the third round and the prospect of a mouthwatering tie against one of the big boys.

TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 9
Liria 2–0 1923 Esca
Nyva 1–1 NK Dyka
Atletik 2–0 FK Arsika
Crvena Zvezda 1–1 Ararat
CDSA 3–1 Arka
Energija-Nuklearna 0–1 BVK Dinamo
Tekstil 2–1 Litala ’93
1896 Ebor 1–0 Olympic

Those teams that thought that they might be in with a real shout at the top just because Atletik and Liria were starting a bit slow have had a bit of a rude awakening over the past few weeks. One of those teams might well have been FK Arsika, who were riding high early on in the campaign but have now sunk down to 7th in the table. Atletik have got things back on track and in Damien Gannot they have the most in-form player in the league and in Jasno Odonelec they might have the very best player in the league. They scored a goal each to get the champions the win. Liria got a 2-0 win of their own, handing the high-flying 1923 Esca their first defeat of the season in the process, Mersudin Smajic scored an absolute screamer to get them on their way. 1896 Ebor got a crucial win after a rocky couple of weeks, it helped that it was over potential title and top four rivals Olympic too. Josip Brajdic has endured a tough start to the season and the only goal of the game was his first of the season. CDSA's 3-1 thumping of Arka Snezhnaya allowed the Decraa club to move up to 5th in the table. Slavko Jelic appears to have them ticking over very nicely and Dario Gvetadze appears to be filling the void left by Dejan Zgela's departure to a degree. He notched another against Arka.

Tekstil managed to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory against Litala ’93. Nebojsa Aleksic grabbed the winner as he has done so many times before and helped Tekstil into the top-half of the table, leapfrogging Litala as a result. BVK Dinamo finally got their first win of the season against Energija-Nuklearna in Miago. Teufik Bajramovic scored his second of the campaign to seal the points for the Besnik club, leaving Crvena Zvezda as the only winless side at this stage of the season. Speaking of Crvena Zvezda, they got a creditable 1-1 draw against Ararat, but already it's starting to look as if they need those draws to be wins given that they sit rock bottom. NK Dyka kept their points total ticking over with a draw away to Nyva, Vido Mehic and Luka Zmajevic the goal scorers there. Nyva might be a little disappointed with their start to the season, but Vasil Janevski has given them a couple of amazing years and there will be an understanding that he can't quite work miracles all the time.

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OCTOBER WEEK 2
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 10
1923 Esca 2–2 Olympic
Litala ’93 1–2 1896 Ebor
BVK Dinamo 0–5 Tekstil
Arka 1–1 Energija-Nuklearna
Ararat 2–0 CDSA
FK Arsika 0–1 Crvena Zvezda
NK Dyka 1–3 Atletik
Liria 3–2 Nyva

Another week passes by and the top four remains the same. Atletik cruised past NK Dyka in their 3-1 win, Chiki Larrimbe and Zlatan Andrijasevic scoring one apiece before they combined with the former setting up the latter for his second of the match. Liria were made to work hard for all three points by a spirited Nyva team. Anton Derajevic twice equalised for the away side before Strahinja Nanusevski bundled in the winner, his 6th goal of the season. Third met fourth when 1923 Esca and Olympic played at Radnika and the two couldn't be separated, the away side went 1-0 up through Anne-Linde van Oers but Thanasis Panagakos was on hand to equalise with a trademark header. Euran striker Adamo Fallaci missed a penalty for Olympic and they came to rue that as Remy Vandendriessche put the home side 2-1 ahead. Thankfully for Emil Jefak the Euran isn't one to dwell on his mistakes, he smashed home the leveller to ensure that Olympic stayed in third. 1896 Ebor moved closer to the IFCF positions with their 2-1 win away to their historic rivals Litala ’93. Zdeslav Nesic's team had a fantastic first-half, controlling the game and scoring two through Josip Brajdic and Dalibor Vlahovic. Unfortunately they seemed to switch off during the second period and that nearly allowed Litala back into the game, they got one back through Jiahui Wang and came ever so close to equalising. Sadly for them it wasn't to be and it was defeat against the team with whom they share one of the most unusual rivalries. That fight between hooligan groups on a train platform in Thessia has a lot to answer for.

Tekstil absolutely crushed BVK Dinamo at the Stadion Pavel Vyoral. Nebojsa Aleksic put on a display which the man the stadium is named after would have been proud of, bagging himself a hat-trick (the first by any player this season) and sending Tekstil well on their way to their big victory. Ararat hadn't won since matchday 6 coming into this weekend so they felt like they needed a win and CDSA provided difficult opponents because they hadn't lost since matchday 5! Misel Ravnjak's team were excellent, with all their usual defensive nous as well as some good forward play by young Omer Kuhar-Arh. He scored two and is fast emerging as one of the best young talents in the country. Crvena Zvezda finally got their first win of the season against FK Arsika. Dusko Ocokoljic scored the game's only goal and that is a result which compounds FK Arsika's recent poor form, no wins in four for them. Not the sort of form you would expect from a team which has designs on playing IFCF football next season. You have to wonder how much patience Sacha Dobruzhanski will have given the amount of money he has spent over the summer. Arka and Energija-Nuklearna are another pair of teams who look like they're going to be battling towards the bottom of the table, they couldn't be separated in Snezhnaya, with Mijat Simic opening the scoring for the away side before Safet Smajlovic fired back for Arka.

Let's have a look at the league table now that we are one-third of the way through the Top League season:

## Top League             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Atletik                 10    7   2   1    23   10  +13    23
02 Liria                   10    6   3   1    21   10  +11    21
03 Olympic                 10    6   1   3    19   12   +7    19
04 1923 Esca               10    5   4   1    17   13   +4    19
05 1896 Ebor               10    5   4   1    16   12   +4    19
06 Tekstil                 10    4   4   2    20   15   +5    16
07 CDSA                    10    4   4   2    19   15   +4    16
08 FK Arsika               10    4   2   4    13   13    0    14
09 Ararat                  10    3   4   3     9    9    0    13
10 Litala ’93              10    3   3   4    19   19    0    12
11 Nyva                    10    3   3   4    15   16   −1    12
12 NK Dyka                 10    2   3   5    15   19   −4     9
13 Energija-Nuklearna      10    2   2   6    16   23   −7     8
14 Arka                    10    1   3   6    14   23   −9     6
15 Crvena Zvezda           10    1   3   6    11   21  −10     6
16 BVK Dinamo              10    1   1   8     7   24  −17     4

Four points separate the top five in the league table and normal service has resumed as Atletik lead the way. Liria look like they are really desperate to end their title drought and an improved defence could give them the stability needed to do that. Olympic Thessia are next up in third and they have been a little inconsistent, a couple of disappointing losses which Emil Jefak would have been particularly frustrated about have hindered them. So far this season 1923 Esca have been one of the surprise packages and look at where they are in the table! Nobody would have bet on them to be fighting for an IFCF spot before the season started but Sava Grgurovic has got the supporters on side over the past few years and it is amazing what the Radnika club can do when they actually have that connection between team and supporters. One loss all season shows that they are not to be underestimated. 1896 Ebor will be slightly concerned with the four draws which have prevented them from being any higher up the table, but they also have only lost one game so far and Zdeslav Nesic is a manager who consistently seems to improve his sides. This iteration of 1896 Ebor are tough to beat.

Outside of that top five we have Tekstil and CDSA up next and they're level on points and at very similar stages as clubs. Neither quite have the financial clout to be able to push on and match the likes of Atletik, Liria or 1896 Ebor but they do have solid coaches and strong youth systems that seem to keep replenishing the stocks at their clubs no matter who is sold. You'd find it difficult to find too many supporters of either Tekstil or CDSA that would say they're really missing the likes of Mersudin Smajic or Dejan Zgela at the moment, even if having those players still could allow them to push on up the table. FK Arsika started really well but they now sit mid-table and benefactor Sacha Dobruzhanski might well have expected a little more bang for his buck with the investment he made in players over the summer. Veton Rashaikov might feel slightly uncomfortable in the manager's seat, but trying to make a lot of new signings gel can take time and he will ask for a bit of patience at this early juncture. Ararat sit 9th in the table with the second fewest goals scored and least conceded, a pair of statistics which feel very Ararat Severyan. Misel Ravnjak has restored their defensive solidity but it might have come at a cost going the other way, although Omer Kuhar-Arh has been a bright spark going forwards for them.

Litala ’93 have started pretty well as a promoted side sitting in 10th and they really have been one of the league's great entertainers so far, helped by new signing Jiahui Wang's finishing and Mijat Krstic's new-found penchant for throwing caution to the wind. Nyva Zvornik are 11th and this might be where their dream couple of seasons ends, it will be a sobering reminder of the Mytanar footballing food chain for them but as long as they can stay out of a relegation battle they will be pleased. NK Dyka got their first ever Top League season off to a decent start but things haven't been quite so good in recent weeks and they are really struggling to win games, even if they don't ever seem to be truly out of them. They'll need to start doing that if they don't want to end up in trouble. Energija-Nuklearna sit just outside the relegation zone and despite that their ever active ultras Grolija have no problems with their manager, Duje Madar, in the way that they had issues with an outsider in Vasya Kanadin. Weird. Arka fans on the other hand do have huge problems with their manager Nikola Zivic after he replaced the popular Nemanja Pivec following the latter's resignation in protest at the board continuously selling off the club's best players. Arka could come to rue that if they get relegated and at the moment that looks a real possibility. Crvena Zvezda and BVK Dinamo have been largely terrible thus far this season, with the former having a mix of over-the-hill veterans and not-quite-there-yet youngsters and the latter just not being very good.

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OCTOBER WEEK 3
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 11
Nyva 1–0 1923 Esca
Atletik 2–2 Liria
Crvena Zvezda 1–0 NK Dyka
CDSA 1–2 FK Arsika
Energija-Nuklearna 0–0 Ararat
Tekstil 0–1 Arka
1896 Ebor 2–1 BVK Dinamo
Olympic 2–2 Litala ’93

The final matchday before the international break can sometimes have a 'school before the holidays' feeling to it, but when it comes to the Klasicni between Atletik and Liria the two teams are always taking it seriously and that was no different in this edition of the great rivalry match-up. It was also 1st against 2nd in the league table, with all that comes with that and neither team wanted to lose this one for a multitude of reasons. Both sets of fans greeted the teams with a cacophony of noise as they walked out of the tunnel and both sets of ultras unveiled their complex choreographies, Atletik going for a variation on the Thessian lion triumphantly roaring whilst Liria went for a more simple set of banners telling the players to 'make all of Prizren proud' (what Pretia supporters think about that sentiment I can only imagine). The actual game did the occasion justice, with Liria going ahead through Strahinja Nanusevski's header before Zlatan Andrijasevic equalised. Atletik turned things around when Jasno Odonelec scored from the penalty spot, but Liria didn't have to complain about 'Atletik luck' post-match as they levelled through Mersudin Smajic, a man who is no stranger to rivalries with Atletik with his background as a Tekstil supporter. That draw between the top two allowed those behind them the opportunity to close the gap and 1896 Ebor obliged with a 2-1 win over BVK Dinamo with Petar Majdandzic scoring the winner. Olympic Thessia found it more difficult against Litala ’93 as the away side held them to a draw, Alen Zekic thought he had won it against his former club Atletik's biggest rivals but Olympic found an equaliser through Anne-Linde van Oers.

At the other end of the table there were crucial victories for both Arka and Crvena Zvezda, clubs who have struggled during the first third of the campaign. Arka went away to Ibon to play Tekstil and a Leandre Junior goal was the difference between the two sides. A vital three points for the Snezhnaya side. Meanwhile Crvena Zvezda were at home to promoted NK Dyka and Dusko Ocokoljic made the difference there, a driven effort from outside the penalty area meaning every team from 12th to 15th sits on 9 points. Energija-Nuklearna and Ararat played out a goalless draw in Miago, whilst FK Arsika got a really solid away win at Energija-Nuklearna's great rivals CDSA. Kemal Gajic has had an impressive start to the season and he grabbed himself a brace here to move FK Arsika up to 6th in the table. It may seem remiss to leave talking about high-flying 1923 Esca until this point given how strong their start to the league season has been, but this result might serve as a reminder that they aren't always going to be on as fantastic a run as they have been. Nyva brought them down to earth ever so slightly as they handed them a 1-0 defeat with who other than Anton Derajevic scoring the winner to move himself joint-top of the scoring charts.

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NOVEMBER WEEK 1
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 12
1923 Esca 2–3 Litala ’93
BVK Dinamo 0–1 Olympic
Arka 4–5 1896 Ebor
Ararat 2–1 Tekstil
FK Arsika 3–1 Energija-Nuklearna
NK Dyka 0–1 CDSA
Liria 1–1 Crvena Zvezda
Nyva 1–1 Atletik

The Northern Derby between Arka and 1896 Ebor has become one of the most hotly-contested fixtures domestically in Mytanija, although the two clubs do seem to be heading in opposite directions currently with 1896 Ebor looking to return to the pinnacle of Mytanar football and Arka seemingly rudderless with off-field decisions affecting the team's quality on the pitch. You wouldn't have known that other than their occasionally diabolical defending here, but going forwards both teams were fantastic. 1896 Ebor narrowly edged a nine-goal game 5-4, with Josip Brajdic putting his slow start to the season behind him with his hat-trick of goals. That win allowed the Northmen to move above Liria in the table, with the Prizren club only able to draw at home against struggling Crvena Zvezda. Leaders Atletik also drew, with the slightly more difficult assignment of Nyva Zvornik continuing to be a thorn in the side for the champions. Drazen Zhivkov thought he might have been keeping all three points in Zvornik too until Jasno Odonelec equalised. Olympic Thessia closed the gap with a hard-fought win over BVK Dinamo, a team who are in real trouble at the bottom with only 4 points. The only thing which may give them some encouragement is that they seem to be keeping some of their losses close. Olympic are a strong team and limiting them to a 1-0 win is no bad thing.

Away from the big boys at the top of the table we had the delight which was the All-Esca Derby resuming. Litala ’93 always like to get one over their rivals 1923 Esca and constantly remind them of the fact that they have won league titles with lesser resources, something which annoys even the most serene 1923 Esca supporter. Litala have been really entertaining since they've been back in the Top League and this game was no different with tackles flying in and no less than seven yellow cards, some might have been left wondering how nobody was sent off. The game got a fitting conclusion when Jiahui Wang scored an injury time winner and raced over to the away section at Radnika to celebrate with the Litala supporters. Wang has made an immediate impact at the club and is becoming something of a fan favourite with his goals only adding to his left-wing political ideals which the supporters love. Ararat beat Tekstil thanks to Maurizio Scianna's second goal of the game, whilst FK Arsika breezed past Energija-Nuklearna at Novi Zavej Park with Juljana Chmela's strike being the pick of the lot before Mijat Simic tapped-in a late consolation goal. CDSA continued their quietly solid season with a 1-0 win away to NK Dyka, Dario Gvetadze the difference there. Dzvezdan Kitanchev's side are really struggling for wins at the moment and that will worry the young coach.

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NOVEMBER WEEK 2
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 13
Atletik 1–0 1923 Esca
Crvena Zvezda 1–3 Nyva
CDSA 1–0 Liria
Energija-Nuklearna 3–1 NK Dyka
Tekstil 0–2 FK Arsika
1896 Ebor 1–1 Ararat
Olympic 2–1 Arka
Litala ’93 2–2 BVK Dinamo

Atletik and 1923 Esca have supporters with diametrically opposed political allegiances and that can often mean their games are beset by violent clashes. That was no different here as the start of the game was delayed due to trouble in the streets surrounding the city's main train station, Ilidza (named after the neighbourhood it is located in), between hooligans from both clubs. That's the second time Odeljak 1-11 have been involved in a major incident this season and it remains to be seen what the FSM and Policija try to do to bring them into line. On the pitch Atletik shaded a cagey game, with Damien Gannot getting onto the end of a Jasno Odonelec through ball to seal all three points for the league leaders. Olympic mirrored their rivals with a win of their own against Arka Snezhnaya, with the 2-1 victory allowing them to jump into 2nd place in the table too. Adamo Fallaci and Lazar Prinelec got the goals for them in that one. Liria faltering against CDSA was the result which gave Olympic the opportunity to move up the table and Danek Badjkev was highly critical of his side following that match, particularly their inability to score. CDSA's Dario Gvetadze continued his good form with the only goal of the game.

1896 Ebor could only draw with Ararat, but it keeps them within touching distance at the top and that will be the main thing for Zdeslav Nesic. FK Arsika have been better recently and they continued that with a comfortable 2-0 win away to Tekstil. Juljana Chmela and Pasha Secujac scored the goals for Veton Rashaikov's team and you imagine that the manager is a little happier that their recent results have taken the heat off him. Nyva were in fine fettle against Crvena Zvezda, racing out to a 3-0 lead through goals from Derajevic, Zhivkov and Zmajevic before Marek Ladicorbic pulled one back for the Tsrvena side. Energija-Nuklearna got a 3-1 win of their own over NK Dyka, Zdenko Smolic has really taken to Top League football and the 16 year old ran the show here with a goal and two assists. Two promoted sides met at Sokolovny and despite their differing trajectories over the course of this season the two of them shared the points. Every game Litala ’93 are involved in seems to also involve goals and there was four of them here. Florent-Roparzh Krstic's leveller cruelly deprived BVK Dinamo of what would have been only their second win of the season after Teufik Bajramovic's double had cancelled out Efthimis Vasseas' opener.

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NOVEMBER WEEK 3
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 14
1923 Esca 5–0 BVK Dinamo
Arka 2–1 Litala ’93
Ararat 1–0 Olympic
FK Arsika 2–4 1896 Ebor
NK Dyka 2–2 Tekstil
Liria 2–2 Energija-Nuklearna
Nyva 2–0 CDSA
Atletik 0–1 Crvena Zvezda

1896 Ebor have been moving in the right direction and after their 4-2 victory over FK Arsika this week they moved right to the top of the table. FK Arsika were game opponents, but 1896 Ebor had that extra bit of nous to put the game beyond them in the closing minutes through goals from Brajko Gavrilovic and Dalibor Vlahovic. They were able to go top because of Atletik's poor performance at home to Crvena Zvezda. Dusko Ocokoljic scored the game's only goal on a pitch where his brother fired the home side to the title last season. Olympic were not able to capitalise on their local rival's loss, losing out to Ararat as Misel Ravnjak's guerrilla football clicks into gear. Ararat sat deep and frustrated Olympic throughout the match and as the clock ticked on they began to hit them on the counter, resulting in Omer Kuhar-Arh's winner. Liria haven't won since matchday 10 and where last week it was CDSA that beat them this weekend it was CDSA's North Vojovitican Derby enemy Energija-Nuklearna that denied them all three points. Mijat Simic equalised twenty minutes from time and then Duje Madar's team dug in to defend their point.

1923 Esca hammered BVK Dinamo at Radnika, Zeljko Kuzmanovic and Thanasis Panagakos both helping themselves to two goals each with Evandro adding the team's fifth. Arka leapfrogged NK Dyka into 14th with their 2-1 win over Litala ’93. Bruno Ozmec is impressing for them this season despite their disappointing form. He scored one and set-up Safet Smajlovic for the other against Litala. NK Dyka got a creditable 2-2 draw at home to Tekstil Ibon, but that wasn't enough to prevent Arka from moving above them in the league table. Esro Sepúlveda hit his fifth goal of the campaign in that match, with Nebojsa Aleksic also getting on the scoresheet with his eighth. Nyva have been improving quickly over recent weeks and their comfortable 2-0 victory only furthered that, allowing the Zvornik side to move above CDSA in the league table. Anton Derajevic moved to top of the scoring charts with a vicious volley, with Vasilij Arzensek getting their other goal.

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NOVEMBER WEEK 4
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 15
Crvena Zvezda 0–0 1923 Esca
CDSA 1–1 Atletik
Energija-Nuklearna 3–2 Nyva
Tekstil 3–4 Liria
1896 Ebor 2–0 NK Dyka
Olympic 2–2 FK Arsika
Litala ’93 2–2 Ararat
BVK Dinamo 3–1 Arka

The final game of the first-half of the season has teams ticking off the final team they are yet to face and for some that meant some very difficult fixtures. 1896 Ebor gave NK Dyka exactly that and the Northmen ensured that they remained top at the halfway point with a 2-0 victory, Brajdic and Majdandzic scoring to really get Ebor excited about the potential of a title challenge this season. Atletik were frustrated by their good friends from CDSA, supporters of both clubs get on remarkably well due to their shared political alignments but that didn't mean that the Decraa club felt charitably enough towards their comrades to let them off with an easy win. Alen Hrdaljko pegged them back with a well-hit strike after Chiki Larrimbe had put the champions in front. Liria's 4-3 win away to Tekstil was one of the more thrilling matches of the season, eventually decided by Strahinja Nanusevski's second goal of the game. Olympic Thessia and FK Arsika couldn't be separated at the Novi Kaunostadion, in a match between 4th and 5th that is perhaps not too much of a surprise. Both would have wanted a bit more from what was a battle between the big names from each side: Kupresak and van Oers the scorers for Olympic, Chmela and Gajic for FK Arsika.

1923 Esca's amazing start to the campaign has slowed a little in recent weeks and they couldn't get the ball in the net no matter how hard they tried against Crvena Zvezda. You have to think that that is a much better result for Luka Kostic's team and they will be pleased that they have somewhat righted the ship in recent games. Energija-Nuklearna have done the same and their 3-2 win over Nyva gives them a reasonable gap over those that are trying to drag them down into a relegation scrap. Mijat Simic is coming into his own a little and the 22 year old scored another two to take his tally up to seven goals for the season. Ararat will be annoyed that they let a 2-0 lead slip over the last quarter of an hour against Litala ’93 as Jiahui Wang and Alen Zekic scored to ensure both teams would take a share of the spoils. BVK Dinamo finally got their second win of the season against Arka, a result which will raise the alarm back at Arka Park if it wasn't going off already. This was probably the best BVK Dinamo have been in attacking areas all season and Teufik Bajramovic flourished with a couple of nice goals.

Here's the table at the halfway point of the season:

## Top League             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 1896 Ebor               15    9   5   1    30   20  +10    32
02 Atletik                 15    8   5   2    28   15  +13    29
03 Liria                   15    7   6   2    30   19  +11    27
04 Olympic                 15    8   3   4    26   18   +8    27
05 FK Arsika               15    7   3   5    24   21   +3    24
06 1923 Esca               15    6   5   4    24   18   +6    23
07 CDSA                    15    6   5   4    23   20   +3    23
08 Nyva                    15    6   4   5    24   21   +3    22
09 Ararat                  15    5   7   3    15   13   +2    22
10 Litala ’93              15    4   6   5    29   29    0    18
11 Tekstil                 15    4   5   6    26   26    0    17
12 Energija-Nuklearna      15    4   4   7    25   31   −6    16
13 Crvena Zvezda           15    3   5   7    15   25  −10    14
14 Arka                    15    3   3   9    23   34  −11    12
15 NK Dyka                 15    2   4   9    18   28  −10    10
16 BVK Dinamo              15    2   2  11    13   35  −22     8

Four wins and a draw from their last five games for 1896 Ebor has moved them to the top of the table, that excellent run of form has been built on a team which scores from all over with no single player scoring more than Josip Brajdic's six goals for them so far. Zdeslav Nesic seems to have constructed a real team with new signings Dalibor Vlahovic and Chris Thompson really integrating into the starting eleven. Alborz Ialamov has once again been a strong presence for them, even if their defensive record isn't in the top five best in the division. Ialamov has surely drawn admiring glances from teams in richer leagues with his performances over the past couple of years, his organisational abilities are impressive and have been a key part in the Northmen only losing one game from the opening fifteen. Both Atletik Thessia and Liria Prizren have had a much bumpier last five weeks as both have won one, drawn three and lost the other. Neither are too far behind 1896 Ebor at the top though and they will feel that they can close the gap over the second-half of the season. Atletik have been solid defensively despite their youthful cental defensive partnership of Andrija Ugljanin and Bigger Mbala-Ekakia. Damien Gannot has been clinical up front for them as he looks to step into Jezdimir Ocokoljic's shoes, he's struck nine times so far. Olympic round out the top four level on points with Liria. Licentian striker Anne-Linde van Oers has probably been their best player so far this season scoring six and assisting four more. Emil Jefak might be a little concerned that Euran targetman Adamo Fallaci hasn't been quite as prolific so far this season, only scoring four times.

FK Arsika have come through a difficult period for them and now sit in 5th within striking distance of an IFCF position. Kemal Gajic has been exceptional for them so far during this campaign and is demonstrating the form which has made him a first choice option on the right flank for Lev Repin with the national team. Juljana Chmela has also continued her excellent form from last season up front and their on-field understanding seems to have made-up for what they lost when they decided not to renew Ava Linfield's loan from Brinemouth. 1923 Esca had a great start to the season but haven't been as consistent over the past few weeks. Sava Grgurovic would be extremely pleased to finish inside the top six at the end of the season though and their solid defensive record is testament to his coaching ability. Some commentators were concerned that Remy Vandendriessche and Evandro could be too offensively-minded to form a solid central midfield partnership but they have proven the doubters wrong so far and 1923 Esca look decent. CDSA and Nyva round out the top-half of the table, the middle of the league is very congested and there's a few teams of a similar standard. CDSA will want to push on and finish in the top six if they can, whilst Nyva are still riding a wave of their brilliant last two years even if some thought this would be the season where that would end.

Ararat sit in 9th, Misel Ravnjak has restored their lockdown defensive structure and they are a horrible team to play against if you need a result. They have struggled with scoring goals though and that is evidenced with them having the (joint-)second fewest in the league alongside Crvena Zvezda. Only BVK Dinamo are worse off in that particular statistic. Litala ’93 are probably the most entertaining side in the Top League at the moment, they score and concede lots and their front line of Wang, Zekic and Krstic is genuinely joyous to watch at times. Zijad Kurtcehajic's loan from Atletik has been a masterstroke too, allowing them to create plenty. Atletik may be slightly worried about his awareness in a defensive midfield position given the number of goals they've been conceding though. Tekstil have had a difficult run of form with only one point from their last five games. Emir Saric will want to arrest that slide before it becomes a greater issue, you can tell they're really missing Mersudin Smajic's presence in midfield though. Zervakis and Havlik offer some of Smajic's qualities, but it's hard to replace a player like that and even the combination of the pair doesn't quite manage it. Energija-Nuklearna supporters seem to be very happy with Duje Madar being in charge of their club, even if there isn't an enormous difference between how they're doing under his management compared to how they were doing under Vasya Kanadin at a similar point last season. Mijat Simic and Zdenko Smolic seem to be striking up a decent partnership and those players could well secure their safety despite their worrying defensive situation following Ugljanin's move to Atletik Thessia.

Crvena Zvezda are extremely reliant on their youthful midfield duo of Dusko Ocokoljic and Marek Ladicorbic for good performances at the moment and if those two don't perform well the team generally struggle. Petr Isaev is beginning to decline and cannot really affect games too much as a right-back who worries about defending first and foremost. Damir Azanovic is also showing his age in central defence and Luka Kostic's team might count themselves lucky to be just outside the relegation zone at this point in the season. They've had an incredible decade, but it might come to an end unless they can start scoring a few more. Arka Snezhnaya will be concerned, but their situation is one of their own making. The club's board have consistently sold off their best players and kept the purse-strings held tightly in the name of strong financial management and in the end it was too much to bear for Nemanja Pivec. He left of his own volition over the summer and Nikola Zivic replaced him. Zivic has no clout with the Arka fanbase - the vast majority of whom wanted Pivec to stay - and looks like a dead man walking at the moment. Arka do have a decent enough team and you would think their veterans will get them pulling in the right direction, but when the supporters don't back the manager it can leave the team in a difficult position. NK Dyka haven't won a game since matchday 4 and despite some creditable draws that has meant that they have gradually slipped down into the drop zone. Dzvezdan Kitanchev is an impressive manager but he has quite a young squad and they are finding it difficult to win matches at the moment. BVK Dinamo bring up the rear in 16th and they're already six points from safety. They will hope winning the final game of the first-half of the season can spur them on to close that gap but they are deficient in one key area: good footballers. That leaves them with an uphill battle over the remainder of the campaign.

[Mytanija]

MYTANAR TOP LEAGUE 29/30 SEASON REVIEW PART 3

The third part of the 29/30 season review comes straight after the winter break and the international fixtures that brings. For some it means a nice break, they can put their feet up and watch Mytanija play and recuperate for the remainder of the season. For others it is a continuation of the rest of the campaign as they go off to represent their countries, their managers left on pins worrying about their fitness and the prospect of injuries. There is plenty of action across all competitions over the next few months, we will get a little closer to understanding which clubs are actually all-in for the title race and which are mere pretenders. The National Cup gets serious too and we'll see who is ready for a cup run. Crvena Zvezda start their IFCF Cup Winners' Cup after their domestic cup glory last season, that's the only Mytanar interest in the knockout rounds of international club competitions. Let's see what happened:

DECEMBER WEEK 1
NATIONAL CUP THIRD ROUND

....1923 Esca   6–4   SK Port Jarko       5–3  1–1
       Padina   1–0   Torpedo             1–0  0–0
         Arka   3–0   SK Elita Ryzaev     2–0  1–0
      Granica a 4–4   CVMZ                1–1  3–3
Crvena Zvezda   5–8   CDSA                3–4  2–4
  Zeljeznicar   2–1   Ribari              0–1  2–0 (aet)
      Tekstil   3–0   Rudar               2–0  1–0
FK Magevskaya   4–2   Dinamo              3–1  1–1
   BVK Dinamo   0–6   Atletik             0–2  0–4
         Nyva   1–2   NK Thessia          0–2  1–0
      Vitalia   4–1   Energija-Nuklearna  3–1  1–0
      NK Dyka   4–3   FK Arsika           3–1  1–2
   Litala ’93   7–4   Lok. Cassia         5–1  2–3  
 Lok. Ostrova   2–3   Olympic             1–1  1–2  
       Slovan   1–3   1896 Ebor           0–1  1–2
        Liria   1–0   Ararat              0–0  1–0

The third round is the one where the big boys get involved and we had some cracking ties as a result. 1923 Esca had a difficult one against SK Port Jarko with a thrilling 5-3 in the first leg giving them an advantage which they then clung onto in the second leg. The 1-1 draw there doesn't really tell the whole story. SK Port Jarko had two goals ruled out, one for a razor-thin offside and the second for a questionable foul in the build-up. If those goals had stood they would have been on their way through, but unfortunately for them it is Sava Grgurovic's team who progress. Padina's 1-0 defeat of Druga Liga Torpedo Vershina ensures that we will have fourth tier representation in the fourth round which is very exciting for anybody that loves giant-killings. Arka eased past their fellow Visoravs from SK Elita Ryzaev, whilst Granica scraped through on away goals against CVMZ. In the first all Top League tie of the round CDSA won out in an 8-5 thriller, putting four past Crvena Zvezda in both legs.

Zeljeznicar beat Ribari thanks to an extra time winner, a goal which would have been enough for them to go through on away goals even if Ribari had managed to pull one back. Tekstil were comfortable in their 3-0 aggregate victory over Rudar Uchenik, with FK Magevskaya having their relatively comprehensive first leg win to thank for getting them past Dinamo Esca. Atletik Thessia made light work of an all Top League match-up against BVK Dinamo as they beat them 6-0. There were two big upsets in this round and they came when Druga Liga sides NK Thessia and Vitalia knocked out Nyva Zvornik and Energija-Nuklearna. There would be no repeat of Vasil Janevski's heroics to lead Nyva to cup glory from two seasons ago and that defeat made Duje Madar's position as Energija-Nuklearna manager a little uncomfortable. NK Dyka did the same for Veton Rashaikov at FK Arsika as they dispatched them 4-3 on aggregate, a late Vido Mehic goal enough to see Dzvezdan Kitanchev's side through.

Litala ’93 had an exciting tie against promotion-chasing Lok. Cassia with their 5-1 hammering at Sokolovny giving them a big advantage. Lok. Cassia roared back in the second leg before Mijat Krstic's team made sure of their progression. Olympic Thessia made hard work of getting past Treća Liga side Lok. Ostrova, which could be a microcosm of how their season has gone. It's all seemed a bit difficult for them at times, they got the job done though and live to fight another day in the cup. 1896 Ebor were a little better according to the score line against Slovan Eskobirsk but they were made to work in both legs as Zdeslav Nesic tried to rotate through his team and keep them fresh for a title challenge in the league. Finally we had another all Top League between Liria and Ararat and the Prizren club found it extremely hard to break Ararat down as you would expect, a solitary goal went in across the two legs and thankfully for Danek Badjkev it came through Strahinja Nanusevski.

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DECEMBER WEEK 2
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 16
1923 Esca 1–1 Arka
BVK Dinamo 0–1 Ararat
Litala ’93 0–2 FK Arsika
Olympic 1–0 NK Dyka
1896 Ebor 1–3 Liria
Tekstil 1–0 Nyva
Energija-Nuklearna 0–1 Atletik
CDSA 2–2 Crvena Zvezda

1896 Ebor's spell at the top of the table was short-lived as they lost out against visiting Liria Prizren. Danek Badjkev's team were excellent away from home and Anton-Dusan Straka rolled back the years with a fine double. Zdeslav Nesic will know his side have to start winning this sort of game if they want to win the league title. Atletik capitalised on 1896 Ebor's loss with a 1-0 win away at Energija-Nuklearna - always a tough place to go - Damien Gannot's goal was the difference between the sides and Duje Madar was apoplectic with his team post-match. They had stayed in the game well and he felt it was a lack of basic attention which meant they didn't at least come out of the match with a point. Olympic had Anne-Linde van Oers to thank for their 1-0 win over NK Dyka. It was another Olympic Thessia match which felt like they were stressing and straining to defeat lesser opposition, but they got the job done in the end. FK Arsika continue to stay close in their fight for IFCF competitions next season and Veton Rashaikov's side were solid against Litala ’93, goals from Chmela and Gajic seeing them on their way. That pair now have eight goals apiece this season.

1923 Esca and Arka shared the spoils from Radnika, a Leandre Junior equaliser rescuing a point for the away side. Ararat's defensive approach never really gave BVK Dinamo a chance in this match and Maurizio Scianna got a classic poacher's goal to ensure Misel Ravnjak's team came away with three points. Tekstil added insult to injury for Nyva Zvornik following their exit from the National Cup at the hands of another Thessian side, NK Thessia. Tekstil's Evripidis Zervakis scored the only goal of the game and it was a real beauty, flying in from all of thirty yards out. CDSA and Crvena Zvezda played out one of the more entertaining matches of the weekend, with CDSA racing out to a 2-0 lead through Dario Gvetadze and Kosta Urosevic before Crvena Zvezda fought their way back into the game with goals from who other than Dusko Ocokoljic and Marek Ladicorbic. A good point for Crvena Zvezda given their travails so far this campaign.

Here's a look at both ends of the table heading into the three week mid-season international break:

## Top League             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Atletik                 16    9   5   2    29   15  +14    32
02 1896 Ebor               16    9   5   2    31   23   +8    32
03 Liria                   16    8   6   2    33   20  +13    30
04 Olympic                 16    9   3   4    27   18   +9    30
05 FK Arsika               16    8   3   5    26   21   +5    27
...
12 Energija-Nuklearna      16    4   4   8    25   32   −7    16
13 Crvena Zvezda           16    3   6   7    17   27  −10    15
14 Arka                    16    3   4   9    24   35  −11    13
15 NK Dyka                 16    2   4  10    18   29  −11    10
16 BVK Dinamo              16    2   2  12    13   36  −23     8

Atletik steal top spot back off old rivals 1896 Ebor. Their defensive record will be really pleasing for Robin Hjik. He is a man who has a reputation for counter-attacking football as a manager and that is usually built on a solid defence. To be doing that with Andrija Ugljanin and Bigger Mbala-Ekakia - a centre-back partnership with a combined age of only 40 - will give him even more confidence. Damien Gannot has stepped into Jezdimir Ocokoljic's shoes ably too. He's scored 10 goals so far this season and is in real contention for the Golden Boot. 1896 Ebor are second, but being level on points with Atletik will make them believe. They just need to stay in the fight now, consistency really is the key at this point in the season. Neither of Liria and Olympic are out of the battle as yet either, the pair lying only two points further back. We could be in for a fantastic title race this season. FK Arsika are three points further back and their objective is to break into that top four if they can. Veton Rashaikov has come in for some criticism this season but they aren't far off at the moment.

At the other end of the table BVK Dinamo seem to be in real trouble. They're seven points off safety already and we're just over the halfway point of the season. They always find it difficult at this level but they seem happy with their status as a yo-yo club and this pattern seems to repeat itself each time they come up. NK Dyka are above them and they've found it tough after an initially promising start, they have a great young manager in Dzvezdan Kitanchev but he needs to start finding solutions if they're going to stay up. It seems like we're going to have at least one relatively established club heading down to the Druga Liga too and at the moment Arka Snezhnaya are the ones in that third relegation place. Crvena Zvezda are two points ahead of them with Duje Madar's Energija-Nuklearna a point and a place better off. All three of Arka, Crvena Zvezda and Energija-Nuklearna have won the Top League twice. So at present at least one club with an enormous place in Mytanar football history will be heading down and if NK Dyka or BVK Dinamo can improve then we might even see two of them relegated. They'll want to make sure that doesn't happen.

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JANUARY WEEK 2
NATIONAL CUP FOURTH ROUND

......Arka   4–6   FK Magevskaya  0–1  4–5
   Granica   1–3   Atletik        1–2  0–1
   Vitalia   1–0   Tekstil        1–0  0–0
   NK Dyka   3–4   1896 Ebor      1–1  2–3
      CDSA   7–2   Liria          5–0  2–2
NK Thessia   1–5   1923 Esca      0–1  1–4
   Olympic   5–3   Padina         1–1  4–2
Litala ’93   4–0   Zeljeznicar    2–0  2–0

The fourth round of the National Cup, also known as the last sixteen of the tournament and this is where we really start to see some of the big teams challenged. FK Magevskaya were only relegated from the top-flight last season and they demonstrated their quality against Top League opposition in Arka. A ludicrous 5-4 second leg allowed them to qualify for the quarter finals and ensure that we would have lower league representation in the last eight of the tournament. Atletik got a bit of 'Atletik luck' with their draw against third tier Granica and although both legs were tight they won 3-1 in the end with a little bit to spare. Vitalia caused another upset as they knocked out Tekstil and they really seem to be relishing the tag of 'giant-killers' in this edition of the National Cup, a 1-0 win at Trubichino enough to see them through. 1896 Ebor edged a close tie with NK Dyka through a Petar Majdandzic header in the second leg, Zdeslav Nesic won this trophy with the club in his first season at the club and he'd love to add another to their trophy cabinet this season.

It's hard to say how large an upset a game between two Top League sides can be, but CDSA knocking Liria out of the National Cup 7-2 on aggregate surely qualifies as a shock and an upset too. A 5-0 first leg win from a rampant CDSA team gave them what they needed and Danek Badjkev will now have to focus on the league if his team are to win anything this season. The Liria board surely cannot be happy with their lack of progress under Badjkev but he is a club legend and nobody would like to see him forced out. They will surely have to change if Liria keep falling short though. 1923 Esca eased past NK Thessia with a 4-1 second leg win, whilst Olympic did what was required to defeat fourth tier opposition in the form of Padina Zolota. Padina did not embarrass themselves whatsoever though and even managed three goals against Top League opposition. Litala ’93 smashed Zeljeznicar over the two legs with two comfortable 2-0 wins which arguably should have seen a few more goals for the Sokolovny side.

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JANUARY WEEK 3
IFCF Cup Winners' Cup Preliminary Round 1st Leg
(MYT) Crvena Zvezda 0-0 Sporting Iturributa (ASG)

Luka Kostic's side might be struggling in the Top League but they gave a very good account of themselves here against Astograthian club Sporting Iturributa. All-Rushmori affairs can often be fiery and this one was no different with a number of bookings for both teams. Dusko Ocokoljic rattled the crossbar with one effort which could have made the result even better for his side, but it was a draw and a good chance to progress in the second leg. Not conceding any away goals is a real bonus and demonstrates that Kostic's teams aren't always gung-ho attacking sides, another string to his bow as manager. He'll hope those same abilities can keep them up in the league too.

TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 17
CDSA 0–2 1923 Esca
Crvena Zvezda 3–3 Energija-Nuklearna
Atletik 2–1 Tekstil
Nyva 0–1 1896 Ebor
Liria 1–0 Olympic
NK Dyka 1–2 Litala ’93
FK Arsika 3–0 BVK Dinamo
Ararat 1–1 Arka

Atletik won in the Rijeka Derby to ensure they have the upper-hand in that particular rivalry for this season. The last time they played the two teams drew 1-1 but this time around Damien Gannot did what he does best to get a game deciding goal after Jasno Odonelec and Nebojsa Aleksic got each side underway. Liria got an important win over Olympic Thessia through Alen Gvetadze's goal and that was a result which allowed FK Arsika to move into the top four after they thrashed BVK Dinamo at Novi Zavej Park. Pasha Secujac was particularly good and helped himself to a brace. 1896 Ebor ensured that they didn't lose pace at the top with a 1-0 win away to Nyva Zvornik. Dalibor Vlahovic added his sixth goal of the season in the process. Vasil Janevski's side seem to be going through a bit of a bad run and he will hope he can arrest the slide in form as soon as possible. They sit 9th but they'd like to finish in the top-half if they can so that they can build on a good couple of seasons.

1923 Esca were good away to CDSA at Psenicova. Remy Vandendriessche was the driving force behind their victory as he so often is, scoring one and assisting Panagakos for their second. CDSA will have been disappointed with the defeat but they have had some good news as the government have agreed to work with the club on expanding Psenicova to a capacity of around 43,000 and renovating the old stadium at the same time. This is in preparation for Mytanija's bid to host Copa Rushmori 38 and it gives CDSA a chance to improve on the rather old and decrepit state the ground is currently in with a bit of support from government funds. Crvena Zvezda showed no hangover from their IFCF Cup Winners' Cup exploits, scoring three in a thrilling game against Energija-Nuklearna. Unfortunately for them Energija-Nuklearna were also good and Mijat Simic particularly so with a quick-fire double to take a point back to Miago. Litala ’93 edged a battle between two promoted sides against NK Dyka as Florent-Roparzh Krstic and Efthimis Vasseas cancelled out Vido Mehic's opener. Ararat and Arka shared the points in Severyan.

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JANUARY WEEK 4
IFCF Cup Winners' Cup Preliminary Round 2nd Leg
(ASG) Sporting Iturributa (0) 0-0 (0) Crvena Zvezda (MYT) Sporting Iturributa win 3-2 on penalties

Crvena Zvezda put in another spirited performance against superior opposition to ensure that they didn't lose the game in ninety minutes. That meant that the tie finished 0-0 on aggregate and extra time was needed to try and separate the sides. Neither could score in the additional thirty minutes either, with Zdeslav Zivadinovic missing the best chance that Crvena Zvezda had during that period. That was a piece of foreshadowing that Dorde Arsic would be proud of and sure enough Zivadinovic (along with Azem Senekovic) missed penalties in the shoot-out. Tehmina Palani didn't seem to feel the pressure when walking up to take the final spot kick and then tucked it away neatly to ensure that Sporting Iturributa would be in the draw for the next round. It was a creditable showing from Crvena Zvezda though against a good side and Luka Kostic will hope that it can galvanise his team for the remainder of the league season. They have a relegation battle to fight after all.

TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 18
1923 Esca 0–3 Ararat
Arka 1–1 FK Arsika
BVK Dinamo 0–1 NK Dyka
Litala ’93 1–2 Liria
Olympic 1–0 Nyva
1896 Ebor 2–2 Atletik
Tekstil 1–0 Crvena Zvezda
Energija-Nuklearna 2–2 CDSA

It's all change at the top as Liria Prizren move to the summit of the league table with their 2-1 win away to Litala ’93. The rumours of Danek Badjkev's demise might have been a little premature. Strahinja Nanusevski scored a winner that Badjkev would have been proud of himself, rising highest to head home from Mersudin Smajic's cross. Liria's rise to top spot was enabled by 1896 Ebor holding Atletik to a draw at the Olujastadion. It was a great game, with Zlatan Andrijasevic getting the scoring underway before Josip Brajdic replied for the Northmen. Atletik might have thought they had won when Chiki Larrimbe put them 2-1 up with ten minutes to go but 1896 Ebor weren't done and got an equaliser in injury time from Petar Majdandzic, a rapturous Olujastadion sounded their approval at a good result rescued from the jaws of defeat. Olympic Thessia moved back into the top four with a 1-0 win over Nyva. Adamo Fallaci grabbing what is only his fifth goal of the season. FK Arsika allowed that to happen with a 1-1 draw against struggling Arka as Safet Smajlovic levelled twenty minutes from time at Novi Zavej Park.

Ararat could be challenging for the league title if they could only score like they did against 1923 Esca more regularly. They have the best defence in the league at this point in the season and Omer Kuhar-Arh seems to be growing in influence too. He grabbed a goal and two assists in this game. NK Dyka got a crucial win over fellow stragglers BVK Dinamo, Esro Sepúlveda the difference between the two sides at Stadion Pavel Vyoral. Tekstil edged a tight game against Crvena Zvezda thanks to Zbynek Havlik's goal and then finally we come to the small matter of a North Vojovitican Derby between Energija-Nuklearna and CDSA. The two couldn't be separated in what was an extremely passionate affair punctuated by two red cards which only raised tensions further. Nebojsa Guzina was dismissed for Energija-Nuklearna whilst Maksim Malchikov received that same fate for CDSA. Both of those events happened before the goals started flowing and Dario Gvetadze got the away side ahead with a clinical finish inside the penalty area. Energija-Nuklearna replied through Zdenko Smolic's fourth goal of the season (and what a stage to get it on!), before Mijat Simic put them in front. CDSA were shooting towards their fans in the second-half and they were almost trying to suck the ball in and eventually their support had the desired effect as young substitute Tasos Svarnas got the equaliser.

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FEBRUARY WEEK 1
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 19
Energija-Nuklearna 0–1 1923 Esca
CDSA 0–0 Tekstil
Crvena Zvezda 1–1 1896 Ebor
Atletik 4–2 Olympic
Nyva 0–2 Litala ’93
Liria 4–1 BVK Dinamo
NK Dyka 3–2 Arka
FK Arsika 2–0 Ararat

Liria seemed to relish being top dogs as they hammered BVK Dinamo 4-1 at the Westfalenstadion. Anton-Dusan Straka helped himself to a brace there and Liria seem to be really enjoying themselves at the moment. The criticism Badjkev received might have spurred them on and now the challenge will be to try and raise their consistency level to push on towards the league title from here. Atletik kept themselves in touch at the top with a 4-2 victory in the Eternal Derby, Olympic actually started well in building a 2-0 lead in the first half an hour through Kupresak and Fallaci but Atletik roared back to level before half-time as Damien Gannot and Jasno Odonelec showed what they are all about. The second-half was all Atletik and the pressure told with goals from Zlatan Andrijasevic and Nahia Legarra. A 26th win in this fixture for Atletik. FK Arsika moved into the top four as they beat Ararat 2-0, whilst 1896 Ebor lost ground on the leaders with a 1-1 draw at the Stadion Ljudi against Crvena Zvezda.

At the opposite end of the table NK Dyka moved to 14th and Arka dropped to 15th as the former defeated the latter in an exciting match in Dyka. It was end-to-end from the first minute and the man who'd usually be delivering the ball Vlado Arzhentinski got on the end of a cross to put the home side ahead. Arka responded immediately through Leandre Junior but NK Dyka were playing some nice stuff going forwards and Vido Mehic put them back in front. Esro Sepúlveda added a third before Safet Smajlovic scored to make the final few minutes tense but NK Dyka held on for a vital victory. Energija-Nuklearna's loss to 1923 Esca means that they are still mired in trouble towards the bottom, with their rivals CDSA and Tekstil playing out one of the more boring matches of the campaign. Litala ’93 dealt Nyva Zvornik their fifth loss in a row as Jiahui Wang moved closer to the top of the scoring charts with both goals in this match.

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FEBRUARY WEEK 2
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 20
1923 Esca 2–0 FK Arsika
Ararat 2–0 NK Dyka
Arka 0–0 Liria
BVK Dinamo 1–0 Nyva
Litala ’93 1–2 Atletik
Olympic 3–2 Crvena Zvezda
1896 Ebor 1–2 CDSA
Tekstil 4–3 Energija-Nuklearna

There is change at the top as Liria toil to a 0-0 draw away to Arka Snezhnaya. A lack of cutting edge caused issues for Danek Badjkev's side, a surprise given that Strahinja Nanusevski and Anton-Dusan Straka have 17 goals between them and have been one of (if not the best, we're not sure you can count Juljana Chmela and Kemal Gajic given that the latter is a winger) the best strike partnerships in the league this season. Atletik weren't much better against Litala ’93 but they managed to cobble together a scruffy win through goals from two of their own strikers Zlatan Andrijasevic and Damien Gannot. That was after Alen Zekic had opened the scoring for the home side against his old club. 1896 Ebor's loss to CDSA really hurts their title hopes but they sadly came up against a Slavko Jelic team which has an inspired Alen Hrdaljko at the heart of it and he scored one and set-up the other to win his team the match. Olympic Thessia found it difficult against Crvena Zvezda but Adamo Fallaci headed in two goals and Emil Jefak will hope that means the big targetman is returning to form at the right time. It was a win which moved Olympic back into the top four following FK Arsika's 2-0 loss away to 1923 Esca. Zeljko Kuzmanovic and Remy Vandendriessche with the goals there.

Tekstil and Energija-Nuklearna played out the game of the week with a 4-3 win for the home side probably being just about right on the balance of things. Nebojsa Aleksic was in inspired form with his second hat-trick of the season (and only the third overall, 1896 Ebor's Josip Brajdic the other player with one). Mijat Simic wasn't so bad for the Miago side either, hitting a brace of his own. Ararat were good against NK Dyka as Omer Kuhar-Arh demonstrated why the likes of Atletik and Liria have been linked with him in recent weeks. Another goal and a sublime assist for Maurizio Scianna for the young number ten. BVK Dinamo got a huge three points in their attempt to pull off the greatest of escapes, Teufik Bajramovic has probably been their best player this season and he scored an important goal to see off Nyva Zvornik at the Stadion Pavel Vyoral.

Here's a look at the league table after twenty games, that's two-thirds of the season done. We're heading towards the home straight now:

## Top League             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Atletik                 20   12   6   2    39   21  +18    42
02 Liria                   20   11   7   2    40   22  +18    40
03 1896 Ebor               20   10   7   3    36   28   +8    37
04 Olympic                 20   11   3   6    33   25   +8    36
05 FK Arsika               20   10   4   6    32   24   +8    34
06 1923 Esca               20    9   6   5    30   22   +8    33
07 Ararat                  20    8   8   4    22   16   +6    32
08 CDSA                    20    7   8   5    29   27   +2    29
09 Tekstil                 20    7   6   7    33   31   +2    27
10 Litala ’93              20    6   6   8    35   36   −1    24
11 Nyva                    20    6   4  10    24   27   −3    22
12 Energija-Nuklearna      20    4   6  10    33   42   −9    18
13 Crvena Zvezda           20    3   8   9    23   35  −12    17
14 NK Dyka                 20    4   4  12    23   35  −12    16
15 Arka                    20    3   7  10    28   40  −12    16
16 BVK Dinamo              20    3   2  15    15   44  −29    11

Atletik lead despite some rocky form, their solid defence and the blossoming relationship between Damien Gannot and Jasno Odonelec seems to be propelling them at the moment. Robin Hjik did say that he expects that there will be some major sales this summer given the form of some of the team's key players (and their performances with the national team), so we will have to see if that affects their concentration as the season reaches the business end of proceedings. There's a strong chance that Atletik will be without the aforementioned Gannot, Patrik Odonelec and Miodrag Andrijasevic for next season so this could be a big season for them as they're in contention for both the league and the cup and they might not find it as easy to compete next time around. Liria are out of the cup but they're well in the fight for the league title as Danek Badjkev looks to end their nearly fifteen year title drought. Strahinja Nanusevski has been the key man up front for them and they will need him to keep firing when their Klasicni rivals have Damien Gannot in such brilliant form. The match against Atletik in the second Klasicni of the season on matchday 26 could be absolutely crucial in deciding where the title ends up. 1896 Ebor aren't out of it yet either, five points behind with ten games to go is definitely within the realms of possibility as a gap which could be bridged. They've been a little volatile this season, wildly oscillating between brilliant and exasperating. Zdeslav Nesic will need to find a way to be consistent over these final ten games if he does want to pull off a brilliant title win.

Olympic, FK Arsika and even 1923 Esca and Ararat seem to be in a battle for the final top four spot and the international competitions this brings. Olympic could finish higher, but they seem to have been making hard work of beating the teams they should be beating. Emil Jefak has been disappointed with his team a few times this season, but Adamo Fallaci does seem to be improving as the campaign goes on and Anne-Linde van Oers has been one of the best players in the league so there's a lot to be hopeful about for them. FK Arsika are well in contention too and Kemal Gajic has been inspired for them, with Juljana Chmela the perfect forward to finish the chances he creates. There has even been talk of converting Gajic into a striker himself such is the improvement in his finishing for both club and country in recent months. Sava Grgurovic has to be up for the Manager of the Season award if 1923 Esca can finish as high as this. His young team have been fantastic and the Vandendriessche-Evandro midfield axis has been much more solid than expected (1923 Esca have the joint-fourth best defensive record this season), with the latter showing a defensive nous that hadn't been expected of him which has allowed Vandendriessche to bomb forward. Misel Ravnjak has Ararat with the best defensive record in the league which is never a surprise, but you can actually see the skeleton of a title-winning Ravnjak team here. Omer Kuhar-Arh is fantastic, whilst Dordo Urbanc has been great off the bench and will play an even greater role in future seasons. If Ararat can keep hold of their key players Ravnjak might get them back to their peak of the start of the decade.

CDSA, Tekstil and Litala ’93 seem stuck in mid-table purgatory at the moment. All three would like to be a bit higher up, but CDSA and Tekstil in particular will be disappointed if this is as high as they finish come the end of the season. Alen Hrdaljko has been one of the players of the season so far despite CDSA being majoratively average on the whole, whilst Nebojsa Aleksic continues to show that he has still got it for Tekstil. He has twelve goals this season for the club which takes his Top League total up to 145 - level with Jezdimir Ocokoljic - and you wouldn't think he's done there. Speaking of great scorers Jiahui Wang has hit the ground running with Litala, sitting on nine goals for the season and you'd fancy him to improve on that given how free scoring his team have been with that attacking triumvirate of Wang, Zekic and Krstic. Behind those clubs is Nyva and whilst they're probably not in immediate danger they aren't wholly out of the relegation scrap just yet. Vasil Janevski's team will be looking to stretch away over the closing weeks of the season. Nyva have been good defensively once again but they're not as fluent in attack - despite Derajevic's ten goals - as they were last term and it has hindered them. What might concern them the most is the interest both Atletik and 1896 Ebor have in Alexandre Onio should they have to sell any of their current defenders. 1896 Ebor's Squornshelan centre-half Alborz Ialamov could be leaving following two excellent seasons at the club amidst attention from overseas and the Northmen have identified Onio as the perfect replacement.

Below that we have a real scrap on our hands as four teams try to avoid two of the relegation spots. Energija-Nuklearna and Crvena Zvezda currently enjoy the upper hand but it's by the finest of margins - two and one points respectively - and it could all change over the final few weeks of the season. Energija-Nuklearna have been driven on by Mijat Simic's goals as much as Duje Madar's management. The poacher has twelve for the campaign and has been linked with Liria Prizren if Anton-Dusan Straka decides to leave at the end of his contract this summer (he has been linked with a move back to Arka Snezhnaya). Crvena Zvezda are reliant on Dusko Ocokoljic and Marek Ladicorbic and that hasn't changed all season. Luka Kostic is a good manager but he's got a squad running on fumes after an amazing decade and this could turn out to be his best season of all if he can keep them up. They'll need a huge rebuild if he can. NK Dyka and Arka cannot be separated on points or goal difference and it is currently head-to-head results which has them separated. Both will want to jump out of the relegation zone as soon as they can and both will probably be quite thankful they're still within touching distance. Below them is BVK Dinamo and they've undoubtedly been better since the halfway mark of the season but it's probably going to be too little, too late. It'll be a case of damage limitation for them over these closing weeks.

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FEBRUARY WEEK 3
NATIONAL CUP QUARTER FINAL

1923 Esca   0–1   FK Magevskaya  0–1  0–0
  Olympic   0–3   Atletik        0–1  0–2
     CDSA   6–3   Litala ’93     3–1  3–2
1896 Ebor   7–1   Vitalia        4–1  3–0

We break for the cup quarter finals at this point in February and those remaining can really start to believe that they have a chance at lifting silverware. Sava Grgurovic has done an amazing job with 1923 Esca in the last couple of years after coming into the job to a fanbase which didn't have much faith in him, but even he has his bad days and being on the receiving end of a cup upset has to fall into the category. FK Magevskaya might only have been relegated to the Druga Liga at the end of last season but they're still lower league opposition and 1923 Esca supporters would have seen this as a good opportunity to reach a cup semi-final. The Magev side had other ideas and Yevdokim Mosyakov scored the only goal over the two legs to send them through to the last four. Normally this sort of embarrassment could send 1923 Esca supporters (and the notoriously violent ultras group Odeljak 1-11 in particular) into riotous critique of their coach, but Grgurovic has built up a lot of credit in recent years and it appears as if they will let him off on this one.

We also had an Eternal Derby quarter final between Olympic and Atletik, quite the stage for such a big rivalry game. Atletik won both legs and negotiated the tie really well on the whole, although a Branko Brkljacic red card for a second bookable offence in the second leg did make things slightly more difficult. He'll miss their next league game as a result. Jasno Odonelec did what he does best and scored a big game goal in the away leg at Novi Kaunostadion, before laying on two assists for Atletik's two Astograthians Chiki Larrimbe and Nahia Legarra back at home. A solid win for Atletik as they chase what would be their fifth league and cup double. CDSA seem to have their scoring boots on when it comes to the cup and they dispatched Litala ’93 6-3 on aggregate, hitting three goals past them in both legs. Alen Hrdaljko has been brilliant for them this season despite rumours swirling that he might finally leave the club he has supported all his life and he was crucial in both legs here, a real driving force from central midfield for the Decraa club and he has them in a cup semi-final as a result. Finally 1896 Ebor clobbered the other Magev team in the competition, Vitalia Vostochnaya Tochna. They've had an amazing few years after winning the inaugural Spirit of Youth Trophy and gaining promotion to the Druga Liga. This proved a step too far for them against Top League opposition, but they have designs on matching their regional rivals FK Magevskaya and trying to bring Top League football to the other side of the island in the coming years.

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FEBRUARY WEEK 4
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 21
Tekstil 2–2 1923 Esca
Energija-Nuklearna 1–2 1896 Ebor
CDSA 0–2 Olympic
Crvena Zvezda 1–4 Litala ’93
Atletik 6–2 BVK Dinamo
Nyva 2–1 Arka
Liria 1–0 Ararat
NK Dyka 1–1 FK Arsika

We're back to the league again and all of the top four won so there is no change there. Atletik hammered BVK Dinamo 6-2 with Damien Gannot scoring 4 (FOUR!) to really stretch away at the top of the scoring charts. Teufik Bajramovic - a former Olympic player - did grab one against his boyhood club's great rivals, but it was all in vain against an inspired Atletik. Liria had to work hard against Ararat but if there's anyone who can unpick a lock for them it is the Alen Gvetadze to Strahinja Nanusevski combination and the latter scored to help them keep pace with Atletik. 1896 Ebor needed a late winner from Josip Brajdic to beat Energija-Nuklearna in a bad tempered game in Miago, Ebor captain Thorvar Spinkvik saw red there which should give Yue midfielder Hong Guo an opportunity to deputise for him for the next few weeks as he serves his suspension. Anne-Linde van Oers scored the goal of the weekend against CDSA with an acrobatic effort from just inside the penalty area. That win allowed them to gap FK Arsika as they could only draw away to NK Dyka, a point which moves them out of the relegation zone.

Tekstil and 1923 Esca played out an end-to-end 2-2 draw in Ibon. A Thanasis Panagakos header the last of the scoring just after the hour mark, a goal ensuring both sides would take a share of the spoils. Litala ’93's 4-1 drubbing of Crvena Zvezda at the Stadion Ljudi meant that the Tsrvena club dropped into the relegation zone. Litala have shared the goals around in their extremely entertaining attacking approach this season and there was a goal each for Wang, Zekic, Krstic and Vasseas here. That allowed Jiahui Wang to break the ten goals mark in what has been a really impressive debut season. Nyva turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win against Arka and who other than Anton Derajevic was at the heart of it, leathering the equaliser in from outside the penalty area before delicately laying off for Drazen Zhivkov to win the game. Derajevic is like a fine wine, seemingly only getting better with every passing year.

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MARCH WEEK 1
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 22
1923 Esca 0–1 NK Dyka
FK Arsika 2–1 Liria
Ararat 1–1 Nyva
Arka 0–4 Atletik
BVK Dinamo 2–0 Crvena Zvezda
Litala ’93 2–3 CDSA
Olympic 2–0 Energija-Nuklearna
1896 Ebor 1–1 Tekstil

The champions seem really determined to retain their crown at the moment and a 4-0 thrashing of Arka only reinforces that. Jasno Odonelec might be heading for Player of the Season honours, he scored two and set up Zlatan Andrijasevic for a third before Chiki Larrimbe added a fourth. A really good performance from a team which look like they might be on their way to the title. It actually allowed them to stretch their lead to five points at the top because Liria fell to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of FK Arsika. Messrs Chmela and Gajic put Rashaikov's team into a commanding lead before Alen Gvetadze scored to create a nervous end to the game. FK Arsika's young back line held firm though and dealt a real blow to Liria's title hopes. 1896 Ebor also dropped points in what could be a pivotal weekend in the destiny of the title race, this was despite Brajko Gavrilovic's best efforts. He scored one and rattle the bar twice more against Tekstil but they couldn't find a winner. Olympic Thessia actually leapfrogged the Northmen into third with their comfortable 2-0 win over Energija-Nuklearna, van Oers and Yvjoev with the goals there.

At the opposite end of the table NK Dyka stretched their gap to the relegation zone to three points with a surprising 1-0 win away to 1923 Esca. Esro Sepúlveda has been brilliant for them on loan this season and grabbed another crucial goal as they move up to 12th. BVK Dinamo recovered from the battering they took off Atletik to beat fellow strugglers Crvena Zvezda 2-0, a result which pulls Crvena Zvezda into the relegation zone and means that BVK Dinamo are only four points from safety. They couldn't could they? If they managed to stay up it would be one of the most incredible escapes in the history of Mytanar football. Two sides which seem likely to fade into mid-table obscurity this season met at Korecky Road and they couldn't be separated as Ararat and Nyva played out a 1-1 draw. Meanwhile CDSA got a highly impressive 3-2 win away at Litala ’93. Sokolovny is always a difficult place to go, but CDSA fought hard to stay in the game against the home side's marauding forwards and were eventually rewarded with Dario Gvetadze's late winner.

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MARCH WEEK 2
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 23
1896 Ebor 4–3 1923 Esca
Tekstil 3–3 Olympic
Energija-Nuklearna 2–2 Litala ’93
CDSA 3–2 BVK Dinamo
Crvena Zvezda 1–0 Arka
Atletik 1–0 Ararat
Nyva 3–3 FK Arsika
Liria 2–0 NK Dyka

All of the top three won this week so there's little change at the top. Atletik had to work hard to see off Ararat but eventually the pressure told even if Bigger Mbala-Ekakia was one of the least likely sources of the winning goal. Liria were a little more composed in their 2-0 win over NK Dyka, Mersudin Smajic has a good debut season for them and grabbed a goal in this one. 1896 Ebor had one of the more entertaining matches of the weekend against 1923 Esca, with Sava Grgurovic's team causing all sorts of problems for the home side. A late double from Petar Majdandzic was needed to turn the game on its head and keep the three points in Ebor. Olympic Thessia did drop points against regional rivals Tekstil which could have affected their bid for IFCF football but thankfully FK Arsika did the same thing in their own burgeoning regional rivalry against Nyva. Both games were 3-3 in what was a high-scoring day of Top League football. It was a day for the strikers with van Oers, Aleksic, Chmela and Derajevic all getting on the scoresheets for their respective teams.

Crvena Zvevda and Arka met in a real relegation six-pointer and it was the Tsrvena club which came away with the three points as Dusko Ocokoljic - following in his brother Jezdimir's footsteps as the club's most influential player - scored from the penalty spot. It was a win which lifted Crvena Zvezda out of the relegation zone and left Arka four points adrift from safety. Energija-Nuklearna joined them in the relegation positions after they could only draw with Litala ’93 at the Miagostadion. Duje Madar still has the support of the Energija-Nuklearna fanbase, able to call upon the questionable managerial quality of being 'one of their own' but it'd be interesting to see how long that would last if he got the club relegated from the Top League for the first time ever. BVK Dinamo gave it a good go against CDSA as they looked to continue their recent uptick in form but the Decraa club finally managed to see them off through a Kosta Urosevic strike.

Here's the league table with seven matches to go:

## Top League             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Atletik                 23   15   6   2    50   23  +27    51
02 Liria                   23   13   7   3    44   24  +20    46
03 1896 Ebor               23   12   8   3    43   33  +10    44
04 Olympic                 23   13   4   6    40   28  +12    43
05 FK Arsika               23   11   6   6    38   29   +9    39
06 CDSA                    23    9   8   6    35   33   +2    35
07 1923 Esca               23    9   7   7    35   29   +6    34
08 Ararat                  23    8   9   6    23   19   +4    33
09 Tekstil                 23    7   9   7    39   37   +2    30
10 Litala ’93              23    7   7   9    43   42   +1    28
11 Nyva                    23    7   6  10    30   32   −2    27
12 NK Dyka                 23    5   5  13    25   38  −13    20
13 Crvena Zvezda           23    4   8  11    25   41  −16    20
14 Energija-Nuklearna      23    4   7  12    36   48  −12    19
15 Arka                    23    3   7  13    29   47  −18    16
16 BVK Dinamo              23    4   2  17    21   53  −32    14

Atletik have a five point gap at the top with seven games to go and you'd back them to go on from here and seal a 12th Mytanar Top League title. Damien Gannot has led the scoring charge with 17 goals for the season (four better than anyone else at this point); whilst Jasno Odonelec has probably been the Player of the Season from central midfield. A lot of credit has to go to Robin Hjik's coaching abilities, he's managed to keep a fantastic defensive record despite their youthful centre-half partnership of Andrija Ugljanin and Bigger Mbala-Ekakia. That has been the base from which Atletik have built their title challenge. Liria Prizren are in second place at the moment and Danek Badjkev will hope they can have overhaul the champions and win a first league title for almost fifteen years. It isn't an insurmountable gap and the matchday 26 Klasicni fixture between the two sides looms large. That could have a real impact on where the title ends up this season. Liria need to be consistent in their other matches too, but if they could win that then they will have a real fighting chance. 1896 Ebor and Olympic Thessia are in third and fourth respectively and might both just be a bit too far back to challenge for the title at this point. There was a bit of a feeling that 1896 Ebor might be looking towards next season due to the amount of signings they had to integrate this year, but they have been close throughout and might be a bit disappointed that they haven't driven that home. Olympic are at times brilliant and at times frustrating, the partnership of Fallaci and van Oers seems to be working now and Prinelec and Doolan provide able back-ups from the bench. They'll be glad of their four point advantage to fifth place FK Arsika given how they've competed for the top four at times this season.

FK Arsika owner Sacha Dobruzhanski invested a great deal to improve their squad over the summer and he's rumoured to be a bit disappointed that they haven't been more effective in utilising the new players to comfortably qualify for IFCF football. Veton Rashaikov is well liked at the club but Dobruzhanski has made rather public comments that he's impressed with Dzvezdan Kitanchev's coaching abilities at NK Dyka and Kitanchev - a former FK Arsika player - could end up wanting to be back in the Top League should NK Dyka face relegation. Dobruzhanski is unlikely to be afraid of pulling the trigger on a managerial change if they fail to finish in the top four given the money he has spent. It might be a little harsh on Rashaikov, he's had to integrate lots of new players and there's definite progress from last season, but when the owner has such lofty expectations it is sometimes difficult to match up to them. CDSA have done well in recent weeks, winning three out of their last five league games and reaching the National Cup semi-finals. Slavko Jelic is a well respected manager all over Mytanija and some thought he might struggle without Dejan Zgela and Alen Gvetadze this season but they seem set for another top-half finish. Rumours of Alen Hrdaljko's depature in the summer might make next season more difficult for them, but what better way than to go out on a high with a National Cup win? That's what CDSA will be hoping for. 1923 Esca and Ararat round out the top-half of the table and both of their managers have done a good job this season. Sava Grgurovic at 1923 Esca has them in the top-half and with a board that seems to have full faith in him they could really push on from here even if talented central defender Dino Racic might be off in the summer due to his performances with both club and country. Misel Ravnjak at Ararat has restored their defensive strength, with a particularly impressive Mingrong Yuan performing well and Omer Kuhar-Arh demonstrating his qualities as a playmaker further up the pitch.

Tekstil are sat in ninth currently and Emir Saric will want to push on and seal a top-half finish over the final few weeks of the season. They've found it hard without Mersudin Smajic and despite Zbynek Havlik and Evripidis Zervakis being decent players they haven't quite replaced Smajic's presence in the centre of the park. Nebojsa Aleksic is still banging the goals in though, overtaking Jezdimir Ocokoljic in the all-time Top League record books and now sitting only 14 behind Miki Sipilainen's all-time record of 160. You'd fancy Aleksic to go on and break that given that he'll only be 33 heading into next season. Litala ’93 are tenth and they will be eagerly looking at potential defensive signings for next season already as they try to return to what they see as their rightful place higher up the Top League table. Jiahui Wang has been an exceptional signing for them, with Alen Zekic not being too bad on a free either. Florent-Roparzh Krstic, Antun Spiridonovic and Dragisa Lazarevic represent solid home-grown talents at both ends of the pitch too. Nyva are a place further back and they might be a bit disappointed with their season, but this could be a return to normal service for them after a couple of brilliant years. Anton Derajevic is still scoring, he has 12 this season and is vital as ever for the club. They will worry about the day they have to replace him, although replacing Alexandre Onio could be a more urgent worry given 1896 Ebor's serious interest.

Then we come to the battle against the drop and currently NK Dyka and Crvena Zvezda are the ones who will be spending another year in the top-flight. Dzvezdan Kitanchev has done exceptionally well with NK Dyka whether they stay up or go down, as evidenced by FK Arsika's interest in making him their manager. He will want to finish on a high if he is leaving though and at the moment they are in a good position, albeit only safe by a single point. Crvena Zvezda have their own iconic manager in the form of Luka Kostic, he's been in charge for every single one of their five pieces of silverware (two league titles and three cups), but he might have his toughest job of all in keeping them up this year. Similarly to NK Dyka they're only safe by a point at the moment and they're really struggling to score goals. With seven games to go they'd definitely prefer to be in their position than in the relegation zone though. Energija-Nuklearna are the first of the teams in that drop zone, they've got an inexperienced manager in the form of Duje Madar and a leaky defence (the second worst in the division). However, they do have Mijat Simic scoring goals and if he can add to the 12 he has scored so far over the final few weeks of the season they will feel like they can stay up. Arka are four points adrift at the moment and whilst the board are keeping faith with Nikola Zivic - something their supporters never had in the manager in the first place - they could be in a real spot of bother. It would mark the end of a fifteen year spell in the Top League for them if they were to go down and Arka fans would never forgive the board for forcing Nemanja Pivec's hand. They feel that if he hadn't been driven to resignation the club would never have been in this mess. BVK Dinamo on the other hand would be marking the end of a one year stay in the Top League were they to go down. They are a perennial yo-yo club and whilst they have shown some signs of life over the past few weeks they're likely too poor in both boxes to be able to make up the six point gap to safety which currently exists between them and Crvena Zvezda.

[Mytanija]

MYTANAR TOP LEAGUE 29/30 SEASON REVIEW PART 4

This will be the final part of the Mytanar Top League season review and will cover the final six games of the campaign as well as the semi-finals and final of the National Cup. We will find out who will lift silverware over the last few weeks of the season, but there is also a lot more to play for besides with places in IFCF competitions up for grabs and the conclusion of what has been one of the most enthralling relegation battles in years. There's plenty to talk about, so here we go:

MARCH WEEK 3
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 24
1923 Esca 3–2 Liria
NK Dyka 1–3 Nyva
FK Arsika 1–0 Atletik
Ararat 3–0 Crvena Zvezda
Arka 2–1 CDSA
BVK Dinamo 2–1 Energija-Nuklearna
Litala ’93 0–1 Tekstil
Olympic 3–1 1896 Ebor

Three of the top four lose this weekend, perhaps demonstrating that the nerves are beginning to set in as the season reaches its crescendo. Atletik lost out to IFCF chasing FK Arsika at Novi Zavej Park, Kemal Gajic racing away from Tihomir Feric before lashing a shot beyond Jasmin Savic for the three points. What a season he is having, you wouldn't be surprised to see foreign suitors looking for his signature over the summer. Second placed Liria travelled to the capital for a difficult game away to 1923 Esca and came away empty handed after a thrilling match. Strahinja Nanusevski's double interspersed goals from Remy Vandendriessche and Zeljko Kuzmanovic before Thanasis Panagakos scored the winner for the Radnika side, preventing Liria from capitalising on Atletik's dropped points. Third played fourth at the Novi Kaunostadion and the two swapped places as Emil Jefak's side handed 1896 Ebor a real drubbing. Fallaci, van Oers and Prinelec scoring goals before Petar Majdandzic got a late consolation. Zdeslav Nesic will be concerned that the gremlins which have stopped his team mounting a serious title challenge (which they have often looked capable of), are making a return at the exact wrong moment. Tekstil got a good away win at Litala ’93 as Nebojsa Aleksic tucked away his 14th goal of the campaign.

There were a number of big games at the other end of the table too and although the positions of teams didn't change at the end of the day the teams from 12th to 16th in the table are separated by a mere three points. BVK Dinamo's victory over Energija-Nuklearna plays a big part in that with Teufik Bajramovic scoring the winner, he has been in inspired form for them over this season scoring nine goals in the process. It is a win which gives BVK Dinamo a real chance of getting out of the relegation zone too, when they looked dead and buried a few weeks ago. Duje Madar will be extremely worried that his team might end up going down, they're 14th and losing to BVK Dinamo isn't great encouragement for the weeks ahead. NK Dyka and Crvena Zvezda are both currently outside the relegation zone but if they repeat their results from this week - 3-1 and 3-0 losses to Nyva and Ararat respectively - over the remainder of the season they could easily end up in there. Anton Derajevic was at his best for Nyva, laying on assists for Zhivkov and Arzensek after scoring one of his own. Ararat's great young hope Omer Kuhar-Arh continues to impress too, an outstanding free-kick taking his tally up to 7 for the season. Meanwhile Arka worked hard for a 2-1 win over CDSA, Leandre Junior's winner allowing them to have a bit of hope for the weeks ahead.

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MARCH WEEK 4
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 25
Olympic 1–0 1923 Esca
1896 Ebor 3–0 Litala ’93
Tekstil 4–0 BVK Dinamo
Energija-Nuklearna 0–1 Arka
CDSA 3–2 Ararat
Crvena Zvezda 1–2 FK Arsika
Atletik 2–0 NK Dyka
Nyva 2–2 Liria

Atletik got things back on track with a 2-0 win against NK Dyka, a result which puts Dzvezdan Kitanchev's side down to 13th and at real risk of dropping into the relegation spots over the final few weeks. Jasno Odonelec is everything you'd want in a captain and his brace in this game only further reinforces his influence on this Atletik team from midfield, he's the highest scoring midfielder this season with ten goals so far. Olympic Thessia have had an outstanding couple of weeks and are up to second after a 1-0 win over 1923 Esca, Anne-Linde van Oers is coming up big for them in recent weeks and she wriggled away from Dino Racic and Mojsije Lazovic before smashing a shot beyond Isak Vennerod. Most importantly for Emil Jefak's team their gap to fifth is four points, they'll feel a bit more confident about maintaining that until the end of the season. Liria seem to be throwing things away a little, they looked best placed to challenge Atletik for the title but they're now third and seven points behind their Klasicni rivals after dropping two points in a 2-2 draw at Nyva. You have to feel that Liria must win next matchday's Klasicni if they are to have any hope of stopping Atletik from going back-to-back as champions. 1896 Ebor were good against Litala ’93 evidenced by the 3-0 scoreline. Dalibor Vlahovic had one of his best games in a while to score two and Zdeslav Nesic will want to keep this up over the final few weeks. They're only two points ahead of FK Arsika at the moment and it would be a catastrophe to miss out on Challengers' Cup football for the Northmen when it looked like they were in a title fight earlier on in the season.

BVK Dinamo have been much better so far during the second-half of the season and there's a chance that they could complete what would be one of the single greatest escapes from a relegation battle if they can keep it up over these final five games, but against Tekstil they were dire and Nebojsa Aleksic was inspired and that is a recipe for disaster. Aleksic moved one behind Damien Gannot in the scoring charts with his double. Arka moved out of the relegation zone for the first time in a long time, back-to-back wins doing a lot for their hopes of staying up. Aca Zivanovic scored a screamer in that match which plunges Energija-Nuklearna into deeper trouble, they're down in 15th albeit only a point from safety. FK Arsika left it late against Crvena Zvezda but Juljana Chmela's goal meant the three points would be heading back to Nasto and caused Luka Kostic's team to drop into the drop zone. You have to feel that the game between Crvena Zvezda and NK Dyka will be crucial in deciding if either of those teams can stay up, it comes on the next matchday and Crvena Zvezda must win because they have difficult games against Liria, Atletik and 1923 Esca remaining. NK Dyka have 1896 Ebor on the final day too, but Crvena Zvezda's remaining schedule is really difficult and if they fail to win then their incredible decade is going to end on a real sour note. Away from the relegation battle CDSA won a five-goal thriller against Ararat through an Alen Hrdaljko header (a real collector's item!).

Next week is National Cup semi-finals week, so it's a week off for those teams that aren't involved. They'll hope to use it wisely as the season heads towards its conclusion. Here's the league table with five games to go:

## Top League             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Atletik                 25   16   6   3    52   24  +28    54
02 Olympic                 25   15   4   6    44   29  +15    49
03 Liria                   25   13   8   4    48   29  +19    47
04 1896 Ebor               25   13   8   4    47   36  +11    47
05 FK Arsika               25   13   6   6    41   30  +11    45
06 CDSA                    25   10   8   7    39   37   +2    38
07 1923 Esca               25   10   7   8    38   32   +6    37
08 Tekstil                 25    9   9   7    44   37   +7    36
09 Ararat                  25    9   9   7    28   22   +6    36
10 Nyva                    25    8   7  10    35   35    0    31
11 Litala ’93              25    7   7  11    43   46   −3    28
12 Arka                    25    5   7  13    32   48  −16    22
13 NK Dyka                 25    5   5  15    26   43  −17    20
14 Crvena Zvezda           25    4   8  13    26   46  −20    20
15 Energija-Nuklearna      25    4   7  14    37   51  −14    19
16 BVK Dinamo              25    5   2  18    23   58  −35    17

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APRIL WEEK 1
NATIONAL CUP SEMI FINAL

...CDSA   6–3   FK Magevskaya  4–1  2–2
Atletik   3–2   1896 Ebor      1–1  2–1 (aet)

CDSA and FK Magevskaya would both have been happier being drawn against one another than either of the other two remaining clubs, Atletik and 1896 Ebor. It means that they both avoid the strongest teams left and have a relatively clearer path to the final. Unfortunately for FK Magevskaya there is still a gap in quality between the Top League and Druga Liga and with their relegation from the former to the latter last season they lost some of their better players, so that gap was evident out on the pitch during the first leg. Alen Hrdaljko is the CDSA captain and he inspired them to a brilliant 4-1 victory at Psenicova to put them in a really strong position ahead of the second leg. He scored one, with Vasa Vojev, Kosta Urosevic and Dario Gvetadze all getting on the scoresheet too. Veteran FK Magevskaya playmaker Olexandr Sokolenko did get his team a consolation goal but it left them with a real uphill battle to progress. FK Magevskaya did make a game of it in the second leg, working hard for a respectable 2-2 draw but CDSA ended their fairy-tale run here and gave themselves the opportunity to win the National Cup for the third time. The last time they won it was ten years ago, in the 19/20 season. Could we see history repeat itself this time?

Atletik and 1896 Ebor's rivalry continued on a stage which is befitting of two historic clubs and a competitive tie added another chapter to that storied rivalry. Atletik looked like they would win the first leg 1-0 but 1896 Ebor hit back in second-half injury time through Brajko Gavrilovic to give themselves an important away goal. The second leg at the Olujastadion was extremely cagey, with neither team willing to give the other an inch. Atletik cancelled out the Northmen's away goal through Miodrag Andrijasevic's piledriver, but 1896 Ebor replied a mere three minutes later with a cracker of their own from captain Thorvar Spinkvik. Neither side could find a winner in ninety minutes and that meant that the game would head to extra time. We had to wait until the 117th minute of the game to see the winner, Damien Gannot - who has had a quiet few weeks by his standards this season - sprinting beyond a tired 1896 Ebor back-line and dinking Oduor Bigombe to send Atletik through. Even if 1896 Ebor had found a goal Atletik would have gone through on away goals and Gannot's strike seemed to knock the stuffing out of them as you would expect. Atletik set-up a final against their great friends from CDSA, that match at Radnika will be a celebration of the relationship between the two clubs and their left-wing political allegiances. Both will want to win but you'd struggle to find a team which either would prefer to lose to in the final.

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APRIL WEEK 2
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 26
1923 Esca 3–2 Nyva
Liria 4–4 Atletik
NK Dyka 2–2 Crvena Zvezda
FK Arsika 0–0 CDSA
Ararat 2–3 Energija-Nuklearna
Arka 0–1 Tekstil
BVK Dinamo 1–2 1896 Ebor
Litala ’93 1–0 Olympic

The Klasicni is the biggest match in Mytanar football with Atletik and Liria being the two best supported clubs in the country. At this point in the season Atletik needed a win to further their title ambitions, whilst Liria needed one just to cut the gap to their old rivals. The two played out a real classic and couldn't be separated, scoring four goals apiece in a really good advertisement for Mytanar football. Damien Gannot scored two delightful goals to build on his semi-final winning goal from last week and it is a result which leaves the gap between the two teams at seven points, meaning Liria could well be out of the title fight with four games to go. Danek Badjkev believed his team could win it this season and may have to consider his future over the summer if that does turn out to be the case. Atletik's gap to second remains at five points as Olympic Thessia lost out to a Jiahui Wang stunner, whilst 1896 Ebor put their cup disappointment behind them to beat BVK Dinamo 2-1 at the Stadion Pavel Vyoral. Zdeslav Nesic's team might end up trophyless at the end of the season, but they're actually closest to Atletik in the league right now after a rollercoaster few weeks. FK Arsika couldn't capitalise on the poor results above them either, drawing 0-0 with CDSA.

1923 Esca and Nyva had a fantastic 3-2 showdown at Radnika, settled by Zeljko Kuzmanovic's diving header. Whilst in a battle between two teams seriously threatened by relegation neither went home happy as NK Dyka and Crvena Zvezda could only draw 2-2. That was a particularly bad outcome given how the other games went at the bottom. Arka were already out of the relegation positions and nearly improved that further until Nebojsa Aleksic scored for Tekstil to win them the game (his 150th Top League goal), but the big game in terms of NK Dyka and Crvena Zvezda was the one between Ararat and Energija-Nuklearna. The Miago side have looked out of ideas at times over the past few weeks but they were electric here against one of the best defences in the Top League, Mijat Simic's hat-trick demonstrating his obvious ability but also getting Energija-Nuklearna a vital three points which lifted them above both NK Dyka and Crvena Zvezda to safety. It's no surprise Liria are so interested in Simic with Anton-Dusan Straka erring on signing a new contract and believed to want to return to Visoravna. The regional rivalry between Energija-Nuklearna and Liria isn't expected to be a problem given Energija-Nuklearna sold Andrija Ugljanin to Atletik (given the political differences between Energija-Nuklearna's ultras group Grolija and Atletik's Kippax Ofras). Don't be surprised to see banners criticising the board if it does happen though, Grolija want the club to keep hold of their own where possible.

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APRIL WEEK 3
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 27
Litala ’93 1–3 1923 Esca
Olympic 0–0 BVK Dinamo
1896 Ebor 2–0 Arka
Tekstil 2–1 Ararat
Energija-Nuklearna 0–2 FK Arsika
CDSA 4–2 NK Dyka
Crvena Zvezda 0–3 Liria
Atletik 1–0 Nyva

Atletik took a while to score against Nyva and you could feel the tension ramping up around the Novi Atletskistadion the longer it went on. In the end Zlatan Andrijasevic obliged and ended the tension with a slaloming run and finish to back-up the 'good feet for a big man' tag that follows him everywhere. It keeps Atletik's lead at five points and Robin Hjik will feel that his team can get it over the line from here. 1896 Ebor have been up and down all season but they seem determined to keep the pressure on to benefit from any Atletik slip-ups and they were professional in a 2-0 Northern Derby win which doesn't do much for Arka's hopes of staving off relegation. Luckily for them most other results went their way. Liria leapfrogged Olympic into third in the table after a comprehensive win over Crvena Zvezda, Strahinja Nanusevski scoring the pick of the goals to demonstrate why he is turning heads among foreign scouting circles. Olympic could only draw 0-0 with bottom side BVK Dinamo, a massive - if unexpected - point for them which means they're only four points from safety with three games to go. The great escape is still a possibility.

Away from the battle at both ends of the table we had the small matter of an All-Esca Derby to sink our teeth into and 1923 Esca were just too strong for their capital rivals Litala ’93. This 3-1 win away at Sokolovny meant that it was one win each between the two for the season and honours even. Zeljko Kuzmanovic continued his brilliant recent form with a brace, bringing him to 9 goals for the campaign and showing that he might just be starting to deliver on his much discussed potential. Another mid-table battle took place between Tekstil and Ararat and the home side edged it 2-1 at Gradski Stadion. Misel Ravnjak must be wondering what has happened to his lockdown defensive unit over the past few weeks, but coming up against Nebojsa Aleksic in such good form is a decent excuse. He added another to his tally to move level with Robin Hjik in the all-time records. He will have Miki Sipilainen's all-time record in his sights heading into next season with him being only nine behind at this point. CDSA handed NK Dyka a damaging defeat at a Psenicova which is undergoing enormous renovation and expansion given Mytanija's bid to host the Copa Rushmori. Dario Gvetadze hit a hat-trick, the sixth of the season in the league, to really hinder NK Dyka's hopes of staying up. Things are so tight down at the bottom but every point counts at the moment. FK Arsika beat Energija-Nuklearna 2-0 at the Miagostadion with goals from Pasha Secujac and Juljana Chmela, that win moves them only a point behind Olympic Thessia and they'll be looking to overtake the Thessian club over the final few weeks of the season.

A quick look at both ends of the table as we head into the home straight:

## Top League             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Atletik                 27   17   7   3    57   28  +29    58
02 1896 Ebor               27   15   8   4    51   37  +14    53
03 Liria                   27   14   9   4    55   33  +22    51
04 Olympic                 27   15   5   7    44   30  +14    50
05 FK Arsika               27   14   7   6    43   30  +13    49
...
12 Energija-Nuklearna      27    5   7  15    40   55  −15    22
13 Arka                    27    5   7  15    32   51  −19    22
14 NK Dyka                 27    5   6  16    30   49  −19    21
15 Crvena Zvezda           27    4   9  14    28   51  −23    21
16 BVK Dinamo              27    5   3  19    24   60  −36    18

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APRIL WEEK 4
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 28
1923 Esca 2–1 Atletik
Nyva 3–1 Crvena Zvezda
Liria 3–1 CDSA
NK Dyka 0–1 Energija-Nuklearna
FK Arsika 1–1 Tekstil
Ararat 1–2 1896 Ebor
Arka 0–3 Olympic
BVK Dinamo 2–2 Litala ’93

It's not the time of the season to start dropping points when you should be winning and Atletik threw away a 1-0 lead to allow 1923 Esca to win 2-1 at Radnika, a result heralded by 1923 Esca ultras Odeljak 1-11 with an hour of raucous singing post-game. Zeljko Kuzmanovic and Remy Vandendriessche hit late goals to hand Atletik the loss which shrunk their lead at the top to only two points. They did confirm that they'd be playing IFCF football next season despite this due to FK Arsika dropping points against their Rijeka Derby rivals Tekstil. 1896 Ebor were the team to cut Atletik's lead down to two, scoring two in the first-half against Ararat through Brajdic and Gavrilovic before Scianna's goal made for a nervous last fifteen minutes. The Northmen held on and Zdeslav Nesic could be on the verge of a miraculous title win given that his team were as much as seven points behind Atletik as recently as matchday 25! Two points behind with two games to go is an enormous turnaround and they will be trying to seize on any slip-ups Atletik have between now and the end of the season. Liria ensured that they would not be too much further behind with a comprehensive 3-1 win over CDSA, Anton-Dusan Straka scored two before confirming that he would not be renewing his contract at the end of the season. A development which means Liria will need a new striker in the summer.

The meeting between NK Dyka and Energija-Nuklearna carries as much weight as that match between NK Dyka and Crvena Zvezda a few weeks ago with both teams really needing to take all three points if they want to stay up. Dzvezdan Kitanchev's team were probably the better side but it was Mijat Simic's goal for Energija-Nuklearna which secured the three points and moved them a step closer to safety. The Miago side now have a four point cushion to the relegation zone which might well prove to be enough. NK Dyka aren't too far off safety but they can't seem to get a win at the moment, Arka's loss to Olympic means not too much changes in terms of the gap between those sides but both are in dire need of a win at the moment. Anne-Linde van Oers and Adamo Fallaci were both excellent for Olympic against Arka and both got on the scoresheet. Nyva were really good in their 3-1 win over Crvena Zvezda, Derajevic, Zmajevic and Arzensek doing the damage there meaning Crvena Zvezda remain embroiled in a real relegation scrap whilst BVK Dinamo got another unexpected result with a 2-2 draw against Litala. They're only three points from safety with two games to go.

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MAY WEEK 1
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 29
BVK Dinamo 0–1 1923 Esca
Litala ’93 0–1 Arka
Olympic 3–0 Ararat
1896 Ebor 4–3 FK Arsika
Tekstil 1–2 NK Dyka
Energija-Nuklearna 0–2 Liria
CDSA 2–2 Nyva
Crvena Zvezda 1–7 Atletik

Atletik answered their critics with a 7-1 walloping of Crvena Zvezda at the Stadion Ljudi. Damien Gannot hit four past Mislav Pejic - the second time Gannot has scored four in a game this season - to likely secure the Golden Boot for himself. Atletik were under pressure to win coming into the game and they did exactly what was needed with an imposing performance. Crvena Zvezda also needed a result and despite the terrible outcome their fans stayed until full-time, with this result - in conjunction with those in other matches - being the one which relegated Crvena Zvezda to the Druga Liga and ended their glorious decade on a whimper. There was tears as well as anger amongst the crowd, but also a lot of gratitude towards the likes of manager Luka Kostic and veterans Damir Azanovic and Petr Isaev for an incredible ten years. They were understandably gutted for it to end this way. Arka's 1-0 win over Litala ’93 created an insurmountable gap and consigned Crvena Zvezda to their fate. BVK Dinamo will be joining them, unable to pull off the greatest escape, their 1-0 loss to 1923 Esca means they too will be playing Druga Liga football next season. NK Dyka's 2-1 away win against Tekstil gives them a chance going into the final day and means that none of NK Dyka, Arka or Energija-Nuklearna know their fate as yet.

Atletik's big win meant that 1896 Ebor couldn't move closer than the two points they were already behind their rivals, but their 4-3 win over FK Arsika did at least mean they kept pace with them. It also meant that FK Arsika would not be playing IFCF football next season, with Liria and Olympic both winning as well to put paid to Sacha Dobruzhanski's ambitions. Veton Rashaikov might well be out of a job very soon. 1896 Ebor's win came through a Petar Majdandzic special, two headers which turned the result on its head and got the Northmen an important win. Liria made easier work of beating Energija-Nuklearna and demonstrated to Mijat Simic just why he should cross the divide in that battle for supremacy within Vojovitica. Olympic brought Lazar Prinelec into their starting line-up for the game against Ararat and he impressed with a goal and an assist on the way to a 3-0 win. Misel Ravnjak bemoaned his team's return to bad habits, with his defence conceding the same amount of goals (16) during the final ten games as they had conceded in the first twenty. There's still one game to go, too, so Ravnjak's mood could worsen further yet. CDSA and Nyva don't have much to play for at this point but they still played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at Psenicova. Alen Hrdaljko scored the opener from the spot before Anton Derajevic returned the favour for Nyva. Luka Zmajevic showed why he's being talked about as one of the most improved players of the season with his 4th goal of the campaign to put Nyva back in front but Dario Gvetadze was on hand to equalise to save a point for the home side.

There's a lot to play for on the final day of the season at both ends of the Top League table:

## Top League             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Atletik                 29   18   7   4    65   31  +34    61  IFCF CC
02 1896 Ebor               29   17   8   4    57   41  +16    59  IFCF CC
03 Liria                   29   16   9   4    60   34  +26    57  IFCF CC
04 Olympic                 29   17   5   7    50   30  +20    56  IFCF CC
05 FK Arsika               29   14   8   7    47   35  +12    50
...
12 Energija-Nuklearna      29    6   7  16    41   57  −16    25
13 Arka                    29    6   7  16    33   54  −21    25
14 NK Dyka                 29    6   6  17    32   51  −19    24
15 Crvena Zvezda           29    4   9  16    30   61  −31    21  R
16 BVK Dinamo              29    5   4  20    26   63  −37    19  R

It all looked so comfortable for Atletik Thessia a few weeks ago but now they have to go into the final day and get at least a point to ensure that they will go back-to-back as Mytanar Top League champions. The difference in goal difference between them and 1896 Ebor is so large that it would need a ludicrous swing for them not to win with a draw from their final game, but a defeat could open the door for 1896 Ebor to win a first league title since 20/21. Zdeslav Nesic will believe his team can do it, they play NK Dyka on the final day whilst Robin Hjik's team play CDSA in a dress rehearsal of the National Cup final. Atletik play a team with nothing to play for in league terms, but Slavko Jelic might wish to deal an early psychological blow ahead of the cup final. 1896 Ebor are up against a team which need to better Arka's or Energija-Nuklearna's result to stay up. That could make things difficult for the Northmen.

Liria and Olympic are both safe in IFCF Challengers' Cup positions which will be well received by those in the finance departments of both clubs, although Danek Badjkev could be under a bit of pressure given Liria's expenditure on transfers to try and build a team capable of challenging Atletik in recent years. He's a club legend but he still needs to get the team results. Liria could finish second if they better 1896 Ebor's result which would put them into the IFCF Challengers' Cup at a later round. Olympic will just be pleased with their top four spot given their up and down form this season. Emil Jefak might be annoyed that his side couldn't be more consistent given the quality they have, but another year of IFCF money will definitely help and could hold off FK Arsika a little bit longer. Sacha Dobruzhanski is expected to be on the warpath after his manager's failure to lead the team into the IFCF spots and it is the worst-kept secret in Mytanar football that NK Dyka manager Dzvezdan Kitanchev is earmarked as a potential successor to Rashaikov after playing for the club in the past and burnishing his reputation this season.

At the bottom it is a case of three not going into one with Crvena Zvezda and BVK Dinamo already relegated. Crvena Zvezda will bid an emotional goodbye to the Top League and the club's board are expected to sanction several sales in order to secure the club's future financially. That could hinder their chances of bouncing straight back up, but you have to feel they'll have one of the better sides in the second tier even if a few players have to leave. BVK Dinamo are well used to bouncing between the divisions under Konstantin Rajkovic but they might struggle to keep hold of top scorer Teufik Bajramovic this summer. As mentioned NK Dyka have to better one of Arka or Energija-Nuklearna's results in order to stay up, although the slight goal difference advantage Energija-Nuklearna hold could mean that a win isn't enough for Dzvezdan Kitanchev's team. Arka might be seen as easier to overcome, but they play BVK Dinamo on the final day and you'd have to fancy them to get a result in that fixture.

[Mytanija]

MYTANAR TOP LEAGUE 29/30 SEASON REVIEW PART 5

It all comes down to this! The final matchday of the season and the one where the destination of the title and the final relegation place will be decided. Atletik and 1896 Ebor have been competitive rivals for a long time. Atletik have been dominant domestically whereas 1896 Ebor's pair of UICA Champions' Cup titles are the sort of international honour which Atletik used to crave. Expectations at both are a little lower now, but they both have a chance at winning the title here. Atletik have the upper hand, but if they fall short on the final day it will open the door for the Northmen. At the other end one of three must go down. Energija-Nuklearna, Arka or NK Dyka could all still go down. The first two just have to equal the results of NK Dyka, but the Nasto club need to better whatever happens above them. Any of the three could still go down and there is real jeopardy in that fact. Let's see what happened:

MAY WEEK 2
TOP LEAGUE MATCHDAY 30
1923 Esca 0–1 Crvena Zvezda
Liria 2–1 Tekstil
FK Arsika 3–3 Olympic
Ararat 2–3 Litala ’93

First we have the four matches which involve teams not fighting for the title or battling against the drop. Crvena Zvezda's fate was already sealed coming into the final day but they gave a creditable performance in a 1-0 win with Dusko Ocokoljic's goal the difference between the two sides. He was tearful post-game as the players clapped their loyal fans in the Radnika away end, with the supporters serenading the team for the incredible journey they have been on over the last decade despite the relegation. Two Top League titles and three National Cups with one of the greatest Mytanar footballers ever in Jezdimir Ocokoljic playing for the club. It's a shame it ended this way but Crvena Zvezda supporters are perhaps still pinching themselves that it ever happened in the first place. Liria did what they had to do in a 2-1 win over Tekstil, the win meaning that they would move into second if 1896 Ebor dropped points. Nanusevski and Straka scored the goals as they so often have this season (25 between them over the campaign), with the latter going out on a high as his contract expires. He's expected to return to Arka if they remain in the Top League, though he may try his luck abroad if they do not.

FK Arsika and Olympic Thessia have been rivals for a top four spot throughout this season and they played out an extremely good game to cap that battle off. All the big names got on the scoresheet: Chmela, Gajic and Secujac for the home side and van Oers, Fallaci and Kupresak for Olympic. They couldn't be separated and it demonstrated how close the competition has been between the two teams this season. Litala ’93 compounded a poor end to the season for Ararat Severyan, although the friendship between the two sets of supporters meant that you couldn't really tell if it annoyed supporters of the home team. It certainly annoyed Misel Ravnjak who likened his team's defending over the final ten games to that of an under-9s team. There is a deep contrast between how good they were defensively for two-thirds of the season and how they ended it, although Yue centre-half Mingrong Yuan is once again one of the best defenders in the league and might well trouble the team of the season. Jiahui Wang added a political context to the match by getting the better of Yuan on two occasions to score a fine brace. Wang has been an exceptional signing for Litala, scoring 13 times in his debut season and proving the doubters wrong after many said he couldn't do it after his absence from the game.

We have live-text coverage of the other four games, with these fixtures being crucial in deciding the destination of the league title and in the battle against relegation at the other end of the table. Atletik meet CDSA at the Novi Atletskistadion in a dress rehearsal of the National Cup final, whilst 1896 Ebor have a potentially difficult trip to Nasto to play NK Dyka who are of course battling against the drop. Energija-Nuklearna play Nyva knowing that if they win there is nothing that either of Arka or NK Dyka can do to drag them into that final relegation place, whilst Arka are at home to BVK Dinamo in seemingly winnable match. We all know what pressure can do to players though. Arka need to equal NK Dyka's result in order to hold onto their Top League status. Here's the minute-by-minute commentary of all four games:

15:00 - We're here at the Novi Atletskistadion to see if Atletik can go back-to-back with what would be their 12th Mytanar Top League title. There will be action at both ends of the table though, with coverage from 1896 Ebor's game against NK Dyka as both teams need a result for entirely different reasons. We'll also be covering Nyva versus Energija-Nuklearna and Arka against BVK Dinamo are those teams try to stay up. Aleksandar Spasojevic gets us underway here! Atletik 0-0 CDSA, 1’.

15:04 - Atletik have their first chance of the game and there's nobody else they would have wanted it to fall to than Damien Gannot. Some nice work by Miodrag Andrijasevic and Chiki Larrimbe down the left and a fine ball in by the Astograthian but Gannot could only shank his shot wide! Disappointing for Atletik, but they seem to be in the mood here in the opening minutes. Atletik 0-0 CDSA, 4’.

15:06 - GOAL! Energija-Nuklearna strike the first blow in the battle against the drop! They knew that they were in the best position of the three fighting to stay up and it seems to have liberated them a bit as they have started this game brilliantly. Zdenko Smolic has been exceptional for them this season, playing over twenty games in the Top League as a 16 year old and he has threaded a beautiful through ball through the Nyva defence to put Mijat Simic through on goal and the striker has finished with aplomb. It might be Simic's last game in an Energija-Nuklearna shirt, but he'll be very happy if he can at least go out whilst playing a huge part in securing their top-flight status. Nyva 0-1 Energija-Nuklearna, 6’.

15:07 - News of Energija-Nuklearna's goal has filtered around Arka Park here and that might well transmit to the players. Their task doesn't really change though, they have to equal NK Dyka's result if they want to stay up. Arka 0-0 BVK Dinamo, 7’.

15:08 - And it's reached Drachevo too! NK Dyka have a tough assignment against 1896 Ebor on the final day but Energija-Nuklearna's goal doesn't really change too much for them. Arka were always going to be the ones that would be easier to overtake and Dzvezdan Kitanchev's team merely need to better their result here. 1896 Ebor do need to win if they want to win the title though, so they're providing a stern test. NK Dyka 0-0 1896 Ebor, 8’.

15:11 - GOAL! CDSA are in front at the Novi Atletskistadion! That is exactly what 1896 Ebor needed! It is completely against the run of play, with Atletik absolutely dominating the opening ten minutes but the Decraa club look like they could play their part in the final day of the season. Alen Hrdaljko has driven home an absolute pearl of a strike. Dario Gvetadze was busy around the Atletik box after a CDSA counter broke down and his lay-off was perfect for Hrdaljko to smash into the net. It's Hrdaljko's sixth goal of the season and what a time to get it! The famous friendship between Atletik and CDSA supporters could be tested if it is CDSA which prevent Atletik from winning the title here. Atletik 0-1 CDSA, 11’.

15:12 - 1896 Ebor supporters are absolutely joyous in the away end here at Drachevo! They need Atletik to lose if they want to have any hope of winning the title given their inferior goal difference and it's now happening. The Northmen also have to win of course, but one of the two things they need to happen currently is and Zdeslav Nesic's team would usually be expected to beat NK Dyka. It's going to be difficult given that the home side are also battling against relegation and Vido Mehic has probably had the best chance of the game for them so far. NK Dyka 0-0 1896 Ebor, 12’.

15:15 - We're a quarter of an hour in here in Snezhnaya and neither team has really been able to generate a good chance thus far. The most notable occurrence has probably been a yellow card for Arka captain Martin Zvokelj for snapping into a tackle a little too viciously on Teufik Bajramovic. He'll be playing the remainder of the game on a metaphorical tightrope. Arka 0-0 BVK Dinamo, 15’.

15:19 - GOAL! Well, that was short-lived. Atletik are back level and it is that man Damien Gannot with the goal! He has made up for his earlier profligacy in front of goal and powered home a fine effort from just inside the penalty area. The Novi Atletskistadion had been a little tense after conceding earlier but the party atmosphere is back and you would expect that to help the team. Atletik will likely be champions with a draw barring a rather ridiculous result in Dyka, so as long as they can avoid going behind again this should be enough. Atletik 1-1 CDSA, 19’.

15:21 - The away end at Drachevo is a little less boisterous now, quietened a little by news of Atletik's equaliser filtering through. 1896 Ebor have had a couple of good chances through Josip Brajdic and Dalibor Vlahovic here but they have failed to convert so far and in reality things are out of their hands a little now. They need CDSA to go back in front to have any hope of lifting the trophy. NK Dyka 0-0 1896 Ebor, 21’.

15:25 - GOAL! BVK Dinamo are 1-0 up! Teufik Bajramovic escaped the clutches of both Martin Zvokelj and Sinisa Jaksic to lash in his tenth goal of the season! It was a really good finish by Bajramovic and a few clubs might be keeping an eye on him ahead of the summer transfer window. To score ten for a relegated side which has struggled as much as BVK Dinamo have at times this season is no mean feat. Arka could be in trouble though, the goal drops them into 14th as NK Dyka are holding 1896 Ebor at the moment. Arka need a goal! Arka 0-1 BVK Dinamo, 25’.

15:27 - There's a lot of activity on the touchline and in the stands at Drachevo! I think they've heard about the goal at Arka Park! As it stands NK Dyka will be holding onto their place in the Top League for another year. The question for Dzvezdan Kitanchev will be whether to tell his players, you'd assume he wouldn't lest they start trying to play for a draw when they might still need to win. They might be able to tell from the crowd here anyway though! NK Dyka 0-0 1896 Ebor, 27’.

15:31 - Yellow card for Kosta Urosevic here at the Novi Atletskistadion, he's gone in late on Jasno Odonelec in the middle of the pitch there and no Mytanar referee is going to allow that on the national team captain. Atletik finding it difficult to get in front here, CDSA are defending well. Atletik 1-1 CDSA, 31’.

15:33 - GOAL! Curse of the commentator strikes again! Atletik are in front against CDSA and it is the captain Jasno Odonelec who gets the goal. That late tackle by Kosta Urosevic seemed to spark something in Odonelec's mind and he drove at the CDSA defence here, leaving former Atletik youth player Ezib Salihovic sprawling before giving Visa Marinkovic the eyes and putting the ball the other way. It looks like the title will be coming back to the Novi Atletskistadion! Atletik 2-1 CDSA, 33’.

15:35 - The away section at Drachevo is clearly agitated and you can see Zdeslav Nesic furrowing his brow on the sideline. It seems like they know it could well be over. 1896 Ebor need Atletik to lose and it's hard to see them throwing away a lead after going behind early and then turning the game on its head. The Northmen will still want to finish second though and they could do with winning to ensure that outcome. NK Dyka 0-0 1896 Ebor, 35’.

15:39 - GOAL! Well that wasn't in the script! BVK Dinamo are 2-0 up here at Arka Park and the Snezhnaya side have an absolute mountain to climb! It's an own goal that has gone in off Sinisa Jaksic after a nice piece of play down the right flank by Sergej Krsmanovic. His ball in was pretty devilish and Teufik Bajramovic might well have turned it in of his own accord has Jaksic not attempted to play the ball but the centre-back has put it into his own net instead and BVK Dinamo could have a huge say in who joins them in the Druga Liga next season here. Arka have a lot of work to do! Arka 0-2 BVK Dinamo, 39’.

15:41 - If the NK Dyka players couldn't tell what was going on at Arka Park before they certainly will be able to now! Drachevo has absolutely exploded at the news of that second BVK Dinamo goal and if NK Dyka can remain level (or even go one better and win here) then they will be staying up at Arka's expense. What a battle it has been at the bottom of the league this season! NK Dyka 0-0 1896 Ebor, 41’.

15:45 - Chance! CDSA nearly draw level with Atletik again and it is Vasa Vojev who misses the opportunity. A lovely ball in between Patrik Odonelec and Andrija Ugljanin sends the winger through and Vojev only has Jasmin Savic to beat but he has pulled his shot wide of the goal. That could have been a pivotal goal in the title race. Atletik lead still. Atletik 2-1 CDSA, 45’.

15:46 - It's half-time here at the Stadion Sime Pandev, Mijat Simic's goal is the difference between the two sides in a match which hasn't really had too many chances. Nyva 0-1 Energija-Nuklearna, 45+1’.

15:47 - And half-times are coming in around the grounds. Atletik 2-1 CDSA; NK Dyka 0-0 1896 Ebor; Arka 0-2 BVK Dinamo. 45+2’.

15:53 - I'm not sure too many expected BVK Dinamo to cause Arka so many problems but Konstantin Rajkovic's team have put Arka into a real hole here. As it stands Arka will be relegated, ending their fifteen year stay in the Top League in the process. They have to come back from 2-0 down to have a chance of staying up at the moment. That could all change should 1896 Ebor go ahead against NK Dyka in which case it would be the Nasto side which would be relegated. Dzvezdan Kitanchev will want his team to try and get ahead against 1896 Ebor and not leave it up to BVK Dinamo to hold on to their 2-0 lead. Energija-Nuklearna look safe at the moment, their 1-0 lead means they're out of trouble but that could soon change should Nyva score a couple of goals. Arka being behind really does give the Miago side a layer of security however. Atletik look like they're heading for their 12th Top League title, winning their game is enough for them to do that and if they do so there is nothing 1896 Ebor can do about things even with a win. There's plenty still to play for though, CDSA will want to strike a blow ahead of the National Cup final and that could affect things during the second-half.

16:04 - A slight delay as the league officials and referees try to synchronise the matches across the league but we are back underway! A big second-half for those at the bottom of the table. Can Arka turn things around? Can NK Dyka hold on and ensure that they stay up? Energija-Nuklearna look safe for the moment. Atletik also seem to be heading for the title but it could all change with a couple of CDSA goals.

16:07 - Chance! 1896 Ebor have started this second-half very brightly and Josip Brajdic has gone close again with a good effort through a sea of NK Dyka bodies. Nice work down the flank by Brajko Gavrilovic to create the opportunity and a precise cut-back to the striker. Brajdic couldn't quite get his shot inside the left-hand post. NK Dyka 0-0 1896 Ebor, 48’.

16:10 - Yellow card for Andrija Ugljanin here at the Novi Atletskistadion. Ugljanin is no stranger to a rivalry with CDSA having come through the academy at Energija-Nuklearna, so playing for Atletik who have such a friendship with the Decraa club must be a little odd. There was no love lost with this tackle on Dario Gvetadze though, there were murmurs about it possibly warranting a greater punishment but Aleksandar Spasojevic probably correctly ruled that Bigger Mbala-Ekakia would have got around on the cover. It's still Atletik 2-1 CDSA, 51’.

16:14 - GOAL! And that should ensure that Energija-Nuklearna will be playing Top League football next season! It's a fifth goal of the season for 16 year old prodigy Zdenko Smolic and he has run straight over to his manager Duje Madar in celebration! The young coach has shown an enormous amount of faith in the youngster this season and he's repaid him with a brilliant strike from the corner of the penalty area, curling beyond Marko Babic in the Nyva Zvornik goal. A really good goal and the Miago club will feel a little more comfortable now they have a two-goal lead. Nyva 0-2 Energija-Nuklearna, 55’.

16:16 - That second goal doesn't really change much for either of NK Dyka or Arka at this point, as long as Energija-Nuklearna keep it that way of course. NK Dyka need to better Arka's result and if they do they will stay up, Arka need to equal NK Dyka's result and if they do they will stay up. It's a difficult task for Arka who are currently 2-0 down to already relegated BVK Dinamo, but with NK Dyka playing 1896 Ebor who knows what might happen?

16:20 - GOAL! Bigger Mbala-Ekakia likely confirms that the title is returning to the Novi Atletskistadion! What a fantastic header by the young centre-half! Jasno Odonelec has whipped in a brilliant corner and Mbala-Ekakia - supposedly marked by Novak Pap - has shrugged off the defender before rising to meet the ball and powering it into the net with his head. A great goal and the two-goal lead will ease the nerves of Robin Hjik and the Atletik support. Atletik 3-1 CDSA, 60’.

16:22 - Here at Drachevo the impetus has gone out of the 1896 Ebor away section entirely, they seem deflated by the news of that third goal for Atletik Thessia. They knew it might have been a longshot to win the title today, but it's the hope that kills you as a football supporter isn't it? 1896 Ebor might be playing for second place now, they still need to get a better result than Liria Prizren and they're currently winning 2-0 at home to Tekstil Ibon. NK Dyka 0-0 1896 Ebor, 62’.

16:25 - Tempers are fraying here at Arka Park, both on the pitch and in the stands. There's been bookings for Aca Zivanovic and Bruno Ozmec with the temperature rising as Arka's Top League status looks like fading away from them. The Krivulja Sjever ultras have caused a couple of stoppages in play after launching pyrotechnics onto the pitch from their section and black smoke bombs are being set off too. For anyone who knows the imagery of Mytanar football well that is never a good thing. Things could get ugly here unless Nikola Zivic's team are somehow to turn things around. Arka 0-2 BVK Dinamo, 65’.

16:29 - GOAL! Things go from bad to worse for Arka as NK Dyka have gone ahead! It's a goal from Audioslavian youngster Esro Sepúlveda and it is his ninth of the campaign. He's been an absolutely brilliant loan signing for NK Dyka and he could well play an enormous part in keeping them up! A fine dinked cross from Vlado Arzhentinski found the gap between Alborz Ialamov and Chris Thompson and Sepúlveda was there to turn home with his right foot. It could be a goal which keeps NK Dyka up, but it also perhaps extinguishes in any hopes 1896 Ebor had of claiming the league title. Huge ramifications at both ends of the table! NK Dyka 1-0 1896 Ebor, 69’.

16:31 - Ugly scenes here at Arka Park as news has come through about NK Dyka's goal. Ultras are climbing the fence at the front of their sector behind one of the goal's here and are trying to access the pitch. Stewards and Policija are intervening and play is continuing for now but there is a lot of anger among this crowd. Arka look like they could be heading down to the Druga Liga. Arka 0-2 BVK Dinamo, 71’.

16:34 - This match between Atletik and CDSA has turned into a little bit of a training ground game, with both sets of players serenely passing the ball around and seemingly content with how things are going. Both home and away supporters are joining together to sing songs celebrating Mytanar socialist heroes and about those who fought for the Otpor during the Mytanar Conflict. It is a bit of a carnival atmosphere, despite Slavko Jelic trying to inject some impetus into CDSA from the touchline. He can't be too pleased with how this game has gone due to the cup final between the clubs in a week's time. For all the love and friendship on display between the supporters there is still that looming in the background. Atletik 3-1 CDSA, 74’.

16:36 - GOAL! Arka have one back! There might be carnage in the stands but the players have kept on going and Arka are back in with a shout here! BVK Dinamo have defended stoutly for over 75 minutes but Bruno Ozmec split the defence with a brilliant pass and Safet Smajlovic has done well to round young Branimir Velimirovic and finish into an empty net. Smajlovic isn't known for getting in behind defences but his movement was excellent for this goal and it might just have got the Arka supporters back behind the team! They have a real chance now, but they still need a couple more goals as things stand! Arka 1-2 BVK Dinamo, 76’.

16:38 - NK Dyka supporters have their heads in their hands here at Drachevo! The tension is too much for some. That goal at Arka doesn't affect the table for the moment with NK Dyka currently ahead but all that is needed is two goals, one for 1896 Ebor and one for Arka. That would put NK Dyka into the relegation zone and mean that it would be them - and not Arka - that would be heading down to the Druga Liga. You wouldn't normally expect 1896 Ebor to be doing Arka a favour but it could still happen here! NK Dyka 1-0 1896 Ebor, 78’.

16:40 - Nikola Zivic has withdrawn Aca Zivanovic and brought on Ilija Canic in his place, probably a wise decision because Zivanovic has been riding his luck since getting a yellow card. Still Arka 1-2 BVK Dinamo, 80’.

16:41 - GOAL! Atletik have added the icing to the cake with a fourth goal! This time it is the stalwart centre forward Zlatan Andrijasevic and he has swept in his eleventh goal of the campaign at the end of a brilliant move which has probably typified Atletik's season. Some excellent football and a fine cross from Larrimbe found Andrijasevic and he did the rest! The title will be lifted here at the Novi Atletskistadion. Atletik supporters are singing 'champions again' and Robin Hjik could be taking his club to their fifth double with the cup final next week. Atletik 4-1 CDSA, 81’.

16:42 - 1896 Ebor won't be champions this season but Zdeslav Nesic is still out there cajoling his players from the technical area. He won't want to finish on a defeat to NK Dyka this season. They have been pushing all second-half but it is Sepúlveda's goal which still separates the two teams. NK Dyka 1-0 1896 Ebor, 82’.

16:45 - RED CARD! Today has not gone well for Sinisa Jaksic whatsoever, it was his own goal which gave BVK Dinamo a two-goal lead and now he has received a straight red card for a dangerous challenge on Teufik Bajramovic. It was high and studs were showing and Dario Gatic had little choice but to give him the red. That makes things very difficult for Arka here now, they will have to play the remainder of this game with ten men and they need two goals as things stand. Arka 1-2 BVK Dinamo, 85’.

16:47 - PENALTY! There is a penalty at Drachevo and it is a penalty for 1896 Ebor! This could have a huge effect on the battle at the bottom of the table even if 1896 Ebor's title hopes have dissipated today. Srdan Vukovic whipped in a great cross from a free-kick and it was heading right towards the head of big Petar Majdandzic except Majdandzic never got to it as he ended up on the turf. Nemanja Jovancic has ruled that NK Dyka centre-back Vladimir Savic dragged Majdandzic down and it is a penalty here! This could still give Arka hope if it goes in, though they will need a goal of their own too. NK Dyka 1-0 1896 Ebor, 87’.

16:48 - GOAL! Brajko Gavrilovic stepped up to take the penalty and he has absolutely smashed it beyond Samuil Kashuba. Even if the goalkeeper had been able to get a hand to it I doubt he would have kept that one out. A well-taken penalty by Gavrilovic and it is a goal which gives 1896 Ebor's Northern Derby rivals Arka hope even if it doesn't change too much for the Northmen. One goal would keep Arka up as things stand. NK Dyka 1-1 1896 Ebor, 88’.

16:50 - We're heading into 5 (FIVE!) minutes of injury time here at Arka Park and from trying to get onto the pitch to remonstrate with the players and coaching staff the Krivulja Sjever ultras are now roaring their team on! They know one goal would keep them in the top-flight. They don't have long to get it though. Arka 1-2 BVK Dinamo, 90’.

16:52 - It's full-time at Drachevo, NK Dyka have managed a draw against 1896 Ebor and if things stay the same at Arka Park then it will be Dzvezdan Kitanchev's team playing Top League football again next season. There was only two minutes added on here, but now the players have to nervously await the result at the other end of Mytanija.

16:53 - GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL! ARKA WILL BE STAYING UP! LEANDRE JUNIOR! HE HAS FOLLOWED IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF HIS FATHER! HE HAS WRITTEN HIMSELF INTO ARKA'S HISTORY! HE HAS KEPT ARKA IN THE TOP LEAGUE! A fine piece of play down the Arka left got Veselin Hristov into a crossing position and he has put a ball in and it was only half headed away by young Drago Jovic. Unfortunately for both him and NK Dyka it has fallen to Leandre Junior inside the BVK Dinamo penalty area and he has volleyed home a goal which will keep Arka Snezhnaya in the Mytanar Top League! Embattled manager Nikola Zivic has kept Arka up! The Arka supporters will say the club should never have been in this position but Zivic and the team have ensured they will be back in the Top League next year! This stadium has absolutely exploded, the noise is incredible. Arka 2-2 BVK Dinamo, 90+3’.

Atletik 4–1 CDSA
Nyva 0–2 Energija-Nuklearna
NK Dyka 1–1 1896 Ebor
Arka 2–2 BVK Dinamo

## Top League             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Atletik                 30   19   7   4    69   32  +37    64  C, IFCF CL
02 Liria                   30   17   9   4    62   35  +27    60  IFCF CC
03 1896 Ebor               30   17   9   4    58   42  +16    60  IFCF CC
04 Olympic                 30   17   6   7    53   33  +20    57  IFCF CC
05 FK Arsika               30   14   9   7    50   38  +12    51
06 1923 Esca               30   14   7   9    47   37  +10    49
07 Tekstil                 30   11  10   9    50   43   +7    43
08 CDSA                    30   11  10   9    47   48   −1    43
09 Ararat                  30    9   9  12    34   35   −1    36
10 Nyva                    30    9   8  13    42   44   −2    35
11 Litala ’93              30    9   8  13    50   54   −4    35
12 Energija-Nuklearna      30    7   7  16    43   57  −14    28
13 Arka                    30    6   8  16    35   56  −21    26
14 NK Dyka                 30    6   7  17    33   52  −19    25  R
15 Crvena Zvezda           30    5   9  16    31   61  −30    24  R
16 BVK Dinamo              30    5   5  20    28   65  −37    20  R

END OF SEASON AWARDS
Player of the Season:
#1: Jasno Odonelec [MYT] (Atletik, MC, 27)
#2: Alen Hrdaljko [MYT] (CDSA, MC, 25)
#3: Jiahui Wang [YZH] (Litala ’93, ST, 24)

Under-23 Player of the Season:
#1: Damien Gannot [MYT] (Atletik, ST, 21)
#2: Dino Racic [MYT] (1923 Esca, DC, 23)
#3: Anne-Linde van Oers [TLI] (Olympic, ST, 21)

Manager of the Season:
#1: Robin Hjik [MYT] (Atletik)
#2: Sava Grgurovic [MYT] (1923 Esca)
#3: Dzvezdan Kitanchev [MYT] (NK Dyka)

Golden Boot:
#1: Damien Gannot [MYT] (Atletik, ST; 24 goals in 30 games)
#2: Nebojsa Aleksic [MYT] (Tekstil, ST; 18 goals in 28 games)
#3: Mijat Simic [MYT] (Energija-Nuklearna, ST; 17 goals in 29 games)

Golden Glove:
#1: Semir Besak [MYT] (Olympic, GK; 11 clean sheets, 33 goals conceded in 30 games)
TIED #2: Pedja Kasun [MYT] (Ararat, GK); Lazar Obradovic [MYT] (Liria, GK) (10 clean sheets, 35 goals conceded in 30 games)
#3: Isak Vennerod [OPP] (1923 Esca, GK; 9 clean sheets, 37 goals conceded in 30 games)


Atletik Thessia are champions once again! This is the 12th time they have lifted the Top League title and it only further reinforces their domestic dominance, three league titles in five years showing that they are definite top dogs in Mytanija. They have an opportunity to win the National Cup next week too which would make this the fifth time they have won the league and cup double, it could be a truly historic year for them. Robin Hjik's return to the club has been an unmitigated success and the team coped well without both Jezdimir Ocokoljic and Grigorij Savicevic this year too. Others were asked to step up and they did that fantastically well. Atletik were led by captain and Player of the Season Jasno Odonelec. He scored 11 goals from midfield and contributed 14 assists on top of that, the captain was involved in over a third of his team's goals this year. Damien Gannot was too, but most of his were goals and he led the Golden Boot charts by a long way with 24 goals in 30 games, six better than Nebojsa Aleksic behind him. He received the under-23 Player of the Season award too in what has been a really successful year. Gannot gave an interview saying he'd like to be at Atletik for a long time not too long ago, but you would imagine that the board will want to capitalise on this brilliant year and move him on to keep their finances ticking over. Atletik's new approach to the transfer market makes regular sales a necessity. Patrik Odonelec is another who might move on, his performances from full-back have been excellent for both club and country in the past year and his versatility and both-footedness will make him an attractive proposition to many teams.

Liria Prizren actually ended up in second because they won on the final day whilst 1896 Ebor could only draw. Liria thought they would be able to win the title this season so there will be some definite soul-searching over the summer and Danek Badjkev might well exit the manager's office as a result. Badjkev is a legend at the club but he hasn't been able to deliver a trophy over the past few seasons despite some strong investment in the playing staff. The club's board might decide that a new face is needed as they look to end a fifteen year trophy drought. Mersudin Smajic was impressive in midfield for them after his transfer from Tekstil, whilst Hurko Germain slotted into their back-line seamlessly and appears to be a fantastic addition. Strahinja Nanusevski hit 15 goals over the course of the season, but his strike partner Anton-Dusan Straka (10 goals) might be moving on in the summer as his contract expires. There are rumours that he will return to Arka after they confirmed their Top League status for another season. It's difficult to see Liria making too many signings, but sources suggest that they might try to take advantage of Crvena Zvezda's relegation and bring Dusko Ocokoljic to the club. If Straka leaves they'll need a new strike partner for Nanusevski too and all the noise has been about their Vojovitican rival Energija-Nuklearna's Mijat Simic possibly coming to Prizren.

1896 Ebor ended up third and that will be especially disappointing given that they were in title contention heading into the final day. Zdeslav Nesic's team managed to close a gap to Atletik which was as large as seven points down to two ahead of the final day, but a poor performance against the eventually relegated NK Dyka meant that they couldn't win the title. It wouldn't have mattered too much anyway due to Atletik winning, but Zdeslav Nesic would have wanted to put up a bit more of a fight. Coming into this season a lot of the talk around 1896 Ebor was that this would be preparation for an even greater title tilt next time around due to the number of signings they had made. Integrating them all was always going to be a big ask in one season but Nesic is a fantastic manager and in the end he pushed Atletik all the way to the final day even with all the new faces. Sources have been indicating that Squornshelan centre-half Alborz Ialamov might well be sold over the summer as the Northmen look to cash in on his two fantastic seasons at the club. Nyva's Savigliano central defender Alexandre Onio is rumoured to be Ialamov's potential replacement. Nesic may have to manage his squad a little over the summer too, with some fringe players being frustrated with their lack of playing time. That might include Dragisa Alagic, a signing from Zeljeznicar only last summer, with the Mytanar under-21 international making only five starts to go with his fourteen appearances off the bench.

Olympic Thessia round out the top four, their season was hindered a little by Euran target man Adamo Fallaci starting the season a little slowly. Fallaci was crucial for them last year and although he eventually ended up with a respectable 11 goals they could have done with a slightly larger contribution from him. The real success story of their season was Licentian forward Anne-Linde van Oers. She was excellent in both scoring and creating chances and ended up taking third in the under-23 Player of the Season award. Emil Jefak will believe that his team can make another challenge for the Top League title next season, his young side have some players that are maturing quite nicely and as long as they can hold onto them they will have a chance. Another year of IFCF money will definitely give them a helping hand to improve on the strong base they have built. They kept the most clean sheets (and were close to conceding the least amount of goals too) and Semir Besak won the Golden Glove for the second time with the help of a very solid back four in front of him. Anac and Omerovic are forming a really strong understanding at the heart of their defence. Keeping hold of Besak could prove difficult, he's a potentially generational talent between the posts and he's played for the national team already and done well in the Di Bradini Cup. You can be sure foreign clubs have an eye on him.

Sacha Dobruzhanski is an extremely ambitious owner and he spent over NSD 5 million net last summer to try and reach IFCF football with FK Arsika. That's an eyewatering amount by the standards of Mytanar football and Dobruzhanski wanted a return on his investment. Manager Veton Rashaikov hasn't quite been able to do that and following the final matchday the club announced that they would be parting ways with the manager. Other clubs will be sitting back and saying that it serves both Dobruzhanski and Rashaikov right, with many being slightly jealous of FK Arsika's ability to spend when they have to toil away with minor improvements on cheap fees and producing youngsters through their academies. It is expected that NK Dyka manager Dzvezdan Kitanchev will make the trip across Nasto to Arsika and take up the reins despite not managing to keep NK Dyka in the Top League. Dobruzhanski believes Kitanchev is a manager of the future, with excellent tactical understanding and creativity and he is also a former FK Arsika player (and boyhood supporter, he's from Arsika) which should make it an even more attractive proposition. He'll also have money to spend given Dobruzhanski's wealth, though FK Arsika's team is already pretty solid and they won't have the same need to sell players like Juljana Chmela or Kemal Gajic that other clubs have when they need to look after their finances. Dobruzhanski underwrites everything and the tandem of his money and Kitanchev's managerial ability could propel the club into the top four. Rashaikov might feel a little hard done by given that he wasn't too far off expectations, but when you have an owner like Sacha Dobruzhanski behind you there's always that risk.

1923 Esca had an amazing season and Sava Grgurovic was once again second in the Manager of the Season award, only denied by the top spot by Atletik's incredible season helmed by Robin Hjik. Grgurovic has done some amazing stuff with the capital club in the past couple of years and he has even built a good relationship with the fans despite the fact that they didn't initially take to him. Panagakos and Kuzmanovic formed a good partnership up front, whilst Vandendriessche and Evandro were able to complement one another in midfield when they had some serious doubters coming into the season. Many pundits believed that they were both too attacking to form a pairing in the middle and might have needed a third midfielder with them, one who could pick up the defensive slack, but that wasn't necessary and Evandro showed a side to his game which allowed Vandendriessche to bomb forwards as he so enjoys doing. The biggest highlight of their season was Dino Racic though, he's built on some excellent performances with the national team by continuing that with his club side and he received recognition with a second place in the under-23 Player of the Season award. Racic is another defender in the Grigorij Savicevic mould and you would imagine he might well be moving on to a richer league this summer in a very similar fashion to his national team colleague. It will be a challenge for Grgurovic to replace that sort of quality, but 1923 Esca have resources to do so and a good youth academy with some good players coming through. The jigsaw pieces are there, Grgurovic will hope he can put them together.

Back-to-back seventh placed finishes for Tekstil Ibon, Emir Saric continues to do amazingly well on a shoestring budget there and you have to feel that if they had been able to keep Mersudin Smajic they might have finished a little higher. He moved on to Liria and Saric essentially needed two players to replace his qualities with Pobrez playmaker Zbynek Havlik and Othilean box-to-box midfielder Evripidis Zervakis. Neither were overly impressive and central midfield could be the area where Saric changes things up ever so slightly for next season. He does like to develop the club's own talent though and that could mean a greater role for Said Radovanovic. The 16 year old has many admirers around Mytanija even at such a tender age. He could be a really complete talent and will learn a lot from the veteran Mehmet Elvahic alongside him. Summer signing Miomir Krsmanovic is likely to have an even greater role after joining from second tier Zenit. Nebojsa Aleksic will turn 33 very soon but he'll head into next season only nine goals off Miki Sipilainen's Top League record of 160, you have to fancy him to break that record next time around. What a career he has had for this club, a one-club man with 217 goals in 356 games over his career. Some of that has been in the lower leagues, but he's never looked out of his depth at Top League level either.

CDSA round out the top-half of the table and Alen Hrdaljko's contribution to their performances is evidenced by his second place in the Player of the Season award. Interviews with the club captain suggest that he might well be off come the summer transfer window, but he does have the National Cup to play for against CDSA's great friends Atletik Thessia. What a story it would be if he could deliver a trophy in his final game for the club if it is to be his final game. Dario Gvetadze stepped into Dejan Zgela's shoes ably and his 12 goals were important for the team. They might find things more difficult next season if Hrdaljko does leave. Vasa Vojev didn't have the best of seasons down the left flank whilst Maksim Malchikov is likely to be replaced by promising youngster Marin Boglic down the right for the next campaign. CDSA always produce good young players so there's always new faces coming through the club, but replacing someone as important as Hrdaljko is very hard. People said the same about Dejan Zgela and Alen Gvetadze though and not much has changed, it's another eighth placed finish for the club without them.

We're into the bottom-half of the table now and Ararat lead the way there. Misel Ravnjak's team were back to their defensive best for much of the season, conceding a mere 16 goals through their first twenty games. That changed a little over the final ten matches though as they conceded 19 through those final ten rounds. That will have annoyed Ravnjak enormously, but they were much better compared to last year which was a particularly bad one for Ravnjak as a manager known for coaching good defensive play. Mingrong Yuan led the way at the back and was mentioned regularly by the manager as the team's key player. Pedja Kasun was as important as always, he's a fine goalkeeper and although he may be looking over his shoulder at Semir Besak with the national team his track record domestically is unparalleled. Omer Kuhar-Arh was a breath of fresh air in a Ravnjak team, the number ten is an excellent playmaker and had a hand in exactly half of Ararat's goals this season (7 goals, 10 assists). Atletik are interested but they have lots of midfield talent so it would be a surprise to see them make a move for him, but foreign suitors could turn the young man's head.

Nyva Zvornik ended up in tenth as they weren't quite able to keep up their amazing couple of years. Still, they were comfortably safe from relegation and never really looked in that much danger and it is that sort of stability which the club want to replicate year on year. They had key performers at both ends in the form of Anton Derajevic and Alexandre Onio. Derajevic's goals continued to flow even with his advancing years, 15 for him last season to take him to 125 in his career. He's fast moving up the all-time lists in a similar fashion to Nebojsa Aleksic. Alexandre Onio is a real complete centre-back, able to handle the physicality of some big forwards whilst also wholly comfortable with bringing the ball out from the back to start attacks. It's no surprise that 1896 Ebor have one eye on the Savigliano as they look to cash in on Alborz Ialamov's excellent couple of seasons at the club. Nyva would hate to see Onio go but there is a recognition that there is a bit of a natural food chain within Mytanar football and that Onio might want to compete for trophies. It's one to keep an eye on over the summer. Luka Zmajevic and Vasilij Arzensek look a good partnership in the centre of the park for them too, they have a good understanding and it's something to build around even with an ageing Derajevic and Onio potentially leaving.

Litala ’93 had a good first season back at the level they believe that they belong at as a club. Mijat Krstic has burnished his reputation over the course of this season, demonstrating some hitherto unseen attacking instincts with a three striker system. Alen Zekic's experience was big for them, Florent-Roparzh Krstic is a home-made striker and supporter of the club who offers so much in their pressing game, but it was Yue political exile Jiahui Wang who was the key man. Wang hit 13 goals and contributed another 11 assists and really endeared himself to the Litala ’93 faithful at Sokolovny. Their left-wing political instincts meant that he always had the potential to be a success but his performances on the pitch have only fuelled that. He's already ascended to hero status and they will be hoping that they can keep him at the club for a long time. Mytanar football journalists were also enamoured enough with his performances (as well as his story) to place him in third for the Player of the Season award. A remarkable debut season for him and Litala ’93 will believe that they have the youth academy on-hand to keep producing players who can work around Wang. The likes of Lazarevic, Spiridonovic and Vasseas have all come through and impressed and there's plenty more ready on the production line. They will miss Atletik loanee Zijad Kurtcehajic though, he'll return to his parent club and he'll expect to start for them next season as Branko Brkljacic slows down.

Duje Madar went into a big job as an inexperienced manager at the club he supports and he managed to keep Energija-Nuklearna up in the end. Their supporters are often derided by being more bothered about where people are from than what they can offer their club, but Madar managed to both do the job they needed him to do and be familiar with the idiosyncrasies of the Miago club. A lot of their success was down to 22 year old striker Mijat Simic, he finished third in the Golden Boot race with 17 in 29 games. He's added a lot to his game, seen for much of his early career as a poacher who could sometimes get involved in the press when out of possession but this season he was a lot more complete and scored all sorts of goals. He constantly got himself into good positions too and that can be the most important thing for a striker. The club also had high hopes for Zdenko Smolic coming into this season and Duje Madar kept faith in him, he played 25 times at the age of 16 and will surely go on to be an important player for this club. Given their history Energija-Nuklearna would like to be a little more removed from the relegation battle next season. The final day offered plenty of tension but they negotiated it well, but they'd much prefer not to be involved at all. The club's unusual transfer market activity might well prevent them from doing so, they like to rely almost entirely on their youth system but seem prepared to sell players (often to rival clubs: see Ugljanin to Atletik, or the mooted Simic to Liria). You wouldn't imagine Grolija would be too happy if that continued and resulted in the club's ever-present Top League status disappearing.

Arka Snezhnaya came into this season in utter turmoil. Popular manager Nemanja Pivec had walked out on the club due to the board continuing to sell the club's best players from under his nose and Nikola Zivic came into the manager's job with little to no support among the fanbase. Zivic has cut a forlorn figure on the sideline at times, the 63 year old is a veteran of club management but has only ever spent time at Granica prior to this job and he was always so well-liked there that this was probably a real shock. The board's intransigence wasn't his fault after all. Zivic managed to lead the team out of the relegation zone over the final few weeks of the season - with no small amount of help from the likes of Safet Smajlovic, Leandre Junior and Bruno Ozmec - and once the dust settled after the final day of the season the embattled manager announced his resignation. He didn't want to stay at the club and deal with another season of having supporters who aren't fully invested in his management. All that matters for Arka is that they retained their Top League status thanks to Leandre Junior's volley. He followed in his father's footsteps to write himself a chapter in the club's history. Some supporters aren't entirely pleased that the club stayed up, they think that it could mean normal service resuming and the likes of Smajlovic or Leandre Junior being sold by the corun-clutching board. They want a bit of ambition, even if that only means holding onto the club's key players.

NK Dyka finished in the relegation zone but Dzvezdan Kitanchev's team have impressed a lot of people over the course of this season and he has done himself no harm as it looks like he'll be moving on to FK Arsika despite this relegation. They have a great young core of players, with Vlado Arzhentinski crucial in creating chances but complemented nicely by Paskal Trajcev and young Blazhe Gjorgjioski sitting behind them. You'd imagine that Arzhentinski and Trajcev will have Top League clubs looking to take them on for next season given how impressive they were in this team. Mirko Kosic and Esro Sepúlveda's loans will end though and they will return to Liria and Audioslavian giants Izotz Zubia. The 17 year old Sepúlveda was the club's top scorer with 9 goals and whilst he could return to Izotz Zubia and end up playing a greater role for them there has been noises among clubs which did manage to stay in the Top League about moving to bring the striker back to Mytanija for another year. Nyva are one club believed to be interested, although Sepúlveda's strike partner Vido Mehic might provide a more permanent solution and did his reputation a lot of good this season. NK Dyka have a lot of young players in reserve and despite the number of players they seem set to lose they look to be in a good position to try and return to the Top League at the first time of asking next season. Kitanchev's likely departure might hinder them in that.

It's a sad end to a glorious ten years in the Top League for Crvena Zvezda. They got promoted and never looked back, winning two Top League titles and two National Cups with Jezdimir Ocokoljic - one of the greatest Mytanar players ever - coming through at the club and showing everybody just how good he is. Luka Kostic has been manager for most of that time, including all of their trophy-winning seasons and most recently a National Cup win at the end of last season. They wouldn't have wanted things to end this way but many Crvena Zvezda supporters have just been happy to be along for the ride these past few years and they'll be amazed at some of the things they have seen their club do. The club's youth system leaves them in a good position to make a go of coming straight back up but the club's finances might make it hard for them. Players like Azem Senekovic and Marek Ladicorbic might have to be sold, with the latter being especially good this season. That will also include Dusko Ocokoljic - Jezdimir's brother - he's been Crvena Zvezda's key player for the past couple of seasons and Top League clubs will have definite interest due to the fact that the Tsrvena club will need money to secure their financial future in the second tier.

For BVK Dinamo this dance is familiar. Konstantin Rajkovic's team are arguably the dictionary definition of a yo-yo club at this point and well-used to going down and trying to find a way to come back up. Next season will be no different for them and they'll try to make a go of it in the Druga Liga, although the increased level of competition in that division might make it harder. There seems to be more clubs improving to bridge the gap to those relegated from the Top League. BVK Dinamo might have to do it without Teufik Bajramovic too, the Olympic Thessia youth product has been good for them this season, scoring 10 goals in a struggling team and demonstrating his ability. Krsto Tadic has also impressed at times in the BVK Dinamo defence and cash-strapped Top League clubs might see the 20 year old as a cost-effective developmental prospect at the back. If BVK Dinamo can keep hold of those two then they'll feel confident about their chances next season.

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MAY WEEK 3

Final
Venue: Radnika, Esca (Attendance: 60,000)
Weather: Sunny (23°C)
Referee: Nemanja Jovancic

Atletik 3–0 CDSA

Well, we probably should have known the script that this match would follow from the meeting between the two sides on the final day of the Top League season. Atletik beat CDSA 4-1 then and they beat them by the same margin on a balmy day at Radnika to lift the 8th National Cup in the club's long and successful history. It was fitting that Damien Gannot got on the scoresheet twice after his exceptional league season, there was pressure on the young striker to step into Jezdimir Ocokoljic's shoes ahead of this campaign and Gannot has played a huge part in delivering a league and cup double. Even Ocokoljic wasn't able to do that. Gannot's first came from an intelligent run in behind Novak Pap, with Miodrag Andrijasevic beating the CDSA defence's offside trap with a beautiful pass and Gannot did the rest with a confident finish beyond Visa Marinkovic. Gannot's second came from a lovely piece of dribbling where he beat Urosevic and the beleaguered Pap before stroking the ball past the goalkeeper. Astograthian striker Chiki Larrimbe got in the act by heading home Atletik's third of the game, he's a real cult hero at the club and he further cemented that status with this goal. There's talk of Nahia Legarra taking his starting role next season but if Larrimbe can keep contributing like that it's unclear why he would end up second choice. Jasno Odonelec and Josip Radonic lifted the trophy between them with the latter set to retire at the end of the season after a great career at the club. He'll be remembered as a real hardnosed defender and icon of the club. This trophy took Atletik to twenty domestic trophies in total and their dominance over the Mytanar game is really quite impressive. Robin Hjik's return to the club has worked brilliantly, delivering a league title in year one and a double in year two. How long might he want to continue in that role? With their financial clout, youth recruitment and wider reputation they look well set to continue at the top of the domestic game. For everyone else the question is how do you solve a problem like Atletik? Answers on a postcard please.

[Mytanija]

MYTANAR FOOTBALL 29/30 LOWER LEAGUE AND YOUTH REVIEW

## Druga Liga            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Lok. Cassia            30   19   6   5    87   55  +32    63  C, P
02 Rudar                  30   20   2   8    60   34  +26    62  P
03 FK Magevskaya          30   18   5   7    68   46  +22    59  P
04 Akademija              30   17   7   6    53   32  +21    58
05 NK Thessia             30   16   6   8    51   43   +8    54
06 Pretia                 30   14   9   7    63   46  +17    51
07 Partizan               30   13   7  10    61   46  +15    46
08 SK Port Jarko          30   13   7  10    44   43   +1    46
09 Vitalia                30   12   8  10    39   35   +4    44
10 Dinamo                 30    8   9  13    43   53  −10    33
11 Torpedo                30    7   7  16    39   53  −14    28
12 Zeljeznicar            30    7   6  17    45   64  −19    27
13 Zenit                  30    7   6  17    37   62  −25    27
14 Slovan                 30    7   5  18    38   68  −30    26  R
15 Arsenal                30    6   5  19    42   61  −19    23  R
16 Turbine                30    6   5  19    23   52  −29    23  R

Lok. Cassia's 40 year old manager Edis Znidarsic has been an absolute breath of fresh air since taking charge of the Rauchik club and his adherence to what some are called the 'Repin school' of tactics has won him a lot of admirers at Druga Liga level. That could be a bit of a misnomer, with national team coach Lev Repin being comfortable coaching various styles of football and regularly changing formation and approach. Znidarsic's teams have been all about free-flowing attacking football, usually in a fairly consistent 4-3-3 formation. This free-flowing attacking football is evidenced by the sheer amount of goals Lok. Cassia scored on their way to the Druga Liga title this season, breaking the cycle of sides relegated from the Top League gaining instant promotion back up by out-scoring everybody else by a long way. Srecko Stankovic, who will be 35 at the start of next season, is a veteran of bouncing between the divisions but he was a class above in the Druga Liga this season as he scored 26 goals to top the scoring charts by a considerable distance. Team mate Milos Tsvetanov contributed a further 16 whilst 1896 Ebor loanee Samy De Gieter was a useful creative presence on the left-side of Lok. Cassia's attacking trio. Znidarsic also had three veterans to call upon in different positions, centre-half Alessandro Trevi; full-back Marko Dukic; and central midfielder Evgeny Netto. All three have had Top League experience before and were invaluable in Znidarsic's team, but they will all retire at the end of this season and the young manager will have to find a way of replacing them ahead of a season where he will be trying his utmost to keep the club in the top-flight. It will be a difficult task.

Thankfully for Znidarsic Lok. Cassia have some bright young things coming through the club's youth system. Central midfielder Izudin Kastelec is probably the jewel in the proverbial crown and he played increasing minutes as last season wore on, coming in for Netto when the older man's legs grew weary. Kastelec will be 19 at the start of the new campaign and will partner Druga Liga Player of the Season Slavoj Akrapovic in the centre of the park to form a very dynamic and creative duo, as long as Lok. Cassia can keep hold of the pair. A number of Top League clubs are believed to be interested in Akrapovic. Znidarsic may also be tempted to start central defender Miljan Kocjan and left-winger Edvin Vehovec next season, both have looked promising off the bench and have a good track record through the club's youth system and it would allow Znidarsic to focus his attentions in the transfer market onto other areas of his team. Right-back is a little weak with Dukic's retirement and it is a similar issue on the other side of the defence too. The manager does largely prefer to promote from within but that could be overly optimistic when they will require an increase in quality if they do want to stay up next season. Znidarsic will certainly need to improve his team's defence ahead of next season, 55 goals conceded was worse than Turbine Decraa's 52 and Turbine finished bottom of the league!

It's great news for Lok. Cassia generally though, they are from Mytanija's 9th largest city and it is one which has a population of over a million people and for a lot of the club's history they've been a second tier club when the city of Cassia probably should have one in the top tier. They will have for next season and the club will get to resume their enormous Rauchik Derby rivalry with Ararat Severyan too. Whilst Rauchiks generally lean left politically Lok. Cassia's Gate 11 ultras are Rauchik nationalists and fiercely right-wing, making the Rauchik Derby more than just a battle for regional supremacy but a meeting of opposing political beliefs. Rauchik nationalists see fierce hostility towards outsiders as the natural response to the persecution the Rauchik people have faced over the course of history (including during Kalinina's brutal regime), whereas Ararat's Cirkusgrupa ultras see a push for inclusivity and Mytanar unity as a better way of approaching things. Lok. Cassia also have the bonus of moving into a brand new stadium ahead of the new campaign, with the 22,000 capacity Stadion Cassia being built for the upcoming Copa Rushmori and allowing them to put the old, decrepit, decaying Metrostad firmly into the past. It's all change for the club.

Sadly for the other Druga Liga teams the two going up with Lok. Cassia are teams which did come straight down from the Top League in the form of Rudar Uchenik and FK Magevskaya. Both kept faith with their managers and they both repaid the favour by achieving promotion straight back to the top-flight. Dusko Konecni managed to retain a number of players from his squad in the Top League and that undoubtedly gave the team a helping hand, Ante Tutic and Lenka Novachkov have a good understanding in attacking areas for them whilst Stamat Dumbalakov is growing into a really solid central defender at the opposite end. Konecni's side actually won the most games in the division but they were also really inconsistent, losing eight games and only drawing two. A couple more draws would have seen Rudar winning the Druga Liga but the main goal for them was to get promoted and they did that. As a result they will get another shot at retaining their Top League status next term and they will hope to put up a better fight than last time when they could only finish 14th, but an enormous nine points from safety. Re-engaging in the All-Avnalia Derby against Nyva Zvornik is something Rudar supporters always relish too.

Slava Raspopov's FK Magevskaya ended up in the final promotion place after pipping the controversial Akademija to the post. The public inquiry into Akademija's sale continues and they might not actually take up their place in the Druga Liga next season dependent on the outcome of that. For FK Magevskaya this season was a real challenge to get back to the Top League after a catastrophic 28/29 season where they became the worst Top League side in the history of Mytanar football after collecting a paltry 10 points all season. This was worse than Lok. Cassia's effort of 12 points during the 16/17 campaign and Raspopov was determined to get his team back to the top division for a chance to show that they are a bit better than that. It was also a challenge for veterans Olexandr Sokolenko and Ipar Amiyategi as they look to end their careers on a bit of a high. Sokolenko in particular will be 37 at the start of next season and it might well be his last in professional football, he'll want to roll back the years to his Liria Prizren days to try and keep this club up. Talented younger players like right-back Yeremy Gribov, defensive midfielder Aleksandar Ovichnik, playmaker Sejfudin Pasic and striker Yevdokim Mosyakov make this a team with plenty to worry opponents and they will be upbeat about their chances of giving staying up a proper go this time around.

NK Thessia were extremely impressive after being promoted from the Treća Liga last season, fighting it out for a promotion place for much of the campaign and only really fading in the final few weeks. Their 18 year old striker Mehmet Aliaspahic is one of the most talked about young prospects in Mytanar football and will likely go on to a big move elsewhere at some point, but for now he's plying his trade at the Stadion Yolanda Savic and they are only too pleased that they have him. Vitalia were also respectable over the course of the season, building on that Spirit of Youth Trophy win a couple of years back by really integrating some of their young players into the squad and if you're a betting person you will take note of the fact that the bookmakers are buoyant on their promotion chances for next season. They're hedging their bets and offering very short odds on that because of the quality of some of the young players Vitalia have in their team, anchorman Vitaliy Dmitriev and pacy forward Muhsin Ashurmamadov have drawn Top League attention this season and if they can hold onto them they might well fire the Magev side to promotion.

It was bad news for three teams as they head down to the Treća Liga - including the other promoted side apart from NK Thessia and Vitalia, Arsenal Vershina - for next season. Slovan Eskobirsk were perhaps unlucky in the end as they got relegated on the final day of the season, but their dreadful defensive record always felt like it might come back to the bite them. Arsenal Vershina head back down to the third tier at the first time of asking, meaning their local rivals Torpedo will have at least one year of gloating before they can resume their rivalry. Finally Turbine Decraa will be in the third tier and what contrasting fortunes they have to their local rivals CDSA. CDSA got to the National Cup final with an ever-present status in the Mytanar Top League whilst Turbine will be heading down to the third tier and clogging it out against semi-professional and amateur teams. That's perhaps the biggest thing for the relegated sides, the relegation means they will likely have to move towards semi-pro status as a cost-cutting measure and whilst their larger stadiums (all have grounds between 10-15,000 capacity) will be helpful in securing their financial futures the loss of sponsorship money will hurt them in the pocket. It will be difficult times ahead for those teams.

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## Treća Liga            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Lok. Ostrova           30   19   7   4    53   21  +32    64  C, P
02 Ribari                 30   17   9   4    59   29  +30    60  P
03 SK Elita Ryzaev        30   17   6   7    59   42  +17    57  P
04 JK Ebor                30   17   2  11    59   46  +13    53
05 Rotor                  30   15   6   9    56   46  +10    51
06 Slavia                 30   13  11   6    42   37   +5    50
07 Međunarodna            30   14   4  12    38   35   +3    46
08 Spartak                30   13   5  12    43   42   +1    44
09 CVMZ                   30   12   8  10    46   47   −1    44
10 Pamuk                  30   10   8  12    46   47   −1    38
11 Radnik Avtovac         30   10   7  13    42   51   −9    37
12 Ibalia                 30    9   9  12    37   48  −11    36
13 Obalna                 30    6  13  11    37   39   −2    31
14 Granica                30    7   2  21    35   57  −22    23  R
15 Meja                   30    4   6  20    30   60  −30    18  R
16 Obolon                 30    4   3  23    27   62  −35    15  R

Lok. Ostrova and Ribari Palilula got relegated from the Druga Liga in that order last season, so it is no surprise to see them going back up to the second tier in the same fashion. They were both really good at this level and fought it out for the title with Lok. Ostrova demonstrating their superior quality in the same manner they had in the Druga Liga. Both will want to make a better go of staying in the second tier next season, but with the standard of that division only improving it could prove a tough ask. They will feel they're well-placed to take advantage of any weakness from some of the more established teams though. Joining them is SK Elita Ryzaev - named after the heroic Otpor fighter from the Mytanar Conflict who is still widely celebrated around Mytanija - the club from Ebor have had a meteoric rise through the leagues and they actually beat out their local rivals JK Ebor for the promotion spot, arguably overtaking them as Ebor's second club in the process. Being named after such a high-profile Otpor fighter is a very political statement and it can mean they are on the receiving end of serious opprobrium from clubs with right-wing followings or that are from areas which were loyal to the Kalinina regime. This could increase further the higher up the divisions they go given the greater size of opposition ultras groups that occur there. Their experience will be instructive for anyone with an interest in seeing how Mytanija is recovering from the Mytanar Conflict, although some might argue that the club's name is in itself provocative.

At the other end of the table it is back-to-back relegations for Granica Cieszin. They lost their legendary manager Nikola Zivic at the end of last season after he got an offer from Arka to become their manager and that ended pretty badly, but few could have imagined it would end up as badly as it has for Granica too. They will play in the fourth tier of Mytanar football next season against amateur opposition, it wasn't too long ago that they were a Top League side (in the 24/25 season), so it has been quite the fall from grace for them as a club. They are partially saved by a bit of news about league restructuring but that won't come into play until the end of next season so they will play at least one season in the fourth tier of Mytanar football. Meja Gornaya-Mesnost and Obolon Forvik will join them down there after not improving on a poor showing last season, but this does mean that all three teams which were promoted from the Četvrta Liga last year have stayed up. Back-to-back promotions for the impressive SK Elita Ryzaev, whilst Ibalia Prizren and Međunarodna enjoyed relatively uneventful campaigns with no real threat of relegation.

The league restructuring will come at the end of next season, when all 32 teams from the Treća Liga and Četvrta Liga will be put into one division (which will be known just as the Treća Liga). This will then be split geographically into a North and South division and the top team from each will be automatically promoted into the Druga Liga, whilst the two second-placed teams will have a two-leg play-off to decide who will join them in the second tier. There will be geographical realignment each season to reduce travel costs for teams as much as possible and teams will no longer be allowed to be fully professional to compete in the Treća Liga in a bid to prevent teams overstretching their finances in an attempt to get promoted. This is in effect a mandatory semi-pro status for teams coming down from the Druga Liga. Teams will be allowed to remain fully amateur if they wish to do so. This restructuring means that there will no relegation from the Treća Liga next season, nor promotion from the Četvrta Liga. There will still be promotion from the Treća Liga to the Druga Liga and relegation from the latter to the former to ensure a full complement of teams for the 31/32 season.

---

## Četvrta Liga          Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Metalac                30   19   5   6    72   44  +28    62  C, P
02 FK Istocna Obala       30   17  10   3    57   33  +24    61  P
03 Padina                 30   17   7   6    62   45  +17    58  P
04 Metalist               30   16   8   6    56   35  +21    56
05 Vinogradar             30   16   7   7    53   37  +16    55
06 Jedrenje               30   14   9   7    54   32  +22    51
07 NK Bijeljina           30   14   6  10    63   59   +4    48
08 KF Volkovija           30   13   8   9    47   34  +13    47
09 KF Shkelzena           30   11  11   8    48   34  +14    44
10 NK Custica             30   10  11   9    42   35   +7    41
11 NK Istina              30   10   6  14    35   46  −11    36
12 Radnik Surcin          30    9   6  15    33   53  −20    33
13 FK Sedlovina           30    7   9  14    36   53  −17    30
14 Jedinstvo Zavolja      30    6   5  19    34   49  −15    23
15 Hajerek                30    2   5  23    26   86  −60    11
16 Djakovo                30    1   3  26    30   73  −43     6

Metalac, FK Istocna Obala and Padina take advantage of the final chance at actual promotion from the fourth tier to the third tier, with Padina especially pleased after losing their Treća Liga status last term with a particularly sore relegation. Of course next season teams won't actually need promotion to end up as a Treća Liga side for the 31/32 season, although there will still be prize money to play for and evidently all the clubs at this level need it. The FSM is hoping that the league restructuring will help teams financially, reducing travel costs for some of the lesser clubs at this level who have to travel all over the country to play what is fourth tier football. There is a belief that better television deals could be struck too with more local and regional rivalry games even at the lower level of football.

---

## Magevskaya-Rauchnya-Visoravna  Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Ararat                          22   15   4   3    48   17  +31    49  C, Q-Rauchnya
02 Arka                            22   15   4   3    35   15  +20    49  Q-Visoravna
03 1896 Ebor                       22   13   7   2    40   17  +23    46
04 Lok. Cassia                     22   13   5   4    46   26  +20    44
05 Vitalia                         22   10   3   9    30   31   −1    33  Q-Magevskaya
06 FK Magevskaya                   22    9   4   9    36   36    0    31
07 Obalna                          22    8   3  11    35   35    0    27
08 JK Ebor                         22    8   3  11    25   34   −9    27
09 Meja                            22    6   7   9    29   34   −5    25
10 Vinogradar                      22    5   7  10    29   45  −16    22
11 SK Elita Ryzaev                 22    3   3  16    18   44  −26    12
12 FK Sedlovina                    22    1   2  19    14   51  −37     5

Ararat and Arka couldn't be separated all year in the regional championship until the goal difference tiebreaker did it for them come the end of the campaign. It's back-to-back regional titles for Ararat, with Asmir Milosevic and Tine Prijatelj being particularly impressive for them. They also had the help of Dordo Urbanc on occasion, whenever he didn't make a start or substitute appearance for the senior side. The Ararat youth system seems to be producing of late. Arka have been the Visorav representative in the Spirit of Youth Trophy finals every single season since it has started and that might well mean that 1896 Ebor have to do some soul-searching as to where they are going wrong. They're never too far behind their Northern Derby rivals but for a club of that size to miss out three years in a row will definitely be concerning. Finally we had a return to the questions of whether a team which doesn't finish in the top three positions should really be able to qualify out of this regional championship as the two Magev sides finished 5th and 6th. Vitalia once again get the Magev bid to the finals tournament despite ending up sixteen points behind Ararat and Arka, some at the FSM have mooted a larger field for the finals tournament so that the second place teams in some of the other regions (Zentria, Thessia and Vojovitica) all have automatic bids to the finals tournament whilst also retaining the requirement that each region has one team in the finals. It will be something to consider for the FSM, although not being able to stage the entirety of the finals tournament at one stadium may put them off that idea.

## Nasto and Avnalia      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 NK Dyka                 20   15   3   2    56   22  +34    48  C, Q-Nasto
02 FK Arsika               20   14   5   1    42   14  +28    47
03 Nyva                    20   11   3   6    33   24   +9    36  Q-Avnalia
04 Lok. Ostrova            20   10   3   7    32   28   +4    33
05 Rudar                   20    8   6   6    35   24  +11    30
06 Spartak                 20    7   6   7    31   27   +4    27
07 Rotor                   20    6   7   7    27   27    0    25
08 KF Volkovija            20    5   7   8    18   30  −12    22
09 NK Istina               20    5   6   9    26   37  −11    21
10 KF Shkelzena            20    3   4  13    26   51  −25    13
11 Radnik Surcin           20    0   2  18     9   51  −42     2

NK Dyka have invested heavily in their youth system and they're reaping the rewards with plenty of graduates to the first team and now youth success to go with it. They had a number of their first team squad still eligible including top scorer Vancho Churanov and combative midfielder Zoran Ilieva. Even regular first team substitutes Emil Kitinov and Jeroen van der Meiren made a handful of appearances and it was evidenced by their brilliant showing in the regional championship. FK Arsika were also good, Sacha Dobruzhanski's money going on more than big name signings and the performance of their under-18 team demonstrated that here. However it is Nyva who will be joining NK Dyka in the finals tournament due to that pesky regional allocation of places. Nyva have some promising players coming through in Kusman Manasiev and Lecho Cinika. Cinika impressed during last year's Spirit of Youth Trophy finals too, scoring both of Nyva's goals at that stage and he was eligible once again this season. Both are expected to be starters for the first team next season and will really want to go out on a high.

## Thessia                Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Atletik                 20   16   3   1    42   15  +27    51  C, Q
02 Slavia                  20   12   2   6    29   20   +9    38
03 Tekstil                 20   11   4   5    39   25  +14    37
04 Olympic                 20   10   6   4    36   24  +12    36
05 NK Thessia              20   10   5   5    36   25  +11    35
06 Metalist                20    7   7   6    30   28   +2    28
07 Zeljeznicar             20    7   4   9    36   37   −1    25
08 Međunarodna             20    7   3  10    24   34  −10    24
09 NK Bijeljina            20    5   2  13    12   26  −14    17
10 Radnik Avtovac          20    4   3  13    24   42  −18    15
11 Jedinstvo Zavolja       20    0   3  17    11   43  −32     3

Atletik go back-to-back as Thessian regional champions which is perhaps no surprise given the strength of their youth recruitment. Central defenders Adnan Sulejmanovic (a star for their youth team last season) and Demir Bruncevic gave them a strong base to work from, whilst Nedzad Cengic was involved once again in defensive midfield. Gavril Atsev and Mehir Altikulac played when their first team commitments allowed but the big find might well be Jasno Skenderovic who could be a future national team midfielder. Badara Thiam Ngagne is creative number ten of Ketioulais heritage, born in Thessia and he was pivotal whilst Galib Terzic's goals were also important. Atletik look to be a really complete outfit and a number of these players will go on to play for their senior team and perhaps even the national side. They're going to be strong favourites to lift the Spirit of Youth Trophy this season and they'll be especially motivated given their disappointment of losing out in the final in extra-time last season. That defeat to Energija-Nuklearna still smarts for some. The biggest surprise in the Thessian regional championship was that lowly Slavia came in second ahead of the bigger clubs Tekstil, Olympic and even NK Thessia. A really impressive showing from a Treća Liga side.

## Vojovitica             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Liria                   18   14   2   2    41   14  +27    44  C, Q
02 Energija-Nuklearna      18   13   1   4    47   26  +21    40
03 CDSA                    18   11   2   5    45   16  +29    35
04 Granica                 18   11   2   5    40   34   +6    35
05 Pretia                  18   10   4   4    31   21  +10    34
06 Turbine                 18    6   4   8    20   22   −2    22
07 Ibalia                  18    6   2  10    28   48  −20    20
08 Jedrenje                18    4   3  11    12   28  −16    15
09 Metalac                 18    2   2  14    10   36  −26     8
10 Djakovo                 18    0   4  14    12   41  −29     4

Liria replace Energija-Nuklearna as Vojovitican regional champions and that means we will definity have a new Spirit of Youth Trophy winner this time around. Liria's win was built on a stout defence with Mahir Kapetanovic being phenomenal at the back for them. Zvonimir Rendulic could be a find in the centre of the park too, with Liria being a bit of a central midfielder factory given the number of talents they seem to produce at the position. That could be the legacy of legend Yuri Matveyev. Ante Ciabok was once again good for them when it came to putting the ball in the net too. Energija-Nuklearna were competitive following their win in this competition last year but they did miss Zdenko Smolic's presence as a number ten, he has appeared 25 times for the senior side this season though so there is definite progression and it shows that the Spirit of Youth Trophy can be a real springboard for players. CDSA came in third and they will be frustrated that their storied academy hasn't yet qualified them to the finals tournament, with Liria now having made it twice and Energija-Nuklearna making it highly successfully last term.

## Zentria                Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Dinamo                  19   12   5   2    49   29  +20    41  C, Q
02 Crvena Zvezda           19   12   4   3    46   21  +25    40
03 Akademija               19   12   4   3    40   19  +21    40
04 Litala ’93              19   12   4   3    40   20  +20    40
05 SK Port Jarko           19   12   2   5    34   24  +10    38
06 Partizan                19   11   4   4    39   25  +14    37
07 1923 Esca               19   10   3   6    30   20  +10    33
08 Zenit                   19    9   4   6    32   28   +4    31
09 Arsenal                 19    9   3   7    45   41   +4    30
10 Slovan                  19    7   6   6    36   28   +8    27
11 Torpedo                 19    7   6   6    28   29   −1    27
12 FK Istocna Obala        19    7   3   9    22   34  −12    24
13 BVK Dinamo              19    6   4   9    25   32   −7    22
14 CVMZ                    19    6   2  11    15   29  −14    20
15 Pamuk                   19    5   3  11    21   34  −13    18
16 NK Custica              19    4   6   9    20   37  −17    18
17 Obolon                  19    3   7   9    19   33  −14    16
18 Ribari                  19    3   5  11    15   28  −13    14
19 Padina                  19    3   4  12    23   37  −14    13
20 Hajerek                 19    0   1  18     8   39  −31     1

Dinamo Esca are one of the sleeping giants of Mytanar football but they have always produced talented young players and that doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon even if they are no longer a regular in the Mytanar Top League. You can understand the Zentrian clubs' complaints about not having a couple of teams qualify for the finals tournament when teams which don't even finish in the top two spots can qualify from the Magevskaya-Rauchnya-Visoravna and Nasto and Avnalia regionals. Any of the top six teams could have made it for much of the season, but with only one place available it was Dinamo who made it to the finals tournament. Striker Vukasin Alempijevic bagged over half of Dinamo's goals and they might struggle to keep hold of him if they continue in the Druga Liga much longer. He says his hero is Blockhead forward Kjartan Dagfinnursson who played for the club back in their heyday (as well as at Atletik Thessia) and if Alempijevic can be as good as him for Dinamo then they have some player on their hands.

The FSM are following a policy of rotating the Spirit of Youth Trophy finals tournament clockwise around Mytanija's different regions meaning after it was held at Lok. Cassia's Metrostad in Rauchnya last year this time it will be held in Magevskaya, at the newly expanded Utcastadion belonging to FK Magevskaya. The club and government have jointly-funded an 8,000 expansion to the stadium's capacity in time for Copa Rushmori 38 and the Spirit of Youth Trophy finals tournament will represent a test event for the venue ahead of the greater responsibility of hosting some games within the Copa. It also gives FK Magevskaya's regional rivals Vitalia a chance to get one over their rivals, even at youth level these sort of rivalries burn brightly in Mytanija.

QUARTER FINAL
..Liria 1–0 Ararat
   Nyva 4–1 NK Dyka
 Dinamo 1–3 Atletik
Vitalia 3–3 Arka (3–3 AET) (4–3 pen.)

Liria defeated Ararat by a single goal from Ante Ciabok. The young striker was threaded through by Zvonimir Rendulic and finished coolly past the Ararat goalkeeper. A semi-final berth awaits for the Prizren club. Nyva hammered NK Dyka in a meeting between two sides which play in the Nasto and Avnalia regional championship. Nyva were a class above despite a number of NK Dyka's players having senior experience and Kusman Manasiev was especially influential from left-back, demonstrating how this new breed of full-backs can affect the game in both boxes. Lecho Cinika helped himself to a brace too. Atletik were really good against their old friends from Dinamo Esca. Badara Thiam Ngagne appears to be an excellent creator of goal scoring opportunities and laid on two assists for his team mates in this game. Atletik are strong and it's difficult to look past them completing what would be an exceptional treble of Top League, National Cup and Spirit of Youth Trophy this season. Vitalia and Arka played out the tie of the round at Vitalia's rivals' stadium. The two sides couldn't be separated after 120 minutes and in the end it was the dreaded penalty shoot-out which was needed to find a winner. Midfielder Yefim Usov hit the winning penalty and sent Vitalia into the semi-finals as they look to win this competition for the second time.

SEMI FINAL
Atletik 2–1 Vitalia
   Nyva 3–1 Liria

Atletik ended Vitalia's hopes with a come-from-behind win. Jasno Skenderovic was a buccaneering presence from central midfield and his goal cancelled out Slava Reshetnikov's opener. Galib Terzic won't be eligible for this competition next season and he seemed as determined as anyone in the Atletik team to put their disappointment of losing out in the final last season behind them. Terzic scored the winner after a beautiful cross from Mehir Altikulac found him unmarked in the penalty area, a calm finish putting Atletik in the final for the second straight year. Nyva had a hard tie against Liria but they were once again inspired, Lecho Cinika is another striker who won't be able to play in this competition again next season and his brace got Nyva on their way. Liria did pull one back through a Mahir Kapetanovic header from a corner but central midfielder Stefo Bozhinoski was on-hand to stab a third home to reinstate Nyva's two-goal cushion. They'll head on to play Atletik in the Spirit of Youth Trophy final.

SPIRIT OF YOUTH TROPHY FINAL
Venue: Utcastadion, Stratenberg (Attendance: 23,823)
Weather: Rain (9°C)
Referee: Bekir Hodzic

Atletik 2–2 Nyva (2–3 AET)

Back-to-back finals for Atletik and no glory. They have the consistency at youth level but they can't quite get it over the line and it is Nyva who go home with a first ever Spirit of Youth Trophy after a brilliant few years for their senior team. Their off-field investment in the youth academy and recruitment is paying dividends and trophies like this will provide evidence for other teams which want to follow a similar approach. Nyva can add this triumph to their National Cup win at senior level a couple of seasons ago and will hope it can set the scene for future success. Lecho Cinika once again got on the scoresheet, scoring the game's opening goal before Mehir Altikulac replied for Atletik. Badara Thiam Ngagne has often been the provider rather than the scorer but he got Atletik in front just before half-time. Nyva refused to go away despite the pressure and equalised twenty minutes from time through Dicho Mazneikov and with the two teams level at full-time it meant extra time. Referee Bekir Hodzic erred on giving a penalty for Atletik in the opening period of extra time but his linesman was adamant and Galib Terzic unfortunately struck the post with his attempt. That gave Nyva a second wind of belief and they pushed on with Manasiev once again influential from full-back, providing the cut-back to Bozhinoski for Nyva's winner in the second-half of extra time. A famous win for the Zvornik club and three different winners in three years in the history of this competition (and none of them are Atletik Thessia!), the FSM will be very pleased about what it is doing for youth football in Mytanija.

[Mytanija]

MYTANAR UNIVERSITIES FOOTBALL 29/30 SEASON REVIEW

The twenty-eight tertiary education institutions in Mytanija are not generally funded for sports in the same manner many universities and colleges are in other nations around the multiverse. Their main focus is education and students may join a sports club at their institution to compete in their spare time, most of Mytanija's best athletes in team sports are already picked up by professional teams at an early age given the significant reach of the academy systems and youth recruitment of many of these teams. For example, most talented young footballers will be in a professional team's academy by the age of around 12 or 13 and as they get to around the age of 16-18 their main focus will be on honing their craft for the professional team they play for and breaking into the first team rather than trying to impress recruiters and attain a scholarship as might happen in other countries. This does mean that the standard of sports at many institutions will not be comparable to that of other nations' student athletes, most of the competitors are playing for fun and there are very few scholarships available for sporting purposes.

There are of course a few exceptions, notably at the Mytanski Institut za Sport which is essentially a state-run sporting programme designed to support Mytanija's best athletes in non-football team sports, individual and winter sports. Top athletes will be given scholarships to complete their studies whilst being given access to some of the best coaching, facilities, medical care, nutrition and recovery available to sportspeople in Mytanija; those who have completed their studies may be given government grants in order to support their competitive pursuits despite no longer being under the auspices of the Institut. Many students do go to the Mytanski Institut za Sport just to study, but it is usually to study something tangentially related to sports performance like physiotherapy, psychology or sports science - these students get to work with top sportspeople whilst completing their studies, the aim being to keep them involved in the development of Mytanija's next great cyclists, handball teams, skiers, swimmers and volleyball stars. One of Mytanija's Winter Olympics medal hopefuls Slava Preobrazhensky is highly involved with the Mytanski Institut za Sport, demonstrating their reach and influence.

Outside of that, some foreign readers may be familiar with the University of Alzburg-Dyka, two-time NSCF champions in college gridiron. UAD are a member of the Rose League, a group of seven of Mytanija's oldest and most prestigious education institutions and they are historically the most successful of those seven when it comes to sport. They no longer offer scholarships for gridiron as they used to, nor do they operate such an enormous foreign recruitment drive as they did in that sport. Nowadays gridiron is unfavourably linked with the long deposed monarchy given its historic popularity among high society during the Kombarov era and as a result is often seen as outdated. There are occasionally murmurings that UAD may return to the NSCF, but nothing has come to fruition on that front as of yet and it may never do so. In terms of other institutions which enjoy sporting success, it is usually those with the larger student bodies which do well given the in-built advantage they have in being able to draw talent from a larger group of people. This means that the likes of the University of Thessia, Alex Util Politehnička; MIZT, National University, Decraa College; and the University of Arsika and TS-Prizren traditionally do well in their various leagues. Usually the Mytanski Institut za Sport win, though, meaning thankless seasons for generations of Mytanar students who try to compete against the omnipotent Institut.

Let's take a look at how the results of the latest football season went:

##  Rose League                       Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01  University of Alzburg-Dyka         12   10   2   0    25    7  +18    32  Q, IUCC
02  Vedran University                  12    6   3   3    18   13   +5    21
03  Stratenberg University             12    5   2   5    18   19   −1    17
04  Trojstva College                   12    4   2   6    19   22   −3    14
05  Dorotea Fazlic                     12    3   3   6    12   20   −8    12
06  Kavka University                   12    3   2   7    20   30  −10    11
07  Centralni Univerzitet              12    2   4   6    15   16   −1    10

University of Alzburg-Dyka pretty much have the top spot in the Rose League locked down, qualifying for the championship round in each of the three seasons the Mytanar Universities football competition has run. They did it this year without losing a game and really dominating the rest of the league. It's a tough gap for the others to close and with the turnover of students it can be even more difficult. The focus on education at these schools might well hinder them, with UAD being the Rose League school with the best reputation for sports and getting the best athletes as a result. It's difficult to foster a winning mentality when students are as committed to their studies and partying as they are their football, these aren't professional football teams after all.

##  Northern League                   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01  Alex Util Politehnička             12   11   0   1    31    9  +22    33  Q, IUCC
02  University of Thessia              12    8   2   2    28   10  +18    26
03  Ebor Geološka Škola                12    7   2   3    27    9  +18    23
04  University of Zavolja-Sigurno      12    3   3   6    14   21   −7    12
05  TU-Ibon                            12    3   0   9    11   23  −12     9
06  TI-Snezhnaya                       12    1   5   6     9   27  −18     8
07  University of Rauchnya             12    2   2   8    10   31  −21     8

Alex Util Politehnička eased away from their city rivals at the University of Thessia over the course of the season and ended up with a very healthy seven point gap to them come the end of the season. The Northern League has ended up as a battle between those two each season so far and now Alex Util have the upper hand with a 2-1 record in winning their league title. Below those two Ebor Geološka Škola had a decent season but the other teams were all pretty equal and unable to trouble the bigger schools all that much.

##  Central League                    Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01  Decraa College                     12    8   3   1    21    9  +12    27  Q, IUCC
02  Mytanski Institut za Sport         12    6   5   1    22   11  +11    23
03  National University                12    7   2   3    24   14  +10    23
04  MIZT                               12    6   3   3    19   13   +6    21
05  IO-Esca                            12    2   3   7    12   18   −6     9
06  PSEPN                              12    2   1   9     9   20  −11     7
07  PJSMB                              12    2   1   9     7   29  −22     7

Decraa College get a famous league win by beating the Mytanski Institut za Sport into second place, a rare occurrence. They did it by being more consistent too, there was nothing fluky about this, winning two more games and creating a four point gap to the Institut. Both of the top two only lost a game, but Decraa College's eight wins drove them on to this title. The National University had a good year too, finishing level on points with the Institut whilst MIZT were only a further two points behind. An embarrassing year for the Mytanski Institut za Sport and one which they'll want to recover from as quickly as possible next time around.

##  Southern League                   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01  University of Arsika               12   10   2   0    31   10  +21    32  Q, IUCC
02  TS-Prizren                         12   10   2   0    33   15  +18    32
03  Ostrova Tech                       12    4   3   5    22   23   −1    15
04  Tsrvena College                    12    3   4   5    15   23   −8    13
05  Trunca Nautički Institut           12    2   4   6    10   18   −8    10
06  Prizren School of Art              12    2   3   7    12   19   −7     9
07  Avnalia Agricultural College       12    2   0  10     9   24  −15     6

University of Arsika seem to occupy a similar position within the Southern League to that which UAD hold in the Rose League. Three years this competition has run and Arsika have won the Southern League in all of them. They did have a greater challenge this time around from TS-Prizren who had an identical record but couldn't overcome Arsika's superior goal difference. Arsika built their title win on their fantastic defence and despite being known as one of the greatest party cities for Mytanar students their team displaying exceptional concentration in carrying out their defensive instructions, only conceding ten goals all year. It's difficult for everybody else, with the remainder of the teams battling for the minor positions and none of them being less than seventeen points behind the top two.

##  Mytanar Universities Final Group  Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01  University of Arsika                6    4   0   2     7    4   +3    12  C
02  Alex Util Politehnička              6    3   2   1    11    9   +2    11
03  Decraa College                      6    2   2   2     9   10   −1     8
04  University of Alzburg-Dyka          6    0   2   4     7   11   −4     2

With the hitherto omnipotent Mytanski Institut za Sport absent from this season's finals group it gave the teams a real chance of winning a Mytanar Universities Football Championship and it was the University of Arsika which struck out to win their first ever title. They continued their excellent defensive showing from the Southern League and conceded only four goals through the six games. Without the Institut in the competition it felt like everybody had a greater chance, with Alex Util and Decraa College both in contention throughout the competition. UAD were once again in-charge of bringing up the rear, but Rose League schools are known for the prestige of their education and with their smaller student bodies they simply have a smaller pool of players to select from when compared to big universities like Arsika, Alex Util and Decraa College.

[Mytanija]

MKA LIGA BASKETBALL 29/30 SEASON REVIEW

MKA Liga Basketball History

Year   Champion               Runner-Up       
00/01  Košarka Esca    75–60  Atletik
01/02  Košarka Esca    79–74  Dinamo
02/03  Dinamo          71–59  BK Magevskaya
03/04  KK Rauchnya     65–63  KK Prizren
04/05  Olympic         71–70  Atletik
05/06  Košarka Esca    77–74  KK Rauchnya
06/07  Dinamo          84–80  Zenit
07/08  Zenit           81–79  Dinamo
08/09  Zenit           78–74  Dinamo
09/10  Zenit           75–70  Košarka Esca
10/11  BK Magevskaya   79–72  KK Rauchnya
11/12  KK Rauchnya     64–62  NK Dyka
12/13  KK Rauchnya     70–69  Olympic
13/14  Košarka Esca    74–65  Dinamo
14/15  Košarka Esca    88–68  Zenit
15/16  Košarka Esca    80–74  BK Magevskaya
16/17  Košarka Esca    74–73  KK Rauchnya
17/18  Padina          60–59  Košarka Esca
18/19  Atletik         75–71  Zeljeznicar
19/20  KK Rauchnya     72–51  KK Avnalia
20/21  Dinamo          71–70  Zenit
21/22  KK Avnalia      88-85  KK Prizren
22/23  Olympic         90–78  Atletik
23/24  Košarka Esca    95–82  KK Rauchnya
24/25  KK Rauchnya     93–92  Košarka Esca
25/26  Zenit           81–58  Košarka Esca
26/27  KK Avnalia     101–60  Zenit
27/28  Košarka Esca    83–75  Zenit
28/29  BK Magevskaya   80–78  KK Avnalia
29/30

Team           Championships
Košarka Esca   9
KK Rauchnya    5
Zenit          4
Dinamo         3
Olympic        2
KK Avnalia     2
BK Magevskaya  2
Atletik        1
Padina         1

Basketball is a popular sport in Mytanija, in terms of participation it is one of the stronger sports, with plenty of Mytanar kids playing street basketball in the infamous 'cages' found in many deprived areas in Mytanar cities when a football isn't being kicked around. The MKA Liga, Mytanija's top level of competition, lags behind other sports in terms of commercial revenue and television coverage which means it is often considered to be behind football (obviously) and volleyball in terms of popularity. The MKA (the Mytanar Basketball Association), is trying to change that by negotiating better contracts for the TV rights to show MKA Liga games. This could involve streamlining the current format of the league, with some feeling that 28 teams is too many and dilutes the quality of the league that is meant to represent the best basketball in Mytanija has to offer. Any change of format would likely be met with fierce opposition given the structure of many of the teams as part of wider sports clubs that participate in various sports (e.g. Atletik, Crvena Zvezda and Dinamo to name but a few), that are owned and run by their members and usually (except for their football sections), aren't especially profitable. Increased commercialisation would be seen as anathema to the very values of many of these teams that are run for their members and are quite principled regarding community involvement in their clubs and staying in touch with their roots.

Mytanar basketball is characterised by finesse and skilful play, with passing and sharing the ball being crucial to the way teams play. Even bigs will boast the ability to make difficult passes and make solid reads and court intelligence is one of the most important things in the Mytanar game. Generally there are not specific players that dominate the points per game statistic. It is arguably more of a team-oriented style and players will also change position and can be tasked with taking on multiple roles in a game. There's less isolation plays than in a lot of other countries and athleticism isn't as important either, although this is something which is gradually changing as Mytanar basketball enters the international arena. Mytanija's 23rd place finish in the most recent International Basketball Championship (with a 5-5 record and 3rd place in Group H), demonstrated that the team could compete on the global stage but still has some way to go to reach the level of the likes of Banija, Delaclava, Newmanistan etc. Zelimir Ateljevic was a vital part of that team, with some of the team's younger players - those who have grown up watching international basketball - actually suiting the IBC style better than some of the more experienced campaigners. This could see a continued shift away from the more team-orientated style we have seen in Mytanija down the years.

Last year we saw BK Magevskaya claim their 2nd ever MKA Liga title and their last one was almost twenty seasons prior! A team led by the outstanding centre Evgeny Fomin played their way to the #2 seed after a fine regular season and then bulldozed their way through the play-offs, with the emergence of the exciting small forward Zhenya Razuvayev providing Fomin with a brilliant foil and taking the pressure off the big man slightly. The exciting tandem allowed BK Magevskaya to destroy Ribari in the second round match-up, defeating them 82-51 with Fomin grabbing 16 boards! In the semi-finals BK Magevskaya met last year's champions Košarka Esca and Fomin put up 31 points to outduel his national team colleague Zelimir Ateljevic who hit back with a triple-double of his own. Fomin was a man possessed though and his performance allowed the team to pull through with a 92-85 win, setting-up a MKA Liga Championship between the regular season #1 and #2. KK Avnalia had bested BK Magevskaya in the regular season but it was BK Magevskaya that shaded this encounter, winning 80-78 with a buzzer-beating three pointer from Zhenya Razuvayev allowing them to come from one point behind to two in front to win the league title. An incredible season for BK Magevskaya and few would bet against them repeating the feat if Fomin and Razuvayev display the same form this season. There will be plenty of potential challengers though, KK Avnalia will want to make-up for their championship game disappointment, whilst Ateljevic's Košarka Esca are chasing a 10th MKA Liga title. Atletik and NK Thessia have both been producing some exciting young players in recent years, could it be the time they finally come good when it matters? Let's see what happened:

## MKA Liga              Pld    W   L
01 KK Avnalia             54   48   6  Q 2R
02 BK Magevskaya          54   45   9  Q 2R
03 Zenit                  54   45   9  Q 2R
04 Košarka Esca           54   41  13  Q 2R
05 NK Thessia             54   40  14  Q 1R
06 KK Rauchnya            54   38  16  Q 1R
07 Atletik                54   38  16  Q 1R
08 KK Miago               54   33  21  Q 1R
09 Torpedo                54   29  25  Q 1R
10 Litala ’93             54   28  26  Q 1R
11 Ribari                 54   28  26  Q 1R
12 Padina                 54   27  27  Q 1R
13 Dinamo                 54   27  27
14 Rotor                  54   27  27
15 CDSA                   54   26  28
16 KK Prizren             54   24  30
17 Partizan               54   23  31
18 Zeljeznicar            54   23  31
19 Granica                54   20  34
20 Turbine                54   20  34
21 Olympic                54   20  34
22 Crvena Zvezda          54   18  36
23 Meja                   54   16  38
24 Tekstil                54   15  39
25 NK Istina              54   15  39
26 Akademija              54   15  39
27 NK Dyka                54   14  40
28 Slovan                 54   13  41

KK Avnalia go back-to-back as regular season leaders and BK Magevskaya repeat by finishing in second place. KK Avnalia actually improved on last season's performance too, their 48-6 record being a truly amazing showing as their style of fundamentally sound basketball caused opponents lots of issues. It was a record built on solid defensive play and rather handed the reins of the offense to Sime Zdravsky and Tose Lekov. KK Avnalia will want to go one better than last season, they ended up as runners-up, but they will have to show a different side to them if they want to succeed in play-off basketball. They have been derided in some quarters as a regular season team, a squad which thrives on regular match-ups that is difficult to stop when they get into a rhythm. Some would argue the play-offs are just a continuation of that, but they were not able to return on their #1 seed last time around and they still have doubters this season. The best way to quieten them would be to go out and win the MKA Liga title.

BK Magevskaya are likely to be one of those teams that could stand in their way, the defending champions put together a regular season record of 45-9 which would have been good enough (or at least put them level pegging with KK Avnalia) for the #1 seed last time around. They must be wondering what it will take to overhaul this KK Avnalia unit during the regular season, although what really matters is post-season success and BK Magevskaya are there once again and they have the best Mytanar player around at the moment in the form of their playmaking centre Evgeny Fomin. The 25 year old can do everything and will be crucial in their chances, the emergence of Zhenya Razuvayev has taken a little bit of pressure off whilst 22 year old point guard Damian Tsitnikov looks like he could be a very promising three-and-d talent. That is useful when Fomin and Razuvayev take on the main burden of shot creation. They will be in contention once again this season.

Zenit Esca return to the top four and receive a bye to the second round of the play-offs as a result. A lot of pressure lies with 23 year old point guard Ivica Lazic for them, he's by far their best player and his scoring and creative abilities are relied upon by the whole team. The experience of Dragomir Marusic and Mihajlo Hristov will be important for them this season, even if they aren't players which usually create the headlines through their on-court abilities. Lazic will need them to take the heat off him a little during the play-offs. Košarka Esca are chasing their 10th MKA Liga title and they have the all-action wing Zelimir Ateljevic in their ranks. He would dispute the idea that Evgeny Fomin is the best Mytanar player around at the moment, Ateljevic is a heavy scorer and his ability to drive to the basket makes him so dangerous. He is the headline act for them and they will be dangerous in the play-offs with experienced campaigners such as Brajko Arsic and Miran Grgurovic alongside promising younger players Zivota Obradovic and towering centre Ljes Borisavljevic. They look threatening and a bye to the second round gives them a shorter route to the final than the last time they lifted the title in the 27/28 season from the #8 seed.

NK Thessia dropped down a couple of spots from last season and ended up only a game down on a top four spot. They might be a bit disappointed with that but they will have to regroup quickly ahead of the play-offs. Zahir Dedic has been really exciting in the last couple of seasons and he continued to build on that this year. KK Rauchnya and Atletik come up behind NK Thessia, both will feel that they can have an impact on the play-offs if things go the right way for them. Albin Jausovec may be 33 now but he's a wily old dog even if his physical capabilities are beginning to wane, he's supported by Niko Galun and Antun Bevk with the Rauchik club now and that trio could win games on their own if they get into form. Atletik have a much younger cast, with no one in their starting five older than 26. The three key men are Uzejir Juric, Besir Sijercic and Mario Djokanovic and they are 24, 23 and 21 respectively. The future could be very bright indeed for the Thessian club. KK Miago finished in 8th and that means they will be in the top-half of the first round, a good season for them with 16 year old shooting guard Juraj Stanorec being a bit of a revelation.

Torpedo Vershina just missed out on the play-offs last season finishing 13th. This season they built on that brilliantly to finish 9th in the regular season and they're playing with house money now, anything more than that will be fantastic for their team. Litala ’93 have a good few years across different sports with success in volleyball and handball and a return to the Top League in the football. A play-off spot in the basketball might not be quite the same as the others but it is still solid enough and an upward trajectory they will hope to continue along after managing 11th last season and going one spot better this season. Ribari and Padina bring up the rear finishing in 11th and 12th. They have become mainstays in the lower end of the play-offs in recent years, both being sides from smaller markets, particularly impressive given their budgets in comparison to some of the big boys ahead of them. They will be pleased to be in the play-offs again and will look to cause a few upsets if they can. Dinamo Esca will be disappointed to miss out on the play-offs, they've had a tough few years and would usually be expecting to at least reach the post-season. It is now no title since 20/21 for the Votavova club. Let's see what happened in the play-offs:

First Round
#5 NK Thessia 78–67 #12 Padina
#6 KK Rauchnya 60–68 #11 Ribari
#7 Atletik 84–76 #10 Litala ’93
#8 KK Miago 57–74 #9 Torpedo

NK Thessia were fairly comfortable in their game against Padina Zolota. They were ahead from start to finish and didn't allow Padina to come back as they gradually built up their eventual eleven point victory. Dedic (18pts/13asts) was as influential as ever for NK Thessia and his contributions helped them safely negotiate their way through to the second round. Whether they will have enough to defeat a strong Košarka Esca team. We had an upset in the match-up between KK Rauchnya and Ribari Palilula. Ribari have become a regular threat for play-off contention each season despite coming from one of the smaller towns represented in the MKA Liga and they built on that by sending KK Rauchnya home. Cvijetin Andric's 26 points were crucial, accounting for nearly 40% of their scoring and got them well on their way to the win. Atletik Thessia were strong against their old friends Litala ’93 and ended up with an eight point victory, Mario Djokanovic was dominant in the post on his way to 24 points and he contributed at both ends with 13 rebounds too. In the meeting between #8 KK Miago and #9 Torpedo Vershina it was the #9 seed which romped to the second round of the play-offs, defeating the Miago club 74-57 in a pretty one-sided affair. Torpedo will be delighted with that result and will relish the opportunity to test themselves against #2 seeded MKA Liga champions BK Magevskaya in the next round.

Second Round
#1 KK Avnalia 76–84 #11 Ribari
#2 BK Magevskaya 111–79 #9 Torpedo
#3 Zenit 80–72 #7 Atletik
#4 Košarka Esca 92–70 #5 NK Thessia

We had an enormous upset in the second round as #1 seed KK Avnalia were seen off by the #11 seeded Ribari Palilula. The tandem of point guard Stracimir Nastasic and small forward Cvijetin Andric combined for 63 points between them and they put in a hard-working defensive performance too to slow down national team talents like Darko Belicanec, Zharko Kostojcinovski, Sime Zdravsky and Tose Lekov. A disappointing end to the campaign for KK Avnalia and perhaps more evidence for those that believe they are a team which excel in the regular season and don't have the guts for a deep play-off run. BK Magevskaya absolutely dominated Torpedo Vershina with a 111-79 victory in Stratenberg. Evgeny Fomin scored a play-off record 44 points in one of the best performances you are likely to see. The big man is a truly dominant force and it is hard to see who can beat his team if he continues to play like this. Zenit Esca edged out Atletik Thessia with a 80-72 win, Ivica Lazic is so exciting on his day and he was pivotal in this victory. They will play out an Esca derby game in the semi-finals against nine-time champions Košarka Esca who defeated NK Thessia 92-70. Zelimir Ateljevic must have been spurred on by Evgeny Fomin's 44 point game as he contributed a triple-double to his team's cause with a 32pts/10rebs/12asts stat line.

Semi Finals
#2 BK Magevskaya 82–57 #11 Ribari
#3 Zenit 60–69 #4 Košarka Esca

BK Magevskaya would have been licking their lips at the prospect of playing the #11 seed at any point throughout these play-offs, to meet them at the semi-final stage might have been a bit unexpected but here we are. They found things fairly easy, ending Ribari's fairy-tale run at the penultimate hurdle with a comprehensive win. They demonstrated a different side to their team with a lockdown defensive showing, although they also remained strong on the offensive end too and look to be in good shape to go back-to-back as champions. They're in the championship game and have a real chance. Joining them is Košarka Esca as they managed to see off Escan rivals Zenit as they continue their pursuit of what would be a magnificent 10th MKA Liga title. Zelimir Ateljevic has hit form at the right time, contributing a solid 25 points in this victory. He could well push them to a second title in three seasons if he plays like he has been doing during the play-offs.

MKA Liga Championship
#2 BK Magevskaya 76–77 #4 Košarka Esca

A meeting between arguably the two best teams of the last five years in the MKA Liga Championship game and it was a game befitting the occasion. The teams swapped leads numerous times and it turned into a real head-to-head showdown between the two best players in the country as the match went on. Evgeny Fomin versus Zelimir Ateljevic. The two will pair up with the national team once again for the upcoming IBC but here they were the greatest of rivals. Fomin's stat line almost deserved the title (24pts/15rebs/6asts), but Zelimir Ateljevic's desire and competitive spirit managed to led Košarka Esca to their 10th MKA Liga title as he went off for 31 points in the title game, helping the cause along with a further 7 rebounds and 8 assists and his last second pull-up jumper saw the lead change for the final time with 1.2 seconds remaining. BK Magevskaya had a chance to get a shot off but Fomin couldn't quite get it to fall in and Ateljevic's Košarka Esca are champions. Credit also has to go to Ljes Borisavljevic the 25 year old Košarka Esca centre, he contributed 11 rebounds and 2 blocks in the championship game and they ended up being crucial in a match which was so close. It's two titles in three years for Zelimir Ateljevic's team (and three in seven for Košarka Esca as a whole), which only adds yet more to the club's storied history. For BK Magevskaya it will be a case of coming back looking to mimic that two in three record which Košarka Esca have managed, they'll believe they have the roster to do it next season but the top end of Mytanar basketball only seems to be getting more and more competitive so it will be difficult.

[Mytanija]

RSM TOP LEAGUE HANDBALL 29/30 SEASON REVIEW

RSM Top League Handball History

Year   Champion        
00/01  Litala ’93
01/02  Litala ’93
02/03  Litala ’93
03/04  Litala ’93
04/05  Litala ’93
05/06  Litala ’93
06/07  Litala ’93
07/08  Litala ’93
08/09  Litala ’93
09/10  Litala ’93
10/11  Atletik
11/12  GK Magevskaya
12/13  Litala ’93
13/14  GK Magevskaya
14/15  Litala ’93
15/16  Litala ’93
16/17  Dinamo
17/18  GK Magevskaya
18/19  Dinamo
19/20  Litala ’93
20/21  Litala ’93
21/22  Litala ’93
22/23  GK Magevskaya
23/24  Litala ’93
24/25  Litala ’93
25/26  Litala ’93
26/27  Litala ’93
27/28  Litala ’93
28/29  Litala ’93
29/30

Team           Championships
Litala ’93     22
GK Magevskaya   4
Dinamo          2
Atletik         1

Handball is a popular sport in Mytanija, with great participation among both men and women. The national side is one of the few that includes both men and women, too, with no split based on sex. Domestically handball is organised by the national governing body the RSM who run the Top League and Druga Liga. They have a similar set-up to their footballing equivalents, with promotion and relegation between the two leagues, with two going up and two going down. They both have 12 teams and it is run under a quadruple round-robin format, so each team plays every other team twice at home and twice on the road. The Top League has been dominated by Litala ’93 over the years, with the Esca-based club monopolising the title over the first decade, since then GK Magevskaya, Dinamo and Atletik have all won at least one title. None have come anywhere near breaking Litala's dominance though, with the club having an incredible 22 titles over the years (and nine of the last ten!). They have such history in the sport (and in volleyball, too), that they attract all the best players and build strong teams. It is very difficult for the others to come close. The likes of GK Magevskaya, Atletik and Dinamo all run productive youth systems which allow them to occasionally compete, but they're usually fighting a losing battle against the all-conquering behemoth that is Litala ’93. Let's see what happened in the latest season:

## Top League            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 GK Magevskaya          44   37   1   6  1249 1039 +210   112  C
02 Litala ’93             44   32   6   6  1262 1044 +218   102
03 RK Prizren             44   31   3  10  1241 1085 +156    96
04 Atletik                44   25   4  15  1188 1112  +76    79
05 RK Avnalia             44   21   5  18  1136 1117  +19    68
06 Dinamo                 44   17   5  22  1114 1135  −21    56
07 Crvena Zvezda          44   18   2  24  1104 1201  −97    56
08 Olympic                44   16   3  25  1125 1180  −55    51
09 Arka                   44   15   5  24  1121 1195  −74    50
10 NK Thessia             44   15   1  28  1130 1237 −107    46
11 RK Rauchnya            44   11   4  29  1091 1212 −121    37  R
12 RK Miago               44    6   1  37  1063 1267 −204    19  R

GK Magevskaya have been building a strong squad through their brilliant development programme over the past few years and this season it bore fruit with an exceptional title-winning campaign. It is their 5th RSM Top League title and the first since the 22/23 campaign, it also allowed them to break the dominance of Litala ’93 with their run of six championships in a row being ended by this inspired GK Magevskaya team. Veterans like goalkeeper Zinon Kapustov and 39 year old centre back Zina Kazantseva have been important in that, bringing all of their experience to this young squad and leading them to the league title. Their all-female forward line of Daria Usatova, Jelena Tyannikova and Maria Nizamutdinova is one of the most exciting in the league and none of them are older than 24. They will be together for a long time and will cause problems for opponents with their brilliant interplay and movement, as well as their clinical finishing of course.

Anything less than a title is disappointment for Litala ’93 in handball but they surely can't be too down after winning six titles on the bounce. GK Magevskaya were just a bit better than them this year, although the Litala club may be concerned that they finished twenty points worse off than their points total from last season. They'll want to recover some of those points next time. RK Prizren got a creditable third place once again with a much improved points total, they could be building a very strong team there. Atletik, RK Avnalia and Dinamo Esca round out the top-half of the season. We should also mention Crvena Zvezda who managed an extremely promising 7th place after getting promoted last season, many thought they'd be heading back down to the Druga Liga but they were solid and comfortably safe in the end.

It is RK Rauchnya and RK Miago that will be heading down to the second tier. RK Miago will be extremely disappointed with their campaign managing only six wins all season but they do have the qualifier that they were a promoted team coming into the season, something which always makes things difficult. RK Rauchnya would have thought they'd have more than enough to stay up at the beginning of the season but in the end they finished three wins down on NK Thessia and will be playing Druga Liga handball next year.

## Druga Liga            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 NK Dyka                44   31   3  10  1239 1099 +140    96  C, P
02 CDSA                   44   31   3  10  1224 1101 +123    96  P
03 Centralni              44   29   3  12  1185 1087  +98    90
04 NK Istina              44   23   4  17  1187 1141  +46    73
05 RK Vershina            44   20   4  20  1178 1186   −8    64
06 Tekstil                44   20   3  21  1166 1178  −12    63
07 Partizan               44   20   2  22  1151 1193  −42    62
08 Obolon                 44   18   5  21  1166 1177  −11    59
09 Rotor                  44   16   6  22  1184 1196  −12    54
10 Zenit                  44   14   3  27  1145 1231  −86    45
11 Akademija              44   11   3  30  1101 1240 −139    36
12 Slovan                 44   11   1  32  1140 1237  −97    34

NK Dyka return to the Top League at the first time of asking, pipping CDSA to the Druga Liga title on goal difference in a very exciting campaign. The two clubs were very evenly matched throughout the season but NK Dyka were just that little bit better on both ends and it allowed them to lift the trophy. CDSA will just be pleased to be back in the top-flight, they were frustrated at their inability to bounce straight back up last season but they've managed it at the second time of asking and will hope they can mimic Crvena Zvezda's impressive showing following promotion next season.

[Mytanija]

SHLM LIGA ICE HOCKEY 29/30 SEASON REVIEW

SHLM Liga Ice Hockey History

Year   Champion      
00/01  Tekstil
01/02  KK Magevskaya
02/03  Tekstil
03/04  HK Prizren
04/05  HK Prizren
05/06  HK Prizren
06/07  Hajerek
07/08  Tekstil
08/09  HK Prizren
09/10  NK Thessia
10/11  HK Prizren
11/12  HK Prizren
12/13  Zavolja
13/14  Zeljeznicar
14/15  Tekstil
15/16  HK Prizren
16/17  Zavolja
17/18  Zavolja
18/19  KK Magevskaya
19/20  Zeljeznicar
20/21  NK Thessia
21/22  Hajerek
22/23  NK Thessia
23/24  Torpedo
24/25  NK Thessia
25/26  Hajerek
26/27  NK Thessia
27/28  Tekstil
28/29  Zavolja
29/30  

Team           Championships
HK Prizren     7
NK Thessia     5
Tekstil        5
Zavolja        4
Hajerek        3
KK Magevskaya  2
Zeljeznicar    2
Torpedo        1

Ice hockey is probably the least popular of the so-called 'major' team sports in Mytanija (i.e. football, basketball, handball, ice hockey and volleyball), with this mostly being due to its significantly restricted geographical range when compared to the others. This is mainly down to one of the key components of the sport - ice - not being in high supply in certain regions. Historically ice hockey teams were founded in cities that experience wintry conditions for longer periods of the year and often played on outdoor rinks, this ruled out lots of major cities from hosting teams in the SHLM Liga. Of course in the modern day this isn't as big an issue due to indoor ice rinks and the like, but the governing body are notoriously conservative and refuse to expand the league to feature teams from potentially lucrative markets such as Ebor, Tsrvena, Arsika or Severyan (indeed there are no teams in the league from Visoravna, Rauchnya or Nasto and Avnalia).

The sport's heartland within Mytanija is undoubtedly within the region of Thessia with teams from there having won the championship in over half (16 out of 29) of SHLM Liga seasons. NK Thessia, Tekstil, Zavolja and Zeljeznicar are all strong outfits from the region and will usually be in the upper echelons of the league table come the end of the season. With this being said, the single strongest team in SHLM Liga history is HK Prizren who have won 7 championships down the years - but none since the 15/16 season. They're always a strong team due to the size of Prizren's population and they also draw players from throughout Vojovitica such is their reputation in ice hockey. The other Vojovitican teams (CDSA and HK Miago) cannot hold a candle to HK Prizren.

Outside of this Esca has a few teams (Akademija, BVK Dinamo, Dinamo and Zenit), but none of them have ever succeeded in winning the league title, perhaps accurately demonstrating the capital's preference for other sports. More widely in Zentria there is Hajerek and Torpedo who have both won the league title at one point or another, Obolon have surprised people a few times in recent seasons by finishing near the top of the table but they haven't managed to turn their good performances into a championship. KK Magevskaya are Magevskaya's sole representatives (perhaps unsurprisingly), and have a couple of championships which were won a long time apart. They often flatter to deceive, having good line-ups but also a tendency to self-destruct when it looks like they may be on their way to a title.

Let's see what happened this season:

## SHLM Liga             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Zavolja                34   24   5   5    74   26  +48    77  C, HCL
02 Hajerek                34   21  10   3    72   35  +37    73  HCL
03 Tekstil                34   20   6   8    64   35  +29    66  HCL
04 HK Prizren             34   19   8   7    65   30  +35    65  HCL
05 NK Thessia             34   20   5   9    59   29  +30    65
06 CDSA                   34   19   8   7    57   35  +22    65
07 HK Miago               34   18   7   9    61   44  +17    61
08 KK Magevskaya          34   18   4  12    54   42  +12    58
09 Zeljeznicar            34   16   9   9    55   42  +13    57
10 Slovan                 34   13   5  16    43   55  −12    44
11 Obolon                 34   13   4  17    54   61   −7    43
12 Torpedo                34   11   7  16    48   54   −6    40
13 Dinamo                 34   11   7  16    34   53  −19    40
14 Atletik                34    7   8  19    42   65  −23    29
15 BVK Dinamo             34    3  12  19    34   69  −35    21
16 Olympic                34    4   8  22    26   66  −40    20
17 Zenit                  34    5   5  24    26   74  −48    20
18 Akademija              34    2   6  26    21   74  −53    12

Zavolja have now won 5 SHLM Liga titles and they seem to enjoy doing it in pairs, winning back-to-back titles on two separate occasions. This title was built on much the same talent base as last season, being able to keep their talented set of players together has really benefited them and the growth of Beriz Kopanja has only furthered their quality. Kopanja was mostly a facilitator for them last season, the big centre tasked with bringing wing threats Ismet Susic and Sergej Gisic into their attacking play, this season he added even more consistent goal scoring to his game too. His 19 goals didn't quite lead their team, that was an honour left to the aforementioned Sergej Gisic who found the net 27 times. Kopanja is a real talent though and you have a feeling that as long as Zavolja can hold onto him they will find themselves at the top of the domestic game.

Hajerek had a much better season this year, jumping up from 5th to 2nd and ending up as Zavolja's closest challengers for the SHLM Liga title. Their experienced side has plenty of knowhow and tactical nous and they demonstrated that to improve this year, but the brightest spark in their season is the development of young wing Tihomir Milosevic. If he can continue on his upwards trajectory Hajerek might bring the glory days back to their little part of Zentria. Tekstil dropped a place from 2nd to 3rd this year, that will have disappointed some in Ibon and they'll want to ensure that their current squad has much more to show for their talents than just the solitary league title in the 27/28 season. It'll be back to the drawing board for them next time around and they'll be eager to grab another trophy to show a concrete return on the obvious ability of this set of players.

HK Prizren repeated their 4th place finish from last season. They're expected to really challenge for the league title next time around after integrating the likes of 22 year olds Lucijan Bilobrk and Davor Aleksic this season. Goaltender and defenseman respectively, the pair round out a starting line-up which includes dead-eye scoring wings Davor Sliskovic and Vanja Vuletic as well as the veteran centre Zeljko Borojevic. Many domestic bookmakers feel next season could end up being a battle between HK Prizren and this season's champions Zavolja, although you just never know with the SHLM Liga as evidenced by the meteoric rise of clubs like HK Miago in recent seasons.

[Mytanija]

MOF TOP LEAGUE VOLLEYBALL 29/30 SEASON REVIEW

MOF Top League Volleyball History

Year   Champion      
00/01  Olympic
01/02  Litala ’93
02/03  Litala ’93
03/04  Olympic
04/05  Litala ’93
05/06  Litala ’93
06/07  Litala ’93
07/08  Olympic
08/09  Olympic
09/10  Litala ’93
10/11  Olympic
11/12  Olympic
12/13  OK Rauchnya
13/14  Olympic
14/15  Olympic
15/16  Olympic
16/17  OK Rauchnya
17/18  Olympic
18/19  OK Rauchnya
19/20  Olympic
20/21  Olympic
21/22  Litala ’93
22/23  OK Rauchnya
23/24  OK Rauchnya
24/25  Litala ’93
25/26  OK Rauchnya
26/27  Olympic
27/28  Olympic
28/29  Litala ’93
29/30

Team         Championships
Olympic      14
Litala ’93   9
OK Rauchnya  6

Volleyball is an extremely popular sport within Mytanija, particularly among women, with it enjoying the largest participation numbers for women out of any team sports. The MOF Top League is seen as the equivalent of football's Top League for Mytanar women, with wages not being significantly below those that footballers take home. The MOF Top League has been traditionally dominated by the sports' so-called 'big three': Olympic, Litala ’93 and OK Rauchnya. This represents quite a dramatic geographic spread of teams, with Olympic being based in Thessia, Litala ’93 in the capital Esca and OK Rauchnya in the region's second city Severyan. Due to the popularity of the sport there are teams throughout Mytanija, but only those three have ever managed to win a championship. Olympic and Litala ’93 split the first twelve seasons with 6 title apiece before OK Rauchnya burst onto the scene and since then it has pretty much always been a three-horse race for the Top League title. The three have fostered excellent youth systems for the sport, drawing the best talent from their local area and this means they consistently produce some of the nation's top volleyball stars. They often produce so many good players that some cannot actually get a game with the club's first team and therefore some women have had to leave the 'big three' clubs to leave to smaller teams in order to compete in the Top League.

In the past national team players have almost exclusively come from the 'big three' clubs, but in recent years that has changed and more teams now have a realistic chance at a league title. Atletik have developed a young team which has plenty of talent, whilst Avnalia Odbojka and Dinamo Esca are following a similar trajectory. Akademija, the national academy team, is constantly producing new talent too and it means that they can be very competitive. Those players then move on to other teams once they reach the age of 22 at Akademija. It has made a for a more competitive league and that has led to greater investment, with television companies eager to pay for exclusive rights to show one of the strongest volleyball leagues. Greater foreign investment has only furthered this and it means that international stars are increasingly choosing to play volleyball in Mytanija due to the better wages on offer. The MOF are optimistic that a strong domestic game will only help the quality of the national team, something everybody can get behind as Mytanija look to build on the VWE 11 victory with more success. Let's see what happened this season:

## Top League            Pld    W   L    SF   SA   S. Avg 
01 Litala ’93             60   52   8   166   52    3.192  C, VCL
02 Olympic                60   50  10   161   74    2.176  VCL
03 Dinamo                 60   44  16   148   79    1.873
04 Atletik                60   44  16   151   83    1.819
05 OK Rauchnya            60   43  17   152   87    1.747
06 Akademija              60   35  25   133  106    1.255
07 Avnalia Odbojka        60   34  26   131  110    1.191
08 NK Thessia             60   26  34   116  132    0.879
09 VK Magevskaya          60   25  35   105  136    0.772
10 Arka                   60   21  39    98  134    0.731
11 Crvena Zvezda          60   21  39    98  145    0.676
12 Meja                   60   20  40    98  139    0.705
13 Ribari                 60   20  40    90  145    0.621
14 NK Dyka                60   18  42    89  150    0.593  R
15 Centralni              60   16  44    84  157    0.535  R
16 Eskobirsk              60   11  49    74  165    0.448  R

Litala ’93 go back-to-back as champions with an unbelievable season. They lost a mere eight games throughout the entire campaign and dominated from start to finish. A sensational squad under national team manager Radina Ristic bossed their way to the club's 10th MOF Top League title and you wouldn't bet against them making it three in a row next time around. Mira Gushtanova continued her amazing form with another individual scoring title, she has been nearly unplayable at both domestic and international level for a couple of years now. This season only went further in establishing her as one of the greatest scorers in volleyball, perhaps in the sport's entire history. Special mention has to go to Milka Marovic, the veteran setter and captain of this squad, she turned 34 at the end of this season and will be calling time on a fantastic career as she looks to start a family away from volleyball. She has won all there is to win as a player, although she might be disappointed that she won't get a chance to compete in the Volleyball Champions' League with Litala next season, glory there would have rounded off an outstanding career. Marovic decided it was time to call it a day though and she hasn't ruled out a return to the sport in a coaching capacity at some point in the future.

Olympic Thessia couldn't make it their 15th Top League title, the signing of Græntfjall's volleyball prodigy Nyagũthiĩ Wanjirsdóttir was a masterstroke and she figured in a brilliant campaign which would usually have been enough to win the league. If it hadn't been for a sensational Litala ’93 team we might well have been discussing the signing of Nyagũthiĩ Wanjirsdóttir as being pivotal in deciding the destination of the title. As it is she and her team will have to wait until the end of next season to try and lift the trophy. Olympic have an ageing squad outside of Nyagũthiĩ and Safija Bojic so we might well see them active in the transfer market as they look to move their squad towards a younger age profile. Dinamo have been gradually developing in recent years with a young core of players like Marija Georgijevic, Zeljana Kuzmanovic and Anica Simic all coming through the ranks at the same time. Prior to this season Dinamo were intelligent when signing players and brought in experienced MOF Top League players like Ruzica Gavrilovic and Hasija Susic at the end of their contracts (from Litala and Olympic respectively). Those wily veterans came together with Dinamo's home-made prospects to form an excellent unit and ended up overtaking some of the traditional secondary powers in Mytanar volleyball in the process, including Atletik Thessia and OK Rauchnya. They did it by the narrowest of margins, but what a fantastic team and Dinamo will not want to stop there.

It might be disappointing for Atletik and OK Rauchnya, but they both have relatively young squads and will believe that their title windows are wide open. It is difficult when constantly bumping up against two teams that have the quality of Litala ’93 and Olympic Thessia at the top of the domestic game and trying to break their duopoly is a tough task which requires a long-term outlook. The youthful rosters Atletik and OK Rauchnya have at their disposal should provide them with encouragement. Akademija are another team who have a young squad - one which is enforced by the team's status as a de facto national academy team - and they had a brilliant season finishing in the top six. Akademija could really do something amazing with their current group of players, only two of their starting six are leaving after they met the upper age limit of the team. That could give those remaining the chance to really fight on and accomplish something special, even if finishing so high up the standings with such a young team is really creditable in itself. Avnalia Odbojka have been struggling to recover from a few of their key players leaving in recent years and 7th represents a real down year for them, they will be confident in their ability to produce replacements given their track record. Avnalia's population could provide the biggest obstacle to them returning to a higher league position in the future.

At the opposite end of the table two teams which were promoted only last season, Centralni and Eskobirsk, return to whence they came following poor campaigns. NK Dyka taste double relegation after their football team dropped out of the Top League and now the club's volleyball department does the same. A bad year for them as a sports club. Better news for Arka Snezhnaya though, they were promoted last season and managed to comfortably retain their Top League status to mimic their football team's last day heroics. The women were a little more comfortable on the volleyball court though, finishing three games ahead of the final relegation place.

## Druga Liga            Pld    W   L    SF   SA   S. Avg 
01 CDSA                   60   50  10   162   77    2.104  C
02 Padina                 60   45  15   151   86    1.756  P
03 JK Ebor                60   44  16   148   89    1.663  P
04 NK Istina              60   42  18   147   95    1.547
05 Ostrova Odbojka        60   32  28   126  117    1.077
06 Rudar                  60   32  28   122  127    0.961
07 Obalna                 60   29  31   121  116    1.043
08 Sigurno Odbojka        60   29  31   115  133    0.865
09 OK Visoravna           60   28  32   116  122    0.951
10 Zenit                  60   27  33   121  131    0.924
11 OK Miago               60   24  36   112  131    0.855
12 OK Prizren             60   23  37   107  135    0.793
13 Slavia                 60   22  38   106  145    0.731
14 Vitalia                60   19  41   109  144    0.757
15 Rotor                  60   19  41    97  146    0.664
16 Partizan               60   15  45    86  152    0.566

None of the relegated sides from last season's Top League managed to go straight back up, demonstrating the competitive level of play in the Druga Liga. CDSA were the best team in the division and will hope they can build on this as they look to establish a strong volleyball programme, Padina always do well for a club from a small town in every sport they compete in and they will be playing Top League volleyball next season whilst JK Ebor managed to sneak into the final promotion spot in the final few weeks of the season.

[Mytanija]

MYTANAR TOP LEAGUE 30/31 SEASON PREVIEW PART ONE.

Here we are again, the start of a brand new Top League season and at Gazeta Sporta we have been working hard to preview all the teams ahead of the new campaign. We have all the transfer news, latest on managerial movements and plenty of information about each team's outlook for the new season. We'll bring you right up to date with where each team stands ahead of the new season - all the way from last season's league and cup double winners Atletik Thessia to the three promoted sides joining us ahead of the new campaign: Lok. Cassia, Rudar Uchenik and FK Magevskaya. Lok. Cassia haven't played in the top tier since the 14/15 campaign when they had to endure the second worst season in Top League history as they accumulated only 12 points! In the mean time they've had to watch their regional neighbours/fierce rivals Ararat Severyan win a second league title, but now Lok. Cassia are back and the team from the ninth biggest city in Mytanija would like to prolong their stay this time around. Rudar and FK Magevskaya are more regular attendees to the Top League party, although they won't want to slide straight back down to the Druga Liga, something they have made a bit of a habit of doing. Once again we will preview each team, let you know where we believe they will end up by the end of the season (by averaging our writers' predictions) and hopefully provide you with some interesting information along the way!

-- Nevenka Planinc, Dalibor Kosec, Cerim Jovic and Irma Simunec

Tactical (T) styles      Notes
Counter                  Favours counter-attacking build-up play
Defensive                Favours defensive football
Long Ball                Favours direct build-up play
Offensive                Favours offensive football
Philosopher              Strong proponents of a specific way of playing
Possession               Favours shorter build-up play
Regimented               Organised and well-drilled approach in all phases of play
Tinkerman                Regularly makes tactical changes

Recruitment (R) styles   Notes 
Buyer                    Happy to buy in what they need, has a clear idea of signings they want to make    
Developer                Develops youngsters helping them reach their potential ability
Merchant                 Happy to make lots of transfer dealings both in and out     
Resourceful              Finds novel ways to utilise players, has an eye for under-appreciated players who can improve their team
Thrifty                  Disinclined to spend money and prefers to work with what they have

Personality (P) styles   Notes
Abrasive                 Causes friction, both with other managers/teams and at their own club
Ambitious                Wants to succeed and manage at the very pinnacle of the sport
Casual                   Relaxed and laidback approach
Charismatic              Motivates players and keeps morale high
Intense                  Extremely focussed and involved in their job
Loyal                    Loyal to club they are at/players they currently have, remembers past allegiances
Maverick                 Unorthodox and independent-minded, expect the unexpected
Perfectionist            Strives for high standards and is annoyed by those who don't
Spirited                 Fierce competitor and highly out-spoken

ATLETIK

Location: Zenit Toranj, Thessia, Thessia
Stadium: Novi Atletskistadion (Capacity: 67,000)
Manager: Robin Hjik, 63, 3rd season in charge; T: counter, R: merchant, P: charismatic

Club synopsis: Mytanija's biggest club and boy do they let everybody know about it. They have an unparalleled level of success domestically although they are a bit sore about the fact they haven't won any international competitions outside of Rushmore (unlike Liria and 1896 Ebor). In the past they have largely tried to combine the best foreign talent with bright young stars coming through the club's youth system, but in recent years have turned to domestic talent more and more often. That has meant them buying up the best domestic talent and weakening their rivals even more often though, something they are resented for across the country. Atletik are generally expected to play attractive forward-thinking, attacking football given their history. Fans of other clubs often bemoan 'Atletik luck' whereby they seem to get big decisions at key moments or excessive amounts of added time, but they are treated with a grudging sense of respect by many.
Fanbase: The biggest club in the country and with a fanbase to match as they draw fans from all over Mytanija as well as in Mytanar immigrant communities all over the multiverse. Their traditional local supporters are fiercely working-class and left-wing and given Thessia's history of being repressed the club is a point of pride for many citizens as the club regularly get one over Zentrians, Vojoviticans and Magevs for the city and region. Despite being such a huge club Atletik do a lot of good work in Thessia and maintain their links with the local community. Their fanbase is extremely loyal but given the club's history there is an expectation of success that other clubs just don't experience and this can mean a lot of pressure on the manager. Atletik's ultras are known as the Kippax Ofras and are notable for their size and their left-wing political principles which mean they can often be found skirmishing with right-wing groups.
Rivals: Olympic Thessia (Eternal Derby); Liria Prizren (Klasicni); Tekstil Ibon (Rijeka Derby); 1896 Ebor (competitive); Energija-Nuklearna (political); SK Port Jarko (historic)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★★ / Training facilities ★★★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★★★ / Scouting ★★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★★★
Sponsors: Guinec (brewery)

Major honours: 12 x Mytanar Top Leagues (01/02, 02/03, 03/04, 04/05, 05/06, 10/11, 11/12, 21/22, 23/24, 26/27, 28/29, 29/30); 8 x National Cups (00/01, 02/03, 03/04, 07/08, 13/14, 21/22, 23/24, 29/30); 2 x Rushmore Copa de Campeones (7, 11)

---

GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Cerim Jovic
• Where do Atletik stand ahead of the 30/31 season?
Robin Hjik has done everything asked of him and more since his return to Atletik Thessia. He won the league in his first season and in his second year he went one better with a league and cup double. He has built a truly dominant team in his own image, as comfortable soaking up pressure as they are bursting forward to strike quickly in attack. Last season they were the league’s leading goal scorers with 69 and they also boasted the best defence with only 32 goals conceded. The latter is particularly impressive given that their first choice central defensive pairing of Bigger Mbala-Ekakia and Andrija Ugljanin had a combined age of 40! They played with wisdom beyond their limited years. The real stars of the show were Jasno Odonelec (voted Player of the Season with 11 goals and 14 assists from central midfield); and Damien Gannot (Under-23 Player of the Season and Golden Boot winner with 24 goals in 30 games, replacing Jezdimir Ocokoljic ably) as the pairing fired them to the club’s 5th double. Another great season has meant that the club have cashed in on some key players, something which could well affect their hopes of going for three-in-a-row in the Top League.

With some top performances drawing admiring eyes from abroad and some key players ageing this is a real summer of change at the Novi Atletskistadion. There’s some big moves out of the club and that includes their top goal scorer from last season Damien Gannot as he moves across Rushmore to Nephara’s Sabrefell Athletic for NSD 6 million. They managed to replace Ocokoljic’s goals with Gannot’s last season but it’s difficult to see them being able to do the same this time around. Full-back Patrik Odonelec has impressed with both club-and-country of late and he has been rewarded with a move to CA Paulinthal in Pasarga for the same fee as Gannot. Atletik are also losing Miodrag Andrijasevic, a midfielder that has sometimes flattered to deceive but enjoyed what was probably his best ever season for the club last year. He joins Prahecqois giants Marianne for NSD 2.25 million. Braco Evic is also finally leaving the club after failing to establish himself in the first team. He returns to 1923 Esca for NSD 900,000, a loss of around NSD 1.6 million for Atletik. They’ve not had too many bad transfers of late but they can’t strike gold every single time. Evic will hope for more playing time in the capital. Those moves aside there were exits for Efthimis Spiteroglou to Lok. Cassia (the club he did well for on loan a couple of years ago); and for Maciej Fomitschow to Zenit Esca for lesser sums. Nedzad Cengic joins SK Elita Ryzaev on loan as part of the move for Atletik’s only incoming transfer, the NSD 250,000 purchase of 18 year old right-back Safet Osojnic. Osojnic joins after a great season for SK Elita Ryzaev in the Treća Liga and is seen as a bit of a project for the Atletik coaching staff. Josip Radonic finally retires too, the legendary centre-half has moved onto the coaching staff now.

• What represents success for Atletik in 30/31?
It is difficult for Atletik because anything less than a trophy in a season at least feels like failure. There’s a reason why they have twice the number of trophies as their next closest challenger in the honours list 1896 Ebor. They might find it difficult this season though, they’ve lost a number of important players and although they’ve made big profits on them they haven’t really used that money to rejuvenate the team. Trying to replace big players for the club like Jasmin Savic, Tihomir Feric, Branko Brkljacic (ageing stars that are all still around on the bench if needed); and outgoing players like Patrik Odonelec, Miodrag Andrijasevic and Damien Gannot is always hard. They’ve preferred to rely on their youth system for replacements along with bringing players into the starting line-up that were out on loan last season. Expectations will remain high despite that such are the standards of the club, but with six new starters it will be tough for them to repeat last season. Successfully integrating the likes of Jasarevic, Ivankovic, Svensek, Atsev and Neven Hjik into the starting eleven would be a good year for Atletik as long as they can maintain a title challenge alongside it. Their trophy might come in the National Cup.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 3rd - Well as you can probably tell, this is a completely different Atletik Thessia team from the ones which Robin Hjik had in his first two seasons back at the club. There’s plenty of potential though even if there are less current stars, with captain Jasno Odonelec being the only one who can firmly be said to fall into that category. Six new starters is a lot for any club, but especially one which won the title last season, a lot will depend on how quickly the new faces are able to get up to speed. Robin Hjik is attempting to replace Damien Gannot’s contribution by playing Jasno Odonelec in the more advanced position in behind Zlatan Andrijasevic and Chiki Larrimbe. This means a shift to a 4-4-2 diamond from the 4-3-3 they played last season. Mbala-Ekakia and Ugljanin formed a strong partnership last term and they will hope to replicate that in front of new starting goalkeeper Nurija Jasarevic, he may be 25 but given Jasmin Savic’s quality it is only now that Jasarevic is getting an opportunity to start for the club. Zijad Kurtcehajic returns after an impressive loan spell at Litala ’93 and will take over Branko Brkljacic’s holding role. Ivankovic, Svensek, Atsev and Neven Hjik are all rated highly, but they have big boots to fill and might find it difficult at times. There’s a lot of talent in their squad so Atletik will definitely be involved at the top, but they might be a greater force next season with a more settled group.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Nurija Jasarevic      25   MYT      3.0
DL    Zahir Ivankovic       19   MYT      3.0
DC    Bigger Mbala-Ekakia   20   MYT      4.0
DC    Andrija Ugljanin      24   MYT      4.0
DR    Julij Svensek         23   MYT      3.0      DR/DMC
DMC   Zijad Kurtcehajic     23   MYT      4.0
MC    Gavril Atsev          20   MYT      4.0
MC    Neven Hjik            23   MYT      3.0
AMC   Jasno Odonelec        29   MYT      5.0      Captain; MC/AMC
ST    Zlatan Andrijasevic   27   MYT      4.0
ST    Chiki Larrimbe        32   ASG      3.5

GK    Jasmin Savic          35   MYT      3.0
DL    Tihomir Feric         33   MYT      3.0
DC    Adnan Sulejmanovic    18   MYT      3.5
DC    Demir Bruncevic       18   MYT      2.5
DR    Safet Osojnic         18   MYT      2.0
DMC   Branko Brkljacic      32   MYT      3.5
MC    Mehir Altikulac       20   MYT      3.0
MC    Jasno Skenderovic     16   MYT      2.5
AMC   Badara Thiam Ngagne   16   MYT/KET  2.5
ST    Nahia Legarra         21   ASG      3.5
ST    Galib Terzic          19   MYT      3.0

IN
Safet Osojnic [MYT] from SK Elita Ryzaev to Atletik, NSD 250,000

OUT
Miodrag Andrijasevic [MYT] from Atletik to Marianne [PRH], NSD 2,250,000
Nedzad Cengic [MYT] from Atletik to SK Elita Ryzaev, loan
Braco Evic [MYT] from Atletik to 1923 Esca, NSD 900,000
Maciej Fomitschow [RAM] from Atletik to Zenit, NSD 100,000
Damien Gannot [MYT] from Atletik to Sabrefell Athletic [NPH], NSD 6,000,000
Patrik Odonelec [MYT] from Atletik to CA Paulinthal [PAS], NSD 6,000,000
Efthimis Spiteroglou [OTH] from Atletik to Lok. Cassia, NSD 250,000

RETIRED
Josip Radonic [MYT], DC, 40

Legends: Marius Sadowsky (manager); Robin Hjik (player/manager); Dobroslav Stojanovic (player); Laze v Tuhinju (player); Ismet van Huijgevoort (player); Alex Gannot (player/coach); Snerik Oiskha (player); Josip Radonic (player/coach)
Icons: Rob Fridrich (player); Lijenost Klinicki (player); Ibai Kiriano (player); Ildar Patreljak (player); Eligiusz Gorski (player); Kjartan Dagfinnursson (player); Thorvar Prijholm (player); Jezdimir Ocokoljic (player)

LIRIA

Location: Prizren, Vojovitica
Stadium: Stadion Prizren (Capacity: 84,000)
Manager: Danek Badjkev, 63, 5th season in charge; T: philosopher, R: developer, P: charismatic

Club synopsis: Largely thought to be the second biggest club in the country despite being the third most successful, Liria hail from arguably the most beautiful city in Mytanija and one of huge cultural and philosophical importance too. They generally pride themselves on playing possession-based football and a lot of that is down to Badjkev's influence in his two spells at the club. Liria have always had a preference for buying Mytanar talent over foreign players and this policy has largely served them well over the years as they have established themselves as one of Mytanija's 'big three'. They were the first Mytanar club to win a non-Rushmori international trophy when they won the UICA Globe Cup and that triumph is still celebrated in Prizren. Other clubs often see Liria as being a bit pretentious and aloof; as a club which lives off what are now semi-distant past glories.
Fanbase: Liria have one of the largest fan bases in Mytanija due to their history and they can draw on fans from all over the country as a result of this. Their local support is often characterised as university professors and misunderstood artists but this obviously isn't true, the Liria neighbourhood of Prizren from which they draw their name is historically a working class area but the club draw their support from all socioeconomic backgrounds. They are an expectant bunch that want trophies but also want their team to play a specific way, usually in their classic 4-3-1-2 formation with lots of possession. Their main ultras group is known as Žuti Zid and they are officially apolitical but are unfortunately made-up of different groups who all have their own political stances and can be found battling for control of the sector as much as they can be found battling with opposition groups. When they come together their choreographies are second-to-none, the size and creativity of the flags they create is unrivalled in Mytanija.
Rivals: Atletik Thessia (Klasicni); Pretia Prizren (local); Energija-Nuklearna (regional)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★ / Training facilities ★★★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★★★ / Scouting ★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★★★
Sponsors: Petromok (Astograthian oil and gas)

Major honours: 3 x Mytanar Top Leagues (13/14, 14/15, 15/16); 3 x National Cups (10/11, 11/12, 14/15); 2 x UICA Globe Cups (43, 44); 1 x Rushmore Copa de Campeones (21)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Irma Simunec
• Where do Liria stand ahead of the 30/31 season?
Danek Badjkev’s second spell at Liria Prizren has been nowhere near as successful as his first. The first time around was trophy-laden with triumphs on all fronts and the second hasn’t really produced as yet, although the team is undoubtedly in a stronger position than when Badjkev started. They’re consistently challenging in the league now, finishing as runners-up for the second year in a row last term. An under-par second-half of the season hindered their hopes of anything more. They also got to the fourth round of the National Cup rather than being dumped out at the first opportunity in the third round like in 28/29. They might have preferred not to bother though, with a 7-2 aggregate pummelling at the hands of Vojovitican neighbours CDSA being a rather embarrassing outcome. Liria won’t ever sack a legend like Badjkev, but they might be wondering when his reign will lead to success. Badjkev has made noises about this potentially being his final season in management, although no formal decision has been reached yet. If that is the case he will want to go out on a high.

After a few busy summers in the transfer market Liria had a quieter one on the incoming front, with Mijat Simic being brought in after an impressive season where he finished third in the Golden Boot race with 17 goals in 29 games. Simic joins from Liria’s regional rivals Energija-Nuklearna for NSD 1.75 million, the striker may have burnt a few bridges with the move. He has grown into a more complete forward over the years after starting out as a pressing-hungry poacher and will add a different dimension to their attack alongside the more physically imposing Strahinja Nanusevski (15 goals last season). Back-up centre-back Miroslav Opacak is the only outgoing move that earns some money, he leaves for Olympic Thessia for NSD 350,000 where he'll take-up a similar role. Zrinko Primorac has exited on a free transfer back to his home region with NK Thessia and Anton-Dusan Straka returns to Arka Snezhnaya on a free after his contract expired. Straka started his career at Arka and it’s the club he joined Liria from. He's been a great servant to Liria, scoring 74 goals in 139 games for the club and he leaves with the respect of all Liria supporters as he goes back to his boyhood club. Iconic central midfielder Jeda Mehmedic has called time on his playing career at the age of 36 after making over 300 appearances for the club which he spent his entire career at.

• What represents success for Liria in 30/31?
If this is to be Danek Badjkev’s last season at the club then everybody needs to pull together and ensure that he goes out on a high with a trophy. If this isn’t Badjkev’s last season at the club then Liria need to win something in order to justify the length of his second spell at the club. When he returned a few years ago Liria supporters probably thought that he would have a similar impact to that which Robin Hjik has had with their Klasicni rivals Atletik since his return. That hasn’t really been the case and despite completely overhauling and improving the squad Badjkev hasn’t yet got the trophy to go with it. This team is full of players that have played for the national team or who might yet in the future: Obradovic, Obadko, Astograth’s Hurko Germain, Nikolov, Pogaenik, Smajic, Strahinja Nanusevski and Mijat Simic all have quality. Liria’s board are in a quandary because they can’t sack a man with Danek Badjkev’s standing at the club, but if anybody else had been in charge for these five seasons and hadn’t won anything would they still be there? Almost definitely not. Liria need to win something to ensure Badjkev’s management isn’t forever divided into two contrasting spells: the first with all the success and the second with all the bitter disappointments.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 2nd - Sadly for Danek Badjkev (and for Liria Prizren) our writers believe that Liria might just fall short for a third season on the bounce. They seem to have everything necessary to win a league title or at least the National Cup, but each season there just seems to be one team that has a little bit more to beat them in the league. It doesn’t help that Liria have been their own worst enemy in the cup over the past few years either. If that trend continues then Badjkev might go out with a feeble squeak if he is retiring. Liria have a strong squad with plenty of depth in all positions and a strong spine. Obradovic is an experienced campaigner in goal and was tied for second in the Golden Glove last season; the centre-back pairing of Obadko and Germain which is the perfect blend of youthful quality and experienced know-how. Mersudin Smajic is likely to continue to demonstrate why he is one of the finest Mytanar talents around in midfield and he is reliably flanked by Radovan Pogaenik and exciting new starter Davor Mahovlic. Alen Gvetadze didn’t perform to expectations in the number ten position last season but on his day he can be one of the top playmakers in the country and ahead of him Liria’s new-look strike pairing of Nanusevski and Simic might well be the best in the Top League and is sure to strike fear into the hearts of opposition defences. Marry that with plenty of quality off the bench and this Liria team could well end their trophy drought, something which everyone at the club agrees has gone on for far too long.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Lazar Obradovic       28   MYT      4.0
DL    Milomir Pesic         26   MYT      3.5
DC    Niksa Obadko          33   MYT      3.5      Captain
DC    Hurko Germain         21   ASG      4.0
DR    Branko Nikolov        32   MYT      3.0
MC    Radovan Pogaenik      26   MYT      3.5
MC    Mersudin Smajic       24   MYT      4.5
MC    Davor Mahovlic        22   MYT      3.0
AMC   Alen Gvetadze         23   MYT      3.0
ST    Strahinja Nanusevski  25   MYT      4.5
ST    Mijat Simic           24   MYT      4.0

GK    Obren Vujic           23   MYT      2.5
DL    Bruno Zganec          20   MYT      3.0
DC    Osman Muhic           31   MYT      3.5
DC    Mahir Kapetanovic     18   MYT      3.5
DR    Alen Komadina         23   MYT      2.5
MC    Kostas Aklis          25   OTH      3.0
MC    Duro Galovic          24   MYT      3.0
MC    Mika Klyashev         24   MYT      3.0
MC    Zvonimir Rendulic     18   MYT      2.5
AMC   Mirko Kosic           24   MYT      3.0
ST    Ante Ciabok           18   MYT      3.0
ST    Guv Culak-Forzu       20   QUS      2.5

IN
Mijat Simic [MYT] from Energija-Nuklearna to Liria, NSD 1,750,000

OUT
Miroslav Opacak [MYT] from Liria to Olympic, NSD 350,000
Zrinko Primorac [MYT] from Liria to NK Thessia, free transfer
Anton-Dusan Straka [MYT] from Liria to Arka, free transfer

RETIRED
Jeda Mehmedic [MYT], MC, 36

Legends: Danek Badjkev (manager/player); Miki Sipilainen (player); Yuri Matveyev (player); Tikhon Voronin (player); Stefan Wallinaar (player)
Icons: Miro Obad (player); Lavrentii Aliev (player); Tyko Rissanen (player); Bernd Schulz (player); Jeda Mehmedic (player)

1896 EBOR

Location: Ebor, Visoravna
Stadium: Olujastadion (Capacity: 42,500)
Manager: Zdeslav Nesic, 52, 5th season in charge; T: possession, R: developer, P: ambitious

Club synopsis: Once internationally renowned club which is now perhaps a bit of a sleeping giant, far removed from their all-conquering heyday. Still one of the traditional 'big three' of Mytanar football, 1896 Ebor as a club insist upon free-flowing, pacy attacking football that is attractive on the eye. They generally buy promising young Mytanar talent to develop which they then sell-on for a profit after having got a few years of quality from them. Well-respected across Mytanija for their style of play and being the only Mytanar club to have won the UICA Champions' Cup. Often considered to be the neutral's favourite, although a spell of mid-table obscurity has slightly dulled their past lustre.
Fanbase: Large fanbase from all over Mytanija, their local supporters generally skew middle-class due to Ebor's relative prosperity because of its booming tourism industry. Their main ultras group The Northmen (which is also the club's nickname) are officially apolitical and renowned for their impressive choreographies in the Olujastadion. As a fanbase they are not the most demanding in terms of immediate success as long as they can see progression and the club's traditional style of play being implemented.
Rivals: Arka Snezhnaya (Northern Derby); Atletik Thessia (competitive); Energija-Nuklearna (historic); Litala ’93 (historic)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★ / Training facilities ★★★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★★ / Scouting ★★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★★
Sponsors: Astek (Astograthian technology)

Major honours: 3 x Mytanar Top Leagues (09/10, 19/20, 20/21); 4 x National Cups (08/09, 09/10, 20/21, 26/27); 2 x UICA Champions' Cups (52, 53); 2 x UICA Super Cups (49, 50)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Dalibor Kosec
• Where do 1896 Ebor stand ahead of the 30/31 season?
1896 Ebor made a serious challenge for the Top League title last season, coming from 7 points behind Atletik with five games to go to head into the final day of the campaign only 2 points behind and with a real chance of winning a first Mytanar Top League since the 20/21 season. Unfortunately neither NK Dyka nor Atletik Thessia read the script, with NK Dyka holding the Northmen to a draw and Atletik easing past CDSA to ensure that the title would return to Thessia. Zdeslav Nesic’s team were also put out of the National Cup by Atletik at the semi-final stage, meaning they must have been sick of the sight of the Thessian club by the end of the season. That 3-2 aggregate elimination needed extra time to separate the two clubs after the two legs with Damien Gannot finally dinking the ball over an onrushing Oduor Bigombe in the 117th minute to send Atletik to a final which they won. Zdeslav Nesic is extremely highly-rated across Mytanija but the manager only has one National Cup to show for his four seasons at 1896 Ebor and you get the feeling that things are coming to a bit of a crunch for him. He has a fine squad at his disposal and the Northmen are hankering for some glory.

They’ve had an active transfer window to refresh the squad after running Atletik pretty close across two competitions last term. The capture of Pasargan midfielder Michael Baer on an undisclosed fee will add another dimension to their midfield to go alongside the hard-working captain Thorvar Spinkvik and it will also free up Dalibor Vlahovic to play higher up the pitch in the number ten position. Savigliano central defender Alexandre Onio was one of the best in the Top League last season and it is no surprise to see 1896 Ebor moving heaven and earth to sign him, paying Nyva Zvornik NSD 2.5 million for his services. He is comfortable playing out from the back but also relishes the challenge of playing in some of the rough-and-tumble matches Mytanar football can produce. His signing was necessitated by the club’s desire to cash in on Squornshelan centre-half Alborz Ialamov’s two excellent seasons at the club. 1896 Ebor signed him for NSD 500,000 and sold him on to Sanford Falls Premier for NSD 3 million – a tidy profit when all is said and done. Josip Brajdic was moved on to Chromatik side Ming for NSD 3 million as he looks to rekindle his national team career, whilst Sime Krolo went off in the search of first team football with Litala ’93 which raised another NSD 400,000. Astograthian full-back Bakar Gerrikabeitia adds some depth as he arrives on a free transfer from Gesterlake and Samy De Gieter drops down to Druga Liga Zeljeznicar for a minor fee. Veteran midfielder Obrad Jakolinic has also called time on his career aged 36.

• What represents success for 1896 Ebor in 30/31?
1896 Ebor’s starting eleven is probably just about the best in the league this season. They have lots of players who play at international level combined with some solid domestic talents and with a weakened Atletik team they have a huge opportunity to win a first league title under Zdeslav Nesic. Anything less might be a bit of a disappointment because the Ebor club have improved their squad over the summer and it feels like they have added the pieces which they perhaps missed during their title push last season. Zdeslav Nesic is a fine coach and he is also extremely ambitious, promising to bring the glory days back to the Olujastadion when he first joined the club. The National Cup win in his first season set pulses races among the 1896 Ebor support as they believed they finally had the man to follow Vaclav Simon’s legacy. That hasn’t quite materialised yet and although they have made progress – regularly qualifying for IFCF competitions and mounting a bit of a title challenge last term – it hasn’t yet delivered the raft of trophies some had been expecting. This squad has the ability to change that and will likely be a bit disappointed if they cannot this season.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 1st - It might have taken them a few years but 1896 Ebor have constructed what appears to be the best first team in the Top League. It might not be the best squad, but their starting line-up certainly appears to be an intimidating proposition for the rest of the league to deal with. It has been a gradual process and whilst the 1896 Ebor support are quite patient they may be forgiven for perhaps believing that Nesic should have a little more to show for his time in charge than his sole National Cup triumph. That would be forgotten pretty quickly if he can deliver a first Top League title in ten years this season. They seem to have improved their squad just as Atletik look to be entering a bit of a rebuild which should really help, although Liria are also strong and will challenge this season. It does feel a bit like everything is falling into place for the Northmen. The addition of Alexandre Onio to partner Licentian defender Chris Thompson gives them a very strong and complementary pairing at the back. Vlahovic playing higher up should create plenty of chances for those around him, with Nesic having the option to choose between Majdandzic and Alagic to lead the line. Finally Michael Baer’s arrival is a real coup for the Mytanar Top League as a whole, a player of his quality can decide games in this league and signing him should send a very clear message to any potential title rivals that this 1896 Ebor side mean business.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Oduor Bigombe         24   NYK      3.0
DL    Srdan Vukovic         31   MYT      4.0
DC    Alexandre Onio        21   SVG      5.0
DC    Chris Thompson        23   TLI      3.5
DR    Zvonko Nestorovski    25   MYT      3.0
MC    Thorvar Spinkvik      31   OPP      3.5      Captain
MC    Michael Baer          22   PAS      4.5
AML   Brajko Gavrilovic     29   MYT      4.0
AMC   Dalibor Vlahovic      29   MYT      4.0      MC/AMC
AMR   Ramiz Agic            26   MYT      3.0
ST    Petar Majdandzic      24   MYT      3.5

GK    Matija Jelinic        24   MYT      2.5
DL    Bakar Gerrikabeitia   22   ASG      2.5
DC    Matko Praznik         21   MYT      3.5      DL/DC
DC    Duje Papac            34   MYT      2.5
DR    Bruno Komljenovic     20   MYT      3.0
MC    Hong Guo              20   YZH      3.0
MC    Jasmin Valentic       18   MYT      3.0
MC    Dejan Antonic         35   MYT      2.5
AML   Rafal Ojrzynski       18   MYT      2.0      AML/ST
AMC   Sebastian Nygaard     21   MYT      3.0      MC/AMC
AMR   Gabrijel Vranjkovic   18   MYT      2.0
ST    Dragisa Alagic        22   MYT      3.5

IN
Michael Baer [PAS] from Unattached to 1896 Ebor, undisclosed
Bakar Gerrikabeitia [ASG] from Gesterlake FC [ASG] to 1896 Ebor, free transfer
Alexandre Onio [SVG] from Nyva to 1896 Ebor, NSD 2,500,000

OUT
Josip Brajdic [MYT] from 1896 Ebor to Ming [CMT], NSD 3,000,000
Samy De Gieter [CRE] from 1896 Ebor to Zeljeznicar, NSD 100,000
Alborz Ialamov [SRS] from 1896 Ebor to Sanford Falls PREMIER [SFD], NSD 3,000,000
Sime Krolo [MYT] from 1896 Ebor to Litala ’93, NSD 400,000

RETIRED
Obrad Jakolinic [MYT], MC, 36

Legends: Vaclav Simon (manager/player); Hasato Kimiki (player); Dzala Ertobashia (player); Andoni Bidigain (player)
Icons: Agil Ojdanic (player); Adama Diarra (player); Oskar Nielsen (player); Moses Uijtdewilligen (player); Txordin Zerubeltzak (player); Aran Miller (player)

OLYMPIC

Location: Zenit Toranj, Thessia, Thessia
Stadium: Novi Kaunostadion (Capacity: 54,000)
Manager: Emil Jefak, 53, 8th season in charge; T: counter, R: developer, P: perfectionist

Club synopsis: Olympic Thessia are an extremely proud club who retain a local feel which few clubs can match despite being from Mytanija's most populous city and having a large fanbase. Long known for being Atletik's less successful sibling they have stepped out of the shadows in recent years by sticking to their principles and continuing to develop their links to their local community despite the increasing globalisation of football. This has manifested itself in a starting line-up which almost always has a couple of Thessian lads who have come up through the club's academy and more often than not happen to be supporters of Olympic too. They're a club with growing financial power, but this doesn't mean they are free-spending as they try to be smart with their scouting and find players that other clubs are not looking at for cheaper fees.
Fanbase: They have a large and passionate local fanbase and a growing fanbase across Mytanija as people enjoy the way Olympic conduct themselves as a club which is determined to maintain its ties to its local community. It is notoriously difficult to get tickets to an Olympic game with local fans filling the Novi Kaunostadion to the brim and leading to extremely lengthy season ticket waiting lists. Like most Thessians Olympic fans are mostly left-wing and extremely proud of this fact, with socialist and antifascist symbols being commonplace at their games. Their ultras group, the Kaunosgrupa are well-regarded for their choreographies before games and are known for making home games a cauldron for the opposition. In terms of expectations Olympic's fans are very patient - having had to be during most of their history - as long as they can get one over Atletik with some regularity there isn't usually too much pressure on the manager.
Rivals: Atletik Thessia (Eternal Derby); Tekstil Ibon (regional)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★ / Training facilities ★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★ / Scouting ★★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★★
Sponsors: Kafa (coffeehouses)

Major honours: 1 x Mytanar Top League (27/28)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Cerim Jovic
• Where do Olympic stand ahead of the 30/31 season?
It always felt as if a title challenge was a little out of reach for Olympic Thessia last season, but they were never actually that far off top spot and ended up only 7 points off Atletik at the conclusion of the campaign. A 4th place finish and IFCF football is of crucial importance to Olympic as a club as they look to further establish themselves as one of Mytanija’s top teams. The money and prestige that brings really helps them to do that and they held off FK Arsika admirably, finishing off comfortably in front despite a real concerted challenge throughout the season. Their new signings seemed to work with Omerovic coming in for Jernejec and helping them to the second-best defensive record in the league. Anne-Linde van Oers was another new face making an immediate impact, finishing third in the Under-23 Player of the Season award because of her contributions. A quarter final exit from the National Cup at the hands of fierce rivals Atletik was a bit of a blot on an otherwise decent campaign.

Coming into the new season the biggest change for Olympic is that they have sold their goalkeeping starlet Semir Besak. A second Golden Glove award alerted foreign suitors to his ability and in the end Quebecois side Mipojoseon secured his signature for the princely sum of NSD 4.5 million. Olympic will miss him, he’s a home-grown talent who will go on to really big things, but there’s an acceptance that he wanted to challenge himself at a higher level. That sale meant that Olympic needed a goalkeeper and they used their Rushmori connections to sign a young goalkeeper with huge potential, Cabo Azure’s Ambrosio Gomes, who joins from Villa del Sol for NSD 250,000 and is expected to go straight into the starting line-up. Emil Jefak will have to hope replacing Semir Besak doesn’t add too much pressure onto the young Azurean. Jasar Abadzic left for a starting role with Litala ’93 and Jefak replaced him with a player of a similar profile, Miroslav Opacak joining from Liria Prizren and ensuring that Olympic retain solid depth in defensive positions. There were also moves away from the club for strikers Levi Doolan and Gempachi Miyashita. Olympic are understood to be frustrated to lose Doolan who was rated highly by their coaching staff, although being fourth in the pecking order probably made the striker’s mind up for him. NK Dyka signed him for NSD 400,000 and Doolan will want to hit the ground running in Nasto to show Olympic what they are missing. Miyashita drops down to the Druga Liga with Dinamo Esca, raising another NSD 200,000 for the coffers at the Novi Kaunostadion.

• What represents success for Olympic in 30/31?
This Olympic Thessia side aren’t any different in quality to the teams Liria Prizren or Atletik Thessia can put out and that means that they should be in the title battle this season. They have experienced heads in Mojmir Anac at the back and Vilim Kupresak in the centre of the park and those players should be able to steer their younger colleagues in the right direction during any potentially sticky spells. Emil Jefak is a good manager and he will want to ensure the team challenge until the end of the season and with difference makers like Fallaci and van Oers in the line-up and the ability to call upon players of the quality of Sasa Zebic, Selim Petrovic and Lazar Prinelec off the bench it means they’re in a position to do exactly that. Off the field a good season would just be to maintain their consistency with another season of IFCF qualification but there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be aiming very high with this group of players, 1896 Ebor might just have a little bit too much for the chasing pack this year.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 4th - It’s difficult to call who will finish where this season with such closely matched teams at the top of the table. There’s a case for Olympic to finish anywhere from 1st to 5th with this squad, demonstrating just how tight it could be, we’ve got them pegged as finishing 4th once again. The club’s support and board wouldn’t turn their noses up at that if that is where they end up. Emil Jefak has a strong group at the Novi Kaunostadion and there was a feeling that van Oers and Fallaci were really hitting it off at the end of last season, if they can hit the ground running and maintain that into the new campaign then Olympic will be in a very good place. Anac and Omerovic will have to be strong to shield young Azurean keeper Gomes in his first season in Mytanija. There will be an increased expectation on Itzhar Yvjoev to affect games during his second full season at the club too. There’s excitement about the potential of Kasim Demirovic in central midfield, the 21 year old will partner Vilim Kupresak after overtaking Selim Petrovic in the pecking order over the summer. Demirovic has bags of potential and if he can realise it we could see Olympic driven onto a second ever league title. Question marks remain over Isaija Yanev at right-back and a lot could hinge on how quickly Gomes acclimatises to Mytanar football but they should have enough for the top four and with a particularly good year we could see a trophy end up at the Novi Kaunostadion.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Ambrosio Gomes        18   CBZ      3.0
DL    Maksim Emanuel Sulic  24   MYT      3.0
DC    Mojmir Anac           31   MYT      4.5      Captain
DC    Josko Omerovic        26   MYT      4.0
DR    Isaija Yanev          31   MYT      2.5
ML    Gojko Prcic           22   MYT      3.0      ML/MR
MC    Vilim Kupresak        29   MYT      4.5
MC    Kasim Demirovic       21   MYT      3.5
MR    Itzhar Yvjoev         25   MYT      3.5      ML/MR
ST    Adamo Fallaci         22   EUR      4.0
ST    Anne-Linde van Oers   22   TLI      5.0

GK    Sefik Sinanovic       23   MYT      2.5
DL    Edin Topgacic         28   MYT      2.0
DC    Miroslav Opacak       25   MYT      3.0
DC    Elmedin Cengic        19   MYT      3.0
DR    Ivan Valjak           29   MYT      2.0
ML    Sasa Zebic            26   MYT      3.0
MC    Selim Petrovic        27   MYT      3.5
MC    Hazim Fejzic          18   MYT      2.0
MR    Vehbija Bijedic       27   MYT      2.5
ST    Lazar Prinelec        22   MYT      3.5
ST    Xer Kresp-Ucyxi       21   QUS      2.5

IN
Ambrosio Gomes [CBZ] from Villa del Sol [CBZ] to Olympic, NSD 250,000
Miroslav Opacak [MYT] from Liria to Olympic, NSD 350,000

OUT
Jasar Abadzic [MYT] from Olympic to Litala ’93, NSD 600,000
Semir Besak [MYT] from Olympic to Mipojoseon [QUE], NSD 4,500,000
Levi Doolan [FOD] from Olympic to NK Dyka, NSD 400,000
Gempachi Miyashita [BAR] from Olympic to Dinamo, NSD 200,000

Legends: Emil Jefak (manager); Mojmir Anac (player); Rasmus Sovak (player); Leven Vishinsky (player)
Icons: Igor Artemiev (player); Vilim Kupresak (player); Semir Besak (player)

[Mytanija]

MYTANAR TOP LEAGUE 30/31 SEASON PREVIEW PART TWO.

Tactical (T) styles      Notes
Counter                  Favours counter-attacking build-up play
Defensive                Favours defensive football
Long Ball                Favours direct build-up play
Offensive                Favours offensive football
Philosopher              Strong proponents of a specific way of playing
Possession               Favours shorter build-up play
Regimented               Organised and well-drilled approach in all phases of play
Tinkerman                Regularly makes tactical changes

Recruitment (R) styles   Notes 
Buyer                    Happy to buy in what they need, has a clear idea of signings they want to make    
Developer                Develops youngsters helping them reach their potential ability
Merchant                 Happy to make lots of transfer dealings both in and out     
Resourceful              Finds novel ways to utilise players, has an eye for under-appreciated players who can improve their team
Thrifty                  Disinclined to spend money and prefers to work with what they have

Personality (P) styles   Notes
Abrasive                 Causes friction, both with other managers/teams and at their own club
Ambitious                Wants to succeed and manage at the very pinnacle of the sport
Casual                   Relaxed and laidback approach
Charismatic              Motivates players and keeps morale high
Intense                  Extremely focussed and involved in their job
Loyal                    Loyal to club they are at/players they currently have, remembers past allegiances
Maverick                 Unorthodox and independent-minded, expect the unexpected
Perfectionist            Strives for high standards and is annoyed by those who don't
Spirited                 Fierce competitor and highly out-spoken

FK ARSIKA

Location: Arsika, Nasto
Stadium: Novi Zavej Park (Capacity: 30,000)
Manager: Dzvezdan Kitanchev, 42, 1st season in charge; T: tinkerman, R: developer, P: ambitious

Club synopsis: A team which hasn't had much to shout about over the years despite hailing from a one-club city of over 1 million people, FK Arsika have recently come into money under the ownership of concrete and chemical tycoon Sacha Dobruzhanski. Dobruzhanski has big dreams for his hometown club and has the money needed to pursue them, with an aim of eventually qualifying for international competitions. Arsika's warm weather, youthful population and status as Nasto and Avnalia's largest city makes it an attractive place to live and the club have employed an aggressive approach in the transfer market to try and improve the squad with that offer. Dobruzhanski is prepared to use his cash to improve the team but he's also spent money on the club's facilities - including a new stadium - all this money being thrown around has made other clubs dismissive of FK Arsika and prepared to disparage any successes as the mere result of being nouveau riche. Given the financial situations many Mytanar clubs find themselves in it is possible they are also a little envious.
Fanbase: A growing fanbase who are slightly split over their club's ownership situation, some seeing it as a necessary evil in the modern game and others uncomfortable with Dobruzhanski taking the club away from its roots. Their expectations are similarly split between those who'd like the club to succeed immediately due to the new money and those who'd like to see sustainable development over time. The atmosphere at Novi Zavej Park has the most 'foreign feel' of any Mytanar grounds with a more family-orientated approach and less being run by ultras. Their support is also split on politics, this time along age lines with older supporters being more right-leaning (and potentially supportive of the Kalinina regime during its time); and younger fans being left-leaning. This hasn't manifested itself as a battle on the terraces yet, FK Arsika are one of few Mytanar clubs without an active ultras group.
Rivals: Rotor Ravnina (West Nasto Derby); Nyva Zvornik (regional)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★★ / Training facilities ★★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★★ / Scouting ★★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★
Sponsors: Dobruz Industries (construction/chemicals)

Major honours: 1 x National Cup (05/06)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Dalibor Kosec
• Where do FK Arsika stand ahead of the 30/31 season?
For most teams improving from a 13th placed finish one season to a 5th placed finish the next would be something to be extremely proud of and would earn the manager considerable plaudits from everybody in Mytanar football. Unfortunately for Veton Rashaikov he was at the one club where that improvement would not be enough and failure to secure IFCF football meant that the spirited manager paid the price at the end of last season, sacked despite pushing for a top four spot for much of the campaign. FK Arsika owner Sacha Dobruzhanski has huge ambitions for his club, evidenced by the way in which he has funded squad improvements in the transfer market and invested a considerable sum of his personal wealth in the club’s shiny new stadium. Last season’s 5th place and a disappointing third round exit from the National Cup didn’t match-up to Dobruzhanski’s aims. To replace Rashaikov he has turned to the manager of the side which knocked FK Arsika out of the cup last term Dzvezdan Kitanchev, he impressed with NK Dyka last season and despite suffering relegation ended up third in the Manager of the Season award due to his side’s exciting tactical approach. It means Kitanchev returns to the club he supports and where he started his playing career, being born in Arsika meant that this was a dream move across Nasto and a big opportunity to lead the way in Dobruzhanski's brave new era.

The 42 year old Kitanchev might well be FK Arsika’s most important move this summer, he’s so highly-rated in Mytanar coaching circles that many believe he could one day end up with the national team job. He’s very much from the Repin school of tactical flexibility and that should add a different threat to FK Arsika, one they didn’t have under Rashaikov who usually played more regimented football. They haven’t quite hit the heights of the NSD 5 million net spend they splurged last summer but they’ve still introduced a few new players. Vlado Arzhentinski is the highlight, the creative midfielder joining Kitanchev in making the move from NK Dyka to FK Arsika after impressing throughout last season. Arzhentinski is very much a Kitanchev favourite and will form a real creative hub alongside Sefir Ajanovic in their midfield. They also signed goalkeeper Fadil Okanovic from Akademija and he should improve the goalkeeping situation immediately and in the long-term, it seems a real shrewd piece of business for a reasonable fee. Squornshelan midfielder Pyotr Arikansky has performed well against Mytanija in the past and joins on a free to add more depth in midfield areas. Demenok and Rakocevic leave on frees to Zenit Esca and Lok. Ostrova respectively, whilst Dzvezdan Ristov goes out on loan to Ribari Palilula. Veteran winger Mirza Cirkovic has called time on his playing career aged 36.

• What represents success for FK Arsika in 30/31?
Dobruzhanski’s riches mean that FK Arsika have been able to construct a very strong team and it is one which could even win the title if everything was to go right for them this season. That might be aiming a little too high though, realistically breaking into the top four and securing IFCF football would be a great season for the club and would vindicate the owner’s choice to move on from the popular Rashaikov to the younger man Dzvezdan Kitanchev. Dobruzhanski wants a return on his investment and that could add pressure for Kitanchev to deal with in his first season as manager, even if he does have the advantage of being hand-picked by the owner. Due to this, you feel that Kitanchev will be given time (Rashaikov was given three years under Dobruzhanski), although the team he has at his disposal may mean increased expectations at an early juncture. Whether Dobruzhanski’s expectations match-up with Gazeta Sporta’s we cannot be sure, but success would be a top four spot and you imagine the owner would be pleased with that before a real concerted title challenge next season.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 5th - Predictions are difficult with so many top teams this season, some of our writers see FK Arsika as being well-set to break into the top four but when the predictions are averaged out the group’s view is that they will finish in 5th once again. That could prove disappointing for Sacha Dobruzhanski, a failure to qualify for IFCF football two seasons in a row would truly dent his ambitions as owner. You imagine that he wouldn’t be as trigger-happy with Dzvezdan Kitanchev as he was with Veton Rashaikov given that the owner had a key influence on the decision to bring the former NK Dyka manager across Nasto. Kitanchev’s challenge is to play a more expansive style than Rashaikov with improved results across the season. Early signs point to a move to a pseudo-4-4-2 diamond formation with Kemal Gajic used up front rather than on the wing to both exploit his pace and get him closer to the goal. Secujac will play closer to the strikers which creates a three-man midfield behind him with Ajanovic and Arzhentinski ahead of Vasiljevic in the holding role. These developments will be exciting to see and how they play out will determine how well FK Arsika’s season goes. One thing that will remain a constant is Juljana Chmela’s importance, the striker has 28 goals in 58 games over the past few seasons and if she continues that form FK Arsika will be a force.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Fadil Okanovic        23   MYT      3.0
DL    Dar Konda-Ulutu       22   QUS      2.5
DC    Usten Odonelec        25   MYT      4.0
DC    Rasim Yevstigneyev    22   MYT      3.0
DR    Gavril Toshev         28   MYT      3.5      Captain; DR/DMC
DMC   Danilo Vasiljevic     26   MYT      3.0
MC    Sefir Ajanovic        25   MYT      4.5
MC    Vlado Arzhentinski    24   MYT      4.0
AMC   Pasha Secujac         21   MYT      3.0
ST    Juljana Chmela        26   SRS      4.5
ST    Kemal Gajic           24   MYT      5.0      AML/AMR/ST

GK    Ljupco Cvetkov        26   MYT      3.0
DL    Danco Stavric         18   MYT      2.0
DC    Slaven Blajojevic     29   MYT      2.0      DL/DC
DC    Radivoje Antic        31   MYT      2.0
DR    Marko Sokolic         31   MYT      1.5      DC/DR
DMC   Amynta Michail        24   MYT      3.0
MC    Pyotr Arikansky       20   SQU      3.0
MC    Bojan Velyov          18   MYT      2.5
AMC   Nikola Gubec          23   MYT      2.0      AML/AMC
ST    Yordan Naumov         19   MYT      2.5      AMR/ST
ST    Damjan Degoricija     18   MYT      2.5

IN
Pyotr Arikansky [SQU] from Unattached to FK Arsika, free transfer
Vlado Arzhentinski [MYT] from NK Dyka to FK Arsika, NSD 1,250,000
Fadil Okanovic [MYT] from Akademija to FK Arsika, NSD 250,000

OUT
Matvey Demenok [MYT] from FK Arsika to Zenit, free transfer
Jezdimir Rakocevic [MYT] from FK Arsika to Lok. Ostrova, free transfer
Dzvezdan Ristov [MYT] from FK Arsika to Ribari, loan

RETIRED
Mirza Cirkovic [MYT], AML, 36

Legends: Davor Kastari (player); Sacha Dobruzhanski (owner)
Icons: Zdenek Valisz (player); Gavril Toshev (player); Veton Rashaikov (manager)

1923 ESCA

Location: Centralni, Esca, Zentria
Stadium: Radnika (Capacity: 60,000)
Manager: Sava Grgurovic, 58, 5th season in charge; T: regimented, R: developer, P: loyal

Club synopsis: Perennially underachieving club from the capital, 1923 Esca have all the infrastructure of a would-be big club but have always found a way to shoot themselves in the foot to prevent them from competing like that infrastructure suggests they should. Due to their links with Mytanar financial institutions in the country's capital they used to have a habit for being a little free-spending which at times left them in financial trouble, they have moved away from this approach in recent years and now tend towards decent scouting and strong youth recruitment. 1923 Esca are seen as being the emblematic capital club and the club of the establishment, thought of as aloof and even snooty, this does mean that they aren't particularly well-liked around Mytanija. The dichotomy between how important the club and its fans believe 1923 Esca to be within Mytanar football and the club's lack of historic success is widely regarded as proof of the capital's detachment from the reality of the rest of Mytanija.
Fanbase: A large, loyal and extremely passionate fanbase which only serves to add to the sense of underachievement for 1923 Esca. The self-importance many Escans feel is evident in the expectations the club's supporters have for the club with 1923 Esca's fanbase being one of the most demanding in Mytanija. They have a huge role in the running of their club too and if the fans aren't happy with how the club are doing managers will be sacked and board members will be removed from their posts. Odeljak 1-11 is the club's ultras group and they possess an outsized influence at the club, acting as the voice of the supporters on all sorts of decisions. They are notoriously nationalistic and were supportive of the Kalinina regime and this leads to them getting in all sorts of clashes with clubs in Thessia, Rauchnya and Visoravna; and especially clubs with left-wing ultras groups. In the they stadium are known for producing good choreographies and their loud presence behind one of the goals at Radnika.
Rivals: Litala ’93 (All-Esca Derby); Ararat Severyan (political); CDSA (political)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★★ / Training facilities ★★★★ / Youth academy ★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★ / Scouting ★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★★
Sponsors: IOK (finance)

Major honours: none

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Nevenka Planinc
• Where do 1923 Esca stand ahead of the 30/31 season?
Back-to-back second place finishes in the Manager of the Season award demonstrate just how good a job Sava Grgurovic is doing at Radnika. He wasn’t initially popular but the fans like him now and 1923 Esca seem to be improving each season under his management. Finishing 6th in the Top League was built on impressive defending with Dino Racic particularly imposing. They were solid enough for Isak Vennerod to keep 9 clean sheets and finish third in the running for the Golden Glove. 1923 Esca will have to cope without Racic this season of course, but they have held onto Remy Vandendriessche and that’s a really important piece of business. They will want to go on a similar run in the cup this year, that seems the most fruitful avenue for them to win their first ever piece of silverware. Their exit to second tier opposition last season – FK Magevskaya 1-0 on aggregate – caused a bit of embarrassment and was frustrating for Grgurovic, he’ll want to make things right this time around.

Dino Racic’s performances drew attention from all over and there was a sense of inevitability about his sale this summer with the central defender wanting to play at a higher level and try to imitate Grigorij Savicevic’s career path. His move across Rushmore to Savojarna’s Libertas Bergheim for NSD 5 million looks a decent move for all parties. It is a loss for 1923 Esca but it has helped to fund some intelligent moves into the club as Grgurovic looks to reload for the new campaign. The club trust him to build a squad now after seeing him develop talent over the past few years. Braco Evic is the chosen replacement for Racic, re-joining the capital club from Atletik Thessia for NSD 900,000. Evic will hope to deliver on the undoubted potential he showed when coming through the ranks in Esca, something he didn’t get too many opportunities to display when coming off the bench in Thessia. A move to a 4-5-1 formation with three central midfielders from the 4-4-2 utilised last season necessitated major reinforcements in that area and the club were aggressive in signing Marek Ladicorbic from relegated Crvena Zvezda for NSD 500,000 after showing real quality in a struggling side last season. He’ll provide real control and responsibility in the new-look midfield alongside Vandendriessche and another new signing in Imanuel Smiciklas (joining from Partizan Tsrvena for another NSD 500,000), a flair player who retains a real physical presence at 191 cm. Mesud Erjavec provides greater depth too as he joins from Akademija. Pawel Kwasniowski moves on to SK Elita Ryzaev for a small fee and Jezdimir Popovic leaves for Dinamo Esca on a free transfer. Edin Zahovic and Admir Zubovic have both retired after solid spells at the club, the latter’s decision providing another reason for the amount of central midfield signings.

• What represents success for 1923 Esca in 30/31?
1923 Esca did brilliantly well to finish 6th and reach the National Cup quarter finals last season and a repeat of that would truly cement Sava Grgurovic as one of the top managers in Mytanija given the number of strong teams that are vying for a similar level of performance. It is always difficult to keep expectations realistic at a club like 1923 Esca. A club of their resources, size and location should have done better over the years and the fans knows this and have real hunger for success as a result. Ultras group Odeljak 1-11 are normally quick to react to poor performances but Grgurovic has even built-up credit with them, so a similar performance to last year would be acceptable as long as the fanbase can see progress on the pitch. A top-half finish and a cup run would be excellent, particularly given that 1923 Esca have the likes of Atletik, Liria, 1896 Ebor, Olympic and FK Arsika fighting ahead of them in the league and a chasing pack of Tekstil, CDSA, Ararat, Nyva and local rivals Litala ’93 all wanting to overtake them. Competition is fierce and that makes what Grgurovic is doing even more impressive.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 8th - Grgurovic has a good squad here, we see them falling down a couple of spots in the league as others have improved but expect them to be working hard to go further in the National Cup this season. The sale of Dino Racic is a big loss but 1923 Esca appear to have reinvested well and the strength in depth they now have in midfield and up front allows Sava Grgurovic greater flexibility to change between 4-5-1 and 4-4-2. The 4-5-1 seems to be his preferred option and allows him to get Vandendriessche, Ladicorbic and Smiciklas into the same team with Ladicorbic allowing the other two greater attacking freedom. Being able to bring Evandro, a solid starter last season, off the bench demonstrates their depth. At the back Lazovic has developed into a consistent player but there will be some pressure on Evic coming good alongside him after a few years on the bench at Atletik, he’ll relish the opportunity for game time but it’s possible that his development has been stunted. Armoni Okombo is one of the better left-backs in the league and Zeljko Kuzmanovic is expected to be the starting striker after outscoring Thanasis Panagakos during 29/30. There are really high hopes for right-sided midfielder Milos Bajic, an extremely highly-rated talent who figured a handful of times last season.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Isak Vennerod         23   OPP      3.0
DL    Armoni Okombo         26   NYK      3.5
DC    Mojsije Lazovic       25   MYT      3.5
DC    Braco Evic            25   MYT      3.0
DR    Petar Pejakovski      18   MYT      2.5
ML    Sava Karanovic        27   MYT      2.5
MC    Remy Vandendriessche  23   CRE      4.5      Captain
MC    Marek Ladicorbic      22   MYT      3.5
MC    Imanuel Smiciklas     22   MYT      3.0
MR    Milos Bajic           18   MYT      3.0
ST    Zeljko Kuzmanovic     25   MYT      3.0

GK    Rade Nikolic          19   MYT      2.0
DL    Vojislav Nenadovic    24   MYT      2.5      DL/DR
DC    Val Nexev-Pilta       20   MYT      3.0
DC    Pribislav Siljan      24   MYT      3.0
DR    Julijan Birsa         29   MYT      2.0
ML    Todor Pajic           26   MYT      2.0
MC    Evandro               21   LOR      3.0
MC    Mesud Erjavec         20   MYT      2.5
MR    Milan Bojevic         25   MYT      2.0
ST    Thanasis Panagakos    24   OTH      3.0
ST    Emanuele Manzo        20   AUS      2.5

IN
Mesud Erjavec [MYT] from Akademija to 1923 Esca, NSD 100,000
Braco Evic [MYT] from Atletik to 1923 Esca, NSD 900,000
Marek Ladicorbic [MYT] from Crvena Zvezda to 1923 Esca, NSD 500,000
Imanuel Smiciklas [MYT] from Partizan to 1923 Esca, NSD 500,000

OUT
Pawel Kwasniowski [RAM] from 1923 Esca to SK Elita Ryzaev, NSD 100,000
Jezdimir Popovic [MYT] from 1923 Esca to Dinamo, free transfer
Dino Racic [MYT] from 1923 Esca to Libertas Bergheim [SVJ], NSD 5,000,000

RETIRED
Edin Zahovic [MYT], ST, 37
Admir Zubovic [MYT], MC, 37

Legends: Milos Funda (player)
Icons: Miroslav Filo (player); Igor Artemiev (player); Dino Racic (player)

TEKSTIL

Location: Ibon, Thessia
Stadium: Gradski Stadion (Capacity: 25,000)
Manager: Emir Saric, 60, 7th season in charge; T: philosopher, R: developer, P: charismatic

Club synopsis: Well-supported if unfashionable club who have spent most of their history in the shadow of larger clubs in their home region. Tekstil are a club that value hard work and a strong work ethic is instilled in all who come through the club's celebrated youth academy. They generally try to rely on their own production line where possible and usually keep a tight-grip on the purse strings which can sometimes limit a manager's ability to improve their team, but the club prefer to rely on their own players instead of buying in ready-made talent from elsewhere. For many Mytanars Tekstil are defined by two things: 1) their inherent link with Ibon's textiles industry, resulting in the club's eponymous name; and 2) the rivalry between the cities of Ibon and Thessia, with Atletik being the main focus of Tekstil (and Ibon's) ire nowadays.
Fanbase: An extremely loyal fan base that have stuck with the club through thick and thin. They have seen their club plumb the depths of the Treća Liga (taking sizeable followings to all sorts of provincial venues in the third tier), but they have also experienced the high of seeing their team lift the National Cup at Radnika. They keep a good perspective on things and follow their team around the country, often not expecting too much. They value hard work above all, symptomatic of their fanbase's working class roots. Their ultras group are known as the Ibon Boys and have a small hooligan element, they have no official political ideology but are known to lean leftwards like many citizens of the Thessia region.
Rivals: Atletik Thessia (Rijeka Derby); Olympic Thessia (regional)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★ / Pitch ★★★ / Training facilities ★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★ / Scouting ★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★
Sponsors: m:tel (telecommunications)

Major honours: 2 x National Cups (18/19, 24/25)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Cerim Jovic
• Where do Tekstil stand ahead of the 30/31 season?
Tekstil finished in 7th for the second year in a row and Emir Saric continues to burnish his reputation with that type of consistency. The 60 year old has really created a legacy at the club and they seem to be on such a strong footing now that whenever Saric decides to call time on his managerial career they will be in a strong position to be able to move forward without him. They have a consistent youth academy which improves players and makes them competitive in a region with a few teams with much stronger youth recruitment. They boast a coaching team which can then integrate those players into a solid squad. Pair this with the recent improvements to Tekstil’s Gradski Stadion for the Copa Rushmori and the future looks extremely bright for a club which have grown a lot in recent years despite their financial limitations. They will want to improve on last season’s fourth round exit from the National Cup, second tier Vitalia seeing them off (presumably as a favour to their pals at Atletik, with the two clubs sharing a friendship and Tekstil being Atletik’s Rijeka Derby rivals). There’s also the small matter of two club stalwarts – Nebojsa Aleksic and Mehmet Elvahic – approaching the latter end of their careers.

Tekstil were very active in the transfer window with as many as six players leaving the club and three coming in through the door. The big move out was the sale of full-back Damir Milcic to Chromatik side Anomalies for NSD 4.5 million. Milcic has enjoyed a strong few years domestically which have put him into the national team line-up and this was a natural move for him to test himself abroad. That allowed Tekstil to spend a bit of money (NSD 500,000) to bring Paskal Trajcev to Ibon, he enjoyed a good season with NK Dyka last year despite their relegation and he will add box-to-box energy and bite to Tekstil’s midfield. Chromatik forward Ma-Gyo Han joins on a free after a solid university career in his homeland, his signing has prompted Saric to have a rethink of the tactical set-up and Tekstil will be going into the new campaign in a 5-3-2/3-5-2. It is understood that Saric wants to take some of the scoring burden off Nebojsa Aleksic who is now 33 and could do with younger legs alongside him to help in the team’s pressing game. Licentian striker Còmhan Black joins from Gaelic Club for an NSD 354,000 fee, he’ll be rotated with Han, Tekstil weren’t put off the youngster despite some injury issues. Those signings meant that Nihad Milicevic ended up down the pecking order and he’s been loaned out to Zenit Esca to gain some experience, whilst Kwang-Seok Cho and Vlado Kovac leave to SK Port Jarko and Zeljeznicar for NSD 100,000 apiece. Mevludin Kadic has gone to Ararat Severyan on a free at the end of his contract and Luka Cvitanic has done the same but to Rudar Uchenik.

• What represents success for Tekstil in 30/31?
It’s a case of more of the same for Tekstil Ibon, they’re very much in the middle of the food chain at the moment and despite Saric doing a good job it is difficult to improve on your league position when you lose players like Mersudin Smajic and Damir Milcic in consecutive seasons. That means that repeating a strong mid-table finish somewhere between 6th and 10th represents success for Tekstil and it will do until the club are able to keep players of that quality at the club for a little longer. They currently rely on these sales to keep the finances ticking over and Saric’s coaching ability combined with the club’s youth academy make it a sustainable model as they are able to maintain their league position despite the loss of important players. The fans might eventually want their club to show a bit more ambition, it’s not too long ago that they were consistently challenging for the top six, but they recognise where the club are and seem comfortable with how they are doing. National Cup success is their most likely avenue for a trophy and you can never write Tekstil off in that competition, everybody remembers how they won it as a third tier side in the 18/19 season!

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 9th - They should easily manage to finish within the 6th–10th range that would represent success, but we do see Tekstil dropping down a couple of positions for a lower-half finish. The loss of Damir Milcic is a big one and it is difficult to see how the shift to a 5-3-2/3-5-2 makes up for his talents. Domagoj Kokic has rarely played as a wing-back in his career and might end up being a little uncomfortable on the left-side, whilst Sacir Milosevic is much younger at right wing-back and could grow into the role despite his inexperience. Three centre-backs offer a bit more protection through the middle, which is perhaps Emir Saric’s thinking. There’s also a new-look midfield with Miomir Krsmanovic – last season’s summer signing from Zenit Esca – being promoted to a starting position alongside this summer’s addition Paskal Trajcev and 18 year old prospect Said Radovanovic. Radovanovic is believed to have a big future ahead of him and is playing ahead of club icon Mehmet Elvahic, a big vote of confidence for a player so young. Aleksic returns up front after finishing second in the Golden Boot standings last season, he’ll want to move to the top of the all-time Top League goal scoring charts this year. Ma-Gyo Han should take the burden off him a little though.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Zafer Muminovic       28   MYT      4.0
DL    Domagoj Kokic         28   MYT      2.5      DL/ML
DC    Amel Memic            27   MYT      3.5
DC    Svetozar Golubovic    25   MYT      3.0
DC    Izet Sarajlic         24   MYT      2.5
DR    Sacir Milosevic       19   MYT      2.5      DR/MR
MC    Said Radovanovic      18   MYT      3.0
MC    Miomir Krsmanovic     21   MYT      3.0
MC    Paskal Trajcev        26   MYT      3.0
ST    Nebojsa Aleksic       33   MYT      3.5      Captain
ST    Ma-Gyo Han            23   CMT      3.0

GK    Ruaidhri Flanagan     23   FOD      2.0
DL    Mika Spasojevic       22   MYT      2.5      DL/DR
DC    Uhin Elizabe          18   ASG      2.5
DC    Izet Aleckovic        18   MYT      2.5
DR    Bakir Mulic           19   MYT      2.5
MC    Mehmet Elvahic        35   MYT      3.0
MC    Zbynek Havlik         23   POB      2.5
MC    Evripidis Zervakis    23   OTH      2.5
ST    Neven Krnic           24   MYT      3.0
ST    Còmhan Black          19   TLI      3.0

IN
Còmhan Black [TLI] from Gaelic Club [TLI] to Tekstil, NSD 354,000
Ma-Gyo Han [CMT] from University of the Islands [CMT] to Tekstil, free transfer
Paskal Trajcev [MYT] from NK Dyka to Tekstil, NSD 500,000

OUT
Kwang-Seok Cho [KUL] from Tekstil to SK Port Jarko, NSD 100,000
Luka Cvitanic [MYT] from Tekstil to Rudar, free transfer
Mevludin Kadic [MYT] from Tekstil to Ararat, free transfer
Vlado Kovac [MYT] from Tekstil to Zeljeznicar, NSD 100,000
Damir Milcic [MYT] from Tekstil to Anomalies [CMT], NSD 4,500,000
Nihad Milicevic [MYT] from Tekstil to Zenit [MYT], loan

Legends: Nebojsa Aleksic (player); Emir Saric (manager)
Icons: Swen Kislasson (player); Mehmet Elvahic (player); Zafer Muminovic (player); Damir Milcic (player)

CDSA

Location: Decraa, Vojovitica
Stadium: Psenicova (Capacity: 43,000)
Manager: Slavko Jelic, 56, 8th season in charge; T: counter, R: developer, P: loyal

Club synopsis: One of only four teams that has never played outside or been relegated from the Mytanar Top League, CDSA are regarded as one of Mytanar football's traditional clubs despite never really having a sustained period of success to be able to point to. They are a team that was historically linked with the military, a heritage that has long been cast-off as CDSA are now one of the most staunchly left-wing clubs in the country (a thread which runs through everything they do, running their own social programmes and regularly being involved in charitable causes). CDSA have never really subscribed to a specific style of play, but they have long been regarded as one of the best clubs for producing young talent - especially skillful attacking midfielders. CDSA are a club which have many fan friendships and fierce rivalries around Mytanija due to their left-wing politics, but they are also largely respected across the board due to their traditions and history.
Fanbase: CDSA's moderately sized fanbase is drawn from a wide mix of socioeconomic backgrounds, but is generally considered to be middle-class - a stereotype which is reflective of Decraa being a city that is home to multiple universities. CDSA's supporters are very proud of the fact their club has never been relegated from the Top League and of the team's uncanny ability to keep producing quality young players. Their supporters love to see a local kid given a chance in the starting line-up. Expectations at the club mostly stay quite low, the fans are happy enough as long as their club are doing good deeds and their ever-present top-flight status isn't under threat. Lijeva are the club's largest ultras group and they are fiercely left-wing. They can be violent, particularly when it comes to fixtures against clubs whose ultras groups hold opposing political views.
Rivals: Energija-Nuklearna (North Vojovitican Derby); Turbine Decraa (local); 1923 Esca (political); Lok. Cassia (political)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★ / Pitch ★★★ / Training facilities ★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★ / Scouting ★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★★
Sponsors: KPK (dairy)

Major honours: 2 x National Cups (06/07, 19/20)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Dalibor Kosec
• Where do CDSA stand ahead of the 30/31 season?
CDSA ended up in 8th again with their run to the National Cup final ultimately ending with a 3-0 demolition at the hands of their friends Atletik Thessia. The two clubs’ main ultras groups have a long-standing friendship based on their matching political beliefs but that didn’t prevent the Atletik team giving them a real lesson out on the Radnika pitch. Alen Hrdaljko had a season for the ages, driving his team on from central midfield and he was rewarded with second place in the Player of the Season award for his efforts. Learning to cope without their inspirational captain is going to be difficult for this CDSA team, but more on that in just a second. CDSA were another club to have benefited from the government renovating existing stadia for the Copa Rushmori, Psenicova was given a fresh lick of paint and also expanded to a capacity of 43,000 from the 27,500 it has been for much of its history. This will really help CDSA financially with increased ticket sales. They’ve always been slightly held back by Psenicova’s capacity but the new upper tier solves that issue for them.

Slavko Jelic’s side haven’t been active in the transfer market at all this summer, with one sale making up the entirety of their business. It’s a huge loss too, legendary club captain Alen Hrdaljko leaving for Pasargan giants CA Paulinthal for an enormous NSD 10,000,000 fee. Hrdaljko means so much to CDSA and his combative performances in midfield earned him plaudits throughout his time at the club, culminating with the second place finish in the Player of the Season award last year. He’s added more to his game as he’s matured too, with an eye for a pass and more involvement in chance creation at club level than he is tasked with in the national team. His sale secures the club’s finances going forward but it does leave a hole in their starting line-up which appears as if it will be filled with Zarko Mrsic for now, extremely large boots to fill for the 23 year old. They do have some promising talents coming through in central midfield too, Ismet Zmiric and Muamer Predojevic are both expected to come good but they’re both only 16 and it’ll be a big jump into the senior squad for them this season. Denis Klasic, an 18 year old central defender, is another with a big future and he’s expected to be a starter alongside new club captain Ezib Salihovic. Another club icon, Momchil Klemetic, has finally called time on his career at the grand old age of 42. Klemetic has been fantastic for CDSA over the years after joining from BVK Dinamo, he’s expected to stay with the club in some capacity.

• What represents success for CDSA in 30/31?
CDSA have been a mid-table Top League club for some time but at Gazeta Sporta we felt that they could push on last season and finish in the top six. That would have been a really strong season and could possibly have persuaded Alen Hrdaljko to stay at the club a little longer. He’s gone now after back-to-back 8th placed finishes and that means the likelihood of CDSA battling for a spot in the top six are much diminished. If CDSA could finish in the top-half after losing Hrdaljko it would be a really great season and would establish Jelic as a manager who can coax performances out of this side even after the loss of their most important player. There’s a lot to be said for that. It might take a few years and the likes of Klasic, Boglic, Zmiric, Predojevic and Svarnas to come good before they can start dreaming of challenging in the upper echelon of the Top League again. It feels a little bit like a changing of the guard for them and the new generation could take a while to step up to the plate.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 10th - It’s difficult to talk about CDSA heading into this campaign without discussing Alen Hrdaljko. He has been the living and breathing embodiment of this club for the past few years and his absence really hurts the team. The fans respect his decision, he came through the ranks at their local rivals Turbine Decraa but jumped the Decraa Derby divide at the earliest opportunity to join the club he supported as a child and after over 280 Top League appearances for the club he now moves on to a bigger wage and bigger opportunities for international recognition over in Pasarga. For those remaining his departure means the onus is on them to ensure the club don’t fall too far in Hrdaljko’s absence. Dario Gvetadze could prove crucial in that, he scored 12 goals last season to step into Dejan Zgela’s shoes and Slavko Jelic will need him in similar form this time around. Ezib Salihovic has developed into a reliable performer at centre-half and he will need to coach young Denis Klasic through games sometimes; Klasic has undoubted potential but his lack of experience could mean occasional errors. CDSA look much lighter in midfield for Hrdaljko’s departure and a lot will depend on how Urosevic, Gerol-Ajark and Mrsic perform. Marin Boglic is an interesting prospect on the right-side of midfield. They’ll find it difficult at times this season and we see them dropping down into the bottom-half of the table as a result, around 10th.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Visa Marinkovic       25   MYT      3.0
DL    Goran Stojkov         24   MYT      3.0
DC    Ezib Salihovic        27   MYT      3.5      Captain
DC    Denis Klasic          18   MYT      3.0
DR    Janko Gotovina        24   MYT      2.5
ML    Vasa Vojev            26   MYT      3.0
MC    Kosta Urosevic        25   MYT      3.5
MC    Hus Gerol-Ajark       28   QUS      3.0
MC    Zarko Mrsic           23   MYT      3.0
MR    Marin Boglic          19   MYT      2.5
ST    Dario Gvetadze        25   MYT      3.0

GK    Slobodan Ivanovic     19   MYT      2.5
DL    Zrinko Kodratov       30   MYT      2.0
DC    Novak Pap             26   MYT      3.0
DC    Lubo Korlenko         29   MYT      2.5
DR    Radoje Jesic          30   MYT      2.5
ML    Dragan Jovanovic      25   MYT      2.0      ML/MR
MC    Ismet Zmiric          16   MYT      3.0
MC    Muamer Predojevic     16   MYT      2.5
MR    Maksim Malchikov      31   MYT      2.5
ST    Tasos Svarnas         19   OTH      3.0
ST    Mirko Bazdarevic      16   MYT      2.0

OUT
Alen Hrdaljko [MYT] from CDSA to CA Paulinthal [PAS], NSD 10,000,000

RETIRED
Momchil Klemetic [MYT], MC, 42

Legends: Ruben Almerique (manager/player); Elaine Everdeen (player/coach); Ismet van Huijgevoort (player); Alen Hrdaljko (player)
Icons: Alexey Tatarchuk (player); Roman Benarik (player); Vaclav Soacek (player); Momchil Klemetic (player)

[Mytanija]

MYTANAR TOP LEAGUE 30/31 SEASON PREVIEW PART THREE.

Tactical (T) styles      Notes
Counter                  Favours counter-attacking build-up play
Defensive                Favours defensive football
Long Ball                Favours direct build-up play
Offensive                Favours offensive football
Philosopher              Strong proponents of a specific way of playing
Possession               Favours shorter build-up play
Regimented               Organised and well-drilled approach in all phases of play
Tinkerman                Regularly makes tactical changes

Recruitment (R) styles   Notes 
Buyer                    Happy to buy in what they need, has a clear idea of signings they want to make    
Developer                Develops youngsters helping them reach their potential ability
Merchant                 Happy to make lots of transfer dealings both in and out     
Resourceful              Finds novel ways to utilise players, has an eye for under-appreciated players who can improve their team
Thrifty                  Disinclined to spend money and prefers to work with what they have

Personality (P) styles   Notes
Abrasive                 Causes friction, both with other managers/teams and at their own club
Ambitious                Wants to succeed and manage at the very pinnacle of the sport
Casual                   Relaxed and laidback approach
Charismatic              Motivates players and keeps morale high
Intense                  Extremely focussed and involved in their job
Loyal                    Loyal to club they are at/players they currently have, remembers past allegiances
Maverick                 Unorthodox and independent-minded, expect the unexpected
Perfectionist            Strives for high standards and is annoyed by those who don't
Spirited                 Fierce competitor and highly out-spoken

ARARAT

Location: Severyan, Rauchnya
Stadium: Korecky Road (Capacity: 25,000)
Manager: Misel Ravnjak, 54, 7th season in charge; T: defensive, R: resourceful, P: spirited

Club synopsis: A provincial club that have punched well above their weight over the years, Ararat are mostly known for being a horrible team to come up against on the pitch (especially in Severyan); and for the carnival atmosphere their supporters create on the terraces. Ararat as a football club and Rauchnya as a region more generally have been on the receiving end of some of the worst examples of ethnic discrimination in Mytanija, anti-Rauchik sentiment still pervades in some of the other regions and footballers have refused to sign for Ararat because of their views in the past. Severyan as a city mirrors Rauchnya as a whole by being slightly poorer than the national average and Ararat and their supporters mirror this too. The club have links to Catholicism - evident in the team's name - but this is less relevant than it used to be and they are perhaps defined more by their links with Severyan's fishing industry than anything else.
Fanbase: Ararat are well-supported within Rauchnya but their support does not go beyond Rauchik territory, a situation which perhaps says more about those in other regions (except Thessia and Visoravna who have always stood alongside Rauchnya) than it does about Ararat and Rauchnya. Their supporters are known for being welcoming once their hard-nosed, distrusting exteriors are broken (an unsurprising symptom of historical ill-treatment). As a fanbase they are quite reasonable with their expectations and if you speak to an Ararat supporter they often cannot believe their luck that their team is regularly fighting it out towards the top of the Top League nowadays. Cirkusgrupa are their ultras group and they are known for being active regarding social issues: often creating displays relating to anti-racism, LGBT rights, immigration issues and Mytanar unity (they're particularly involved in this due to Rauchnya historically being painted as non-Mytanar, particularly under Kalinina's regime). This is in direct contrast to their great rivals Lok. Cassia who are fierce Rauchik nationalists, right-wing and massively racist towards outsiders.
Rivals: Lok. Cassia (Rauchik Derby); 1923 Esca (political)
Facilities: Stadium ★★ / Pitch ★ / Training facilities ★★★ / Youth academy ★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★ / Scouting ★★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★
Sponsors: Air Rauchnya (airline)

Major honours: 2 x Mytanar Top Leagues (12/13, 24/25)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Irma Simunec
• Where do Ararat stand ahead of the 30/31 season?
Ararat were predicted to finish in 7th heading into last season by Gazeta Sporta’s writers, they actually ended up a couple of places lower down in 9th and a lot of this was down to the fact that they struggled to score as Maurizio Scianna’s goals dried up a little. A lot of the responsibility for both goals and chance creation fell to young Omer Kuhar-Arh and the attacking midfielder had a hand in exactly half of Ararat’s goals (7 goals, 10 assists). He has really emerged as a major player for the Severyan club and Misel Ravnjak will want to continue to get that sort of contribution from him as we head into the new season. As always Ararat were stout defensively, Pedja Kasun helping himself to ten clean sheets over the course of the season with Ararat sharing the league’s third best defensive record (35 goals conceded) with Liria Prizren. Yue central defender Mingrong Yuan has really come into his own at the back and has developed into one of the Top League’s best defenders under Ravnjak’s tutelage. A third round National Cup exit will have been disappointing but Ararat did have to play Liria at the first hurdle and that was always going to be difficult, but it is definitely something they will want to improve on during the new campaign.

Ararat allowed Vido Mehic to leave the club on a free transfer ahead of the 28/29 season, the striker going to NK Dyka after Ararat believed his development would progress better elsewhere. Between then and now Mehic’s goals fired NK Dyka to promotion to the Top League from the Druga Liga and last season his 8 goals were a big part of the reason why they nearly stayed up. It has also persuaded Ararat to part with NSD 750,000 to bring Mehic back to Severyan after NK Dyka’s relegation and the striker will want to prove to everybody in his hometown that he is the man to lead the line for the club. Big things are expected of him. Ravnjak has also brought Mevludin Kadic to Korecky Road from Tekstil Ibon after Kadic’s contract ended there, he will be a solid defensive winger on the right-side of midfield which should free up Viggo Sjostrom on the opposite side for some daring attacking raids. Lamine Benbrika and Maxi Zorita leave Severyan for Druga Liga teams (SK Port Jarko and Ribari Palilula respectively), raising around NSD 300,000 in funds. Grigor Todorov and Zoran Vlasic have both decided to retire at the age of 36 and that makes the complexion of this Ararat team a little younger. The rumour is that Mateja Stojkovic was also going to retire at the end of last season, but that when Todorov and Vlasic announced their intentions Stojkovic decided he would stay on another season to help steer the team forwards. He retains the captaincy for the new campaign.

• What represents success for Ararat in 30/31?
A top-half finish with a concerted push for a top six position and a decent run in the National Cup seems to be exactly what the doctor ordered for Ararat Severyan heading into the new campaign. There’s not really a strong reason for them to be unable to do that. Ravnjak is a smart manager and he’s constructed a good team here at Korecky Road. They lose good players from time to time but he always keeps things tight at the back and last season their slight underperformance was down to issues with scoring goals at the other end. The Ararat fans understand where the club is in the Top League hierarchy and would be enthused with a top-half finish, especially if they can see improvement going forwards this year. Ravnjak is a top defensive coach, fans of a provincial club like Ararat are often fine with that if it means results, but the supporters will definitely want to see an improvement in attack when they’ve got a talent like Omer Kuhar-Arh in the team. They won’t want his best years at the club wasted because they don’t know how much longer he’ll be in Severyan!

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 6th - Our prediction of 6th demonstrates that this is an exciting Ararat Severyan team and a clear improvement on last season’s squad. The sale of Dalibor Vlahovic to 1896 Ebor before the start of last season seems to have secured the club’s finances for this season, allowing them to hold onto key assets like Kasun, Yuan and Kuhar-Arh whilst sustainably improving the squad. Kasun’s been very loyal to Ararat and he remains the best goalkeeper in the Top League with Semir Besak’s departure (although his national team starting spot may be disputed). Yuan anchors a sturdy defence, whilst Stojkovic’s experience in midfield should help. Look out for Dordo Urbanc to emerge as one of Mytanija’s finest young talents this season too. Kuhar-Arh will shoulder much of the team’s creative burden, but he’s shown he can do it and the problem for Ararat last season was actually converting chances. Having to re-sign Vido Mehic for NSD 750,000 after allowing him to leave on a free may be a little embarrassing for some at the club but he should be able to solve that problem and stop so many goal scoring opportunities from going to waste. Misel Ravnjak has an exciting team here!

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Pedja Kasun           31   MYT      4.5
DL    Ermin Urankar         24   MYT      3.5
DC    Zelimir Apostolov     34   MYT      3.0
DC    Mingrong Yuan         25   YZH      4.5
DR    Belmin Kodrie         25   MYT      2.5
ML    Viggo Sjostrom        25   OPP      3.0      ML/MR
MC    Dordo Urbanc          18   MYT      3.5
MC    Mateja Stojkovic      36   MYT      2.5      Captain
MR    Mevludin Kadic        30   MYT      2.5   
AMC   Omer Kuhar-Arh        21   MYT      4.0
ST    Vido Mehic            26   MYT      3.5

GK    Lin Ipavec            22   MYT      2.5
DL    Asmir Milosevic       18   MYT      2.5
DC    Drazen Zupan          37   MYT      2.5
DC    Josip Cermelj         24   MYT      2.5
DR    Mario Uzelac          34   MYT      1.5
ML    Rajmund Krizman       28   MYT      2.5      ML/MR
MC    Jonatan Rebernik      22   MYT      2.5
MC    Miralem Mazar         25   MYT      2.5
MR    Vasja Vansek          16   MYT      2.0
AMC   Tine Prijatelj        18   MYT      2.5
ST    Maurizio Scianna      27   AUS      3.0

IN
Mevludin Kadic [MYT] from Tekstil to Ararat, free transfer
Vido Mehic [MYT] from NK Dyka to Ararat, NSD 750,000

OUT
Lamine Benbrika [IMA] from Ararat to SK Port Jarko, NSD 200,000
Maxi Zorita [PDH] from Ararat to Ribari, NSD 100,000

RETIRED
Grigor Todorov [MYT], MC, 36
Zoran Vlasic [MYT], DL, 36

Legends: Lev Repin (player); Iuliu Zaplatic (player); Aleks Kulikov (player)
Icons: Dobroslav Stojanovic (player); Misel Ravnjak (manager); Pedja Kasun (player); Mateja Stojkovic (player)

NYVA

Location: Zvornik, Avnalia
Stadium: Stadion Sime Pandev (Capacity: 20,000)
Manager: Vasil Janevski, 57, 7th season in charge; T: possession, R: merchant, P: charismatic

Club synopsis: A provincial team from a town of around 200,000 people, Nyva are the biggest club from the chain of islands which make up the sub-region of Avnalia. Their supporters will happily recognise that they are currently living through their team's 'golden age' with a sustained presence in the Top League, a shiny new stadium and a first ever major honour as they won the 27/28 National Cup. Nyva are inherently linked to Zvornik's agricultural workers, starting out as a club for them and still maintaining those links to this day. The perception of clubs from Avnalia and Nyva specifically as being run by poorly educated rural bumpkins couldn't be further from the truth nowadays with the club intelligently investing in improving their infrastructure off the field and playing on their links with food production to sign a lucrative sponsorship deal with one of the country's largest supermarkets Agrokomerc.
Fanbase: Nyva is an extremely working-class club which is enormously proud of their links to agricultural workers, their support doesn't really have a true political stance the way other clubs do but is slightly left-leaning on economics whilst being socially conservative in line with their rural locale. There is little pressure to succeed with Nyva, their fans just want to maintain their Top League status for as long as possible. Nyva's main ultras group is Gate 9 and they are apolitical. They lag behind some of the large groups from the mainland in terms of choreographies, but they are known for extremely violent displays of hooliganism, a result of many of the more historic ultras groups seeing them as little more than rural pretenders. This assumption made Gate 9 eager to prove themselves and they've collected quite a bloodthirsty reputation as a result.
Rivals: Rudar Uchenik (All-Avnalia Derby); FK Arsika (regional)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★ / Training facilities ★★ / Youth academy ★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★ / Scouting ★★ / Youth recruitment ★
Sponsors: Agrokomerc (supermarkets)

Major honours: 1 x National Cup (27/28)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Nevenka Planinc
• Where do Nyva stand ahead of the 30/31 season?
Nyva found it difficult to follow up the two amazing seasons that took them to a National Cup win and 6th place in the Top League last season. That’s no slight on their manager Vasil Janevski nor the team, they had taken Nyva on an adventure over those two years and the support hold them in very high regard for that. Finishing 10th last season wasn’t too bad either, they ended up completely safe from relegation troubles and were only a few results away from another top-half finish. The middle of the Top League table gets very congested and one or two wins in head-to-head encounters can make all the difference. They will have been frustrated with a third round exit from the National Cup however, particularly due to the fact it was at the hands of Druga Liga opposition as NK Thessia won 2-0 in Zvornik before holding on at home and limiting Nyva to a 1-0 win at the Stadion Yolanda Savic. The aggregate score sent the Thessian side through and it’s not something Nyva will want to repeat this season, the cup is the competition they have the best chance of success in and they will want to maximise that possibility by not losing to lower league opposition.

The sale of Alexandre Onio was always going to occur at some point, he was exceptional for Nyva in his time there and there was a feeling he had outgrown the club a little towards the end of last season. The NSD 2.5 million 1896 Ebor have paid for his services seems a fair price for the Savigliano central defender and 1896 Ebor have a player on their hands, although it really does hurt Nyva at the same time as it’s difficult to replace a player of Onio’s quality. They’ve tried to replace Onio with BVK Dinamo’s Krsto Tadic and he has signed for NSD 300,000. Tadic was one of few bright sparks in BVK Dinamo’s doomed campaign last season and has a bit of room to grow at 22, but it does represent a real step down in quality for Nyva’s backline. The signing of Ortelian poacher Alessandro Cappelluzzo from US San Savola for another NSD 300,000 should provide Anton Derajevic with some support in attack, but Vasil Janevski will really need him to hit the ground running to make up for what is likely to be a much shakier defence this season. Ljubisa Bacic left the club on a free for SK Port Jarko, whilst club icon Ilija Lambulic finally decided to retire over the summer. Miro Tadic joins Lambulic too, calling time on his career at the ripe old age of 41.

• What represents success for Nyva in 30/31?
This isn’t meant as an alarmist comment on Nyva’s status, but staying in the Top League comfortably has to be seen as a successful year for them this season. The loss of Onio is huge but it is understood that it was necessary to help the club financially (and to allow Onio to further his career). The sale does leave Nyva a little light defensively though and for all the good the transfer has done for their balance sheet it won’t be much good if they can’t hold onto their place in the Top League looking ahead to the 31/32 season. They have the quality to be able to stay up with players like Derajevic, Arzensek, Zmajevic and Svok; and a manager like Vasil Janevski always helps, but it could get bumpy at times for the Zvornik club. On a slightly different note they’ll want to see Cappelluzzo scoring regularly. Anton Derajevic can’t go on forever and at 34 his best years are probably behind him, Cappelluzzo is a key part of how they replace him long-term along with the highly-rated youngster Lecho Cinika. Nyva fans will want to see proof that both Cappelluzzo and Cinika can replace Derajevic’s contributions this season.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 11th - We see them dropping down a place in the table but we also can’t see Nyva being unduly troubled by the teams below them. They should be able to be comfortable in mid-table and be well-safe by the final few games of the season. A lot of that is down to the trust our writers have in Vasil Janevski, he remains one of the best managers in the division and he retains his possession-based style no matter which players he has at his disposal. This makes it easier for the team to cope without players that leave, such as Alexandre Onio, although how quickly new signing Krsto Tadic can adapt to this playing style is a different subject entirely. Anton Derajevic helps this team a great deal, he has 125 goals in 268 Top League appearances and should be able to add to that fairly consistently this season. Arzensek and Zmajevic getting service to him from midfield will be key and a few Nyva games might come down to whether they can score enough to make-up for their defensive shortcomings. They won’t be boring to watch this season, that much is certain!

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Pos.  Name                    Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Marko Babic             31   MYT      2.5
DL    Kusman Manasiev         18   MYT      2.5
DC    Ivica Svok              27   MYT      3.0
DC    Krsto Tadic             22   MYT      2.5
DR    Zyn Wanar-Xeral         22   QUS      2.0
DMC   Rudi Prosenik           31   MYT      3.0      Captain; DC/DMC
MC    Vasilij Arzensek        26   MYT      3.5
MC    Luka Zmajevic           22   MYT      3.5
AMC   Momcilo Pavlovic        28   MYT      2.5
ST    Anton Derajevic         34   MYT      3.5
ST    Alessandro Cappelluzzo  25   SOR      3.0

GK    Petar Solakov           24   MYT      2.5
DL    Andrei Vasiliadis       27   MYT      2.0
DC    Sinisa Manevski         25   MYT      2.5
DC    Goran Najdoski          36   MYT      2.0
DR    Velyo Kralevski         26   MYT      2.0
DMC   Cvjetko Tokic           31   MYT      2.5
MC    Sasho Koncaliev         23   MYT      3.0
MC    Stefo Bozhinoski        18   MYT      2.0
AMC   Conor Kilkenny          22   FOD      2.5
AMC   Dicho Mazneikov         18   MYT      2.0
ST    Lecho Cinika            18   MYT      3.0
ST    Drazen Zhivkov          28   MYT      2.5

IN
Alessandro Cappelluzzo [SOR] from US San Savola [SOR] to Nyva, NSD 300,000
Krsto Tadic [MYT] from BVK Dinamo to Nyva, NSD 300,000

OUT
Ljubisa Bacic [MYT] from Nyva to SK Port Jarko, free transfer
Alexandre Onio [SVG] from Nyva to 1896 Ebor, NSD 2,500,000

RETIRED
Ilija Lambulic [MYT], DL, 39
Miro Tadic [MYT], MC, 41

Legends: Sime Pandev (player); Anton Derajevic (player)
Icons: Vasil Janevski (manager); Vladimir Shervashidze (player); Ilija Lambulic (player); Rudi Prosenik (player)

LITALA ’93

Location: Litala, Esca, Zentria
Stadium: Sokolovny (Capacity: 30,000)
Manager: Mijat Krstic, 47, 8th season in charge; T: tinkerman, R: merchant, P: perfectionist

Club synopsis: Litala ’93 are a club with a storied history which can arguably lay claim to being the biggest club from the Mytanar capital. That wasn't always the case though, during their greatest period they were regarded as plucky underdogs who stuck it to the big boys. Now they are rightly seen as one of the powerhouses of the opening decade of professional football, Litala won a pair of titles under cherished manager Lukas Boronin when Erathi playmaker Isidoro Nao played in the club's famous lavender shirt. Often defined by their opposition to all things 1923 Esca, Litala are known as the club of the working class in the Mytanar capital and as such are generally the anti-establishment choice. Litala ’93 supporters never tire of rubbing their two league titles in the faces of their greatest rivals, with 1923 Esca remaining trophyless to this day despite their greater resources.
Fanbase: A large fanbase in Esca and well-supported more widely across Zentria, Litala ’93 are often seen as the rebel's choice due to their long-standing links with the capital's working class. The club fosters a great sense of inclusivity with strong volleyball and handball sections receiving just as impressive support as the football team does. As a club Litala ’93 have significant links to left-wing politics and Ultras Litala reflect that in the stands with colourful choreographies in support of socialist and anti-racist causes. They have strong friendships with left-wing teams in other regions like Atletik Thessia and Ararat Severyan, as well as with Dinamo Esca in the capital. It's a different story during games against 1923 Esca of course, they can often descend into violence and Litala don't maintain the best of relationships with other capital clubs like Zenit or BVK Dinamo due to their politics either.
Rivals: 1923 Esca (All-Esca Derby); 1896 Ebor (historic)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★ / Pitch ★★★ / Training facilities ★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★ / Scouting ★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★★
Sponsors: Pačariz (spirits)

Major honours: 2 x Mytanar Top Leagues (07/08, 08/09)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Nevenka Planinc
• Where do Litala ’93 stand ahead of the 30/31 season?
Litala ’93 were very comfortable in eventually finishing 11th last season, their return to the Top League was a successful one simply because they made sure to retain their top-flight status. They always had the squad to do so and it would have been regarded as a major failure if they had suffered relegation back to the Druga Liga, so the ease with which they stayed up will have pleased many at Sokolovny. Mijat Krstic added some gloss to his reputation with an attacking style which few thought he would be able to coach and the signing of Yue political exile Jiahui Wang turned into a masterstroke as he scored 13 and assisted 11 in a fantastic debut season. Solid performances from youth products like Dragisa Lazarevic, Antun Spiridonovic and Efthimis Vasseas will be very encouraging too. They will miss Zijad Kurtcehajic’s controlling presence at the base of midfield, he returns to Atletik at the conclusion of his loan spell. A run to the quarter finals of the National Cup completed a highly impressive campaign, their eventual 6-3 aggregate exit at the hands of CDSA being a respectable way to go out.

Litala ’93 have a net spend of greater than NSD 1 million this summer and whilst that is geared at replacing five players (three retirements and two departures), it does necessitate a strong league finish to ensure the club’s finances don’t end up in bad shape. That sort of spend also demonstrates the board’s ambition, they want to establish Litala ’93 as Esca’s biggest club once again and bouncing between Top League and Druga Liga whilst 1923 Esca improve won’t do that. They’ve spent pretty well at first glance, bringing in a pair of starting centre-backs to deal with an area of weakness for a combined total of NSD 1.25 million. Jasar Abadzic and Sime Krolo were rotation options at Olympic Thessia and 1896 Ebor but they will start for Litala ’93 and we will see if their former clubs perhaps should have shown more trust in them. Evtim Asenov is a really progressive signing and he is part of the exodus from Akademija as they go through their legal wrangles. Asenov’s had a couple of strong seasons in the Druga Liga and is expected to start for his new club as Mijat Krstic looks to shift to a 4-4-2 diamond from the gung-ho 4-3-3 they used last year. The loan signing of Michal Spacek from Siovanijan side FK Venkovets is really creative and intelligent recruitment and Spacek will also bring those qualities to this Litala ’93 midfield. Damilola Camara and Milanko Trkulja were sold for around NSD 350,000 total. Eldin Hadzic, Nado Maricic and Stanislav Zoric all made the call to retire once Litala’s Top League status was confirmed at the end of last season.

• What represents success for Litala ’93 in 30/31?
The significant net spend will bring pressure from both the club’s financial department and the Mytanar sporting press, but Litala ’93 have long been a club who ignore the latter. Having made that spend they cannot afford a season where they slip into a relegation battle and whilst they undoubtedly have the quality in this team to avoid that it is still a very young squad and Mijat Krstic will have to help them ride out some of the teething issues they are likely to face. A top-half finish would be solid enough and Litala ’93 supporters would be pleased with that in their second season back at the top level. The club seem determined to rely on young players and clever scouting but they have also shown their ambition to secure Litala ’93’s place as the biggest club in Esca over the summer. A top-half finish would serve as a reminder to 1923 Esca that they aren’t going to have it all their own way anymore in the capital because Litala are back in the Top League and they mean business.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 7th - The Gazeta Sporta writers see Litala ’93 overtaking their All-Esca Derby rivals 1923 Esca in the league table this season with a 7th place finish. Litala’s summer recruitment has enthused their supporters, but if it fails to pay-off and they end up in a relegation battle it could cause some unwanted financial issues going forward. Securing Jasar Abadzic’s signature is a really impressive and ambitious piece of business, he’ll partner fellow new boy Sime Krolo in the club’s new-look central defensive partnership. If they can gel quickly then Litala ’93 will feel the outlay is vindicated. Spacek and Vasseas have the potential to form a mouth-watering midfield two. Both have an eye for a pass and should help to create chances aplenty for the likes of Wang, Zekic and Asenov ahead of them. New captain Antun Spiridonovic will be vital in maintaining the team’s attacking width from full-back given the narrow nature of the 4-4-2 diamond formation. Jiahui Wang is a fan favourite already at Sokolovny and a proven goal scorer with Zekic the ideal partner due to his hold-up play. The biggest question for Litala ’93 is how well Boza Despotovic will be able to replace Zijad Kurtcehajic at the base of their midfield. Kurtcehajic was excellent on loan, but it’s a definite step up for Despotovic with a lot of responsibility. If he can’t perform quickly Litala ’93 may be quite open in midfield and susceptible to fast counters. This would have severe knock-on effects and could hurt their chances of finishing in the top-half.

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Pos.  Name                    Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Dragisa Lazarevic       22   MYT      3.5
DL    Zivorad Moldovan        22   MYT      2.5
DC    Jasar Abadzic           23   MYT      3.0
DC    Sime Krolo              24   MYT      3.0
DR    Antun Spiridonovic      23   MYT      4.0      Captain
DMC   Boza Despotovic         19   MYT      3.0      DMC/MC
MC    Michal Spacek           19   STL      4.0      On loan from FK Venkovets [STL]
MC    Efthimis Vasseas        20   OTH      3.0
AMC   Evtim Asenov            21   MYT      3.0      AMC/ST
ST    Alen Zekic              35   MYT      2.5
ST    Jiahui Wang             25   YZH      5.0

GK    Ljuba Carapic           20   MYT      2.0
DL    Braco Lazarevic         19   MYT      2.5
DC    Radenko Pejakovski      19   MYT      2.0
DC    Atan Bojanic            30   MYT      2.0
DR    Ljes Velimirovic        20   MYT      2.0
DMC   Atanasije Tanackovic    20   MYT      2.5
MC    Ilija Blagojevic        32   MYT      2.5
MC    Dragoljub Vlahovic      20   MYT      2.0
AMC   Gavrilo Kerovic         16   MYT      2.0
ST    Florent-Roparzh Krstic  20   MYT      2.5
ST    Tomislav Bajcev         16   MYT      2.0

IN
Jasar Abadzic [MYT] from Olympic to Litala ’93, NSD 750,000
Evtim Asenov [MYT] from Akademija to Litala ’93, NSD 250,000
Sime Krolo [MYT] from 1896 Ebor to Litala ’93, NSD 500,000
Michal Spacek [STL] from FK Venkovets [STL] to Litala ’93, loan

OUT
Damilola Camara [KET] from Litala ’93 to SK Port Jarko, NSD 250,000
Milanko Trkulja [MYT] from Litala ’93 to Lok. Ostrova, NSD 100,000

RETIRED
Eldin Hadzic [MYT], MC, 37
Nado Maricic [MYT], MC, 36
Stanislav Zoric [MYT], DC, 37

Legends: Isidoro Nao (player); Lukas Boronin (manager); Florent-Roparzh Le Tallec (player)
Icons: Vagn Meyer (player); Musa Kiril (player/manager); Miska Kasvio (player); Musa Pechachek (player); Jiahui Wang (player)

ENERGIJA-NUKLEARNA

Location: Miago, Vojovitica
Stadium: Miagostadion (Capacity: 50,000)
Manager: Duje Madar, 39, 2nd season in charge; T: counter, R: thrifty, P: intense

Club synopsis: Energija-Nuklearna are a historic Mytanar club who many consider to have underperformed in terms of success relative to their size in the past. They are another of the four ever-present Top League teams, although as an achievement it is held in less regard here than it is at their rivals CDSA (they like to lord their two Top League titles over CDSA, though). Their historic financial difficulties have made it a semi-official club policy to be almost entirely averse to buying players and they rely on their fantastic youth academy as much as possible. As a club they are inextricably linked with Miago's coal and nuclear power stations with workers from the energy sector founding the team - there's an irony in the fact that Miago's air pollution is the worst in the country. They aren't particularly well-liked outside of their home city, many see them as self-important without the success to back it up and lots of clubs with left-wing links despise Energija-Nuklearna due to their ultras' well-documented far-right sympathies.
Fanbase: They have a large fanbase across Mytanija, drawing supporters from all over the country given the way they bounced back from financial difficulties to win the league in the 18/19 season. For the most part their supporters are considered to be working-class and with Miago being a one-club city Energija-Nuklearna are often the talk of the town and people in all professions can be found discussing the team's fortunes as they go about their day-to-day work. This rather ramps the pressure up for the manager, with expectations usually being quite high. Grolija are the club's largest ultras group and they hold incredible sway behind the scenes regarding all sorts of decisions which affect the club's future. Grolija are infamous for their right-wing political beliefs and can often be seen raising fascist salutes and chanting about how they'd like to eradicate all Thessians and Rauchiks in their sector at the Miagostadion.
Rivals: CDSA (North Vojovitican Derby); Liria Prizren (regional); 1896 Ebor (historic); Atletik Thessia (political)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★ / Pitch ★★★ / Training facilities ★★★★ / Youth academy ★★★★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★ / Scouting ★★ / Youth recruitment ★★★★★
Sponsors: Kikinda (confectionery)

Major honours: 2 x Mytanar Top Leagues (06/07, 18/19); 2 x National Cups (15/16, 17/18)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Irma Simunec
• Where do Energija-Nuklearna stand ahead of the 30/31 season?
Energija-Nuklearna are a strange club in that their notorious ultras Grolija have an outsized influence on everything the club does, including managerial hiring and firing. They often seem to prefer having someone who knows the club well in charge than someone who can actually do the job well, with an extremely insular outlook which is perhaps illustrative of their wider political allegiances. Duje Madar is certainly someone who knows the club well – a Miago native and Energija-Nuklearna supporter – and last season he managed to steer the team to safety with a 12th place finish in the Top League. This was only three points clear of relegation in the end, but it was an admirable feat given the weakness of certain areas of his squad. Mijat Simic was integral to their fight against the drop, scoring 17 goals in 29 games to finish third in the Golden Boot award. Energija-Nuklearna will have to learn to cope without him this season and you do wonder if there will come a time when Grolija tire of this almost autarkic approach because it does seem to be holding them back. Their best players constantly see better futures away from Miago. A third round National Cup exit at the hands of Druga Liga side Vitalia was bad enough, but to be dispatched 4-1 on aggregate was even worse and that is the sort of thing they might avoid if the club wasn’t almost entirely run by their main ultras group.

Once again there’s no business into the Miagostadion. A combination of recovering finances and (mostly) Grolija’s desire to have a home-grown squad have led to this situation, something the ultras group seem determined to carry on despite the fact it sometimes seems like their squad is being deliberately run down to the bare bones. Their ethnic nationalism underpins everything Grolija do and is a big reason behind their desire for a fully home-grown squad. Unfortunately it means their squad is routinely weakened without adequate replacements coming in and the sale of star striker Mijat Simic to regional rivals Liria Prizren may have raised NSD 1.75 million in funds but it does leave them without a proven goal scorer ahead of the new season. Simic will be branded a traitor in Miago, but it’s perhaps no surprise that he wants to go to Liria and compete for titles when Energija-Nuklearna’s almost self-destructive recruitment policy hinders such a big club from competing at the level it should be. Simic would not be able to fight for titles with the Miago club. The only other exit is that of the club’s only foreign player Willi Meindl, the native of Dessau-Libehna departing for Torpedo Vershina for NSD 250,000, perhaps another victim of Grolija’s xenophobia.

• What represents success for Energija-Nuklearna in 30/31?
Duje Madar showed that he could keep a limited team in the top-flight last season but he did it with Mijat Simic scoring lots of goals and he will now have to do it without the talented forward. Energija-Nuklearna’s ever-present status in the Mytanar Top League could be under real threat this season and that means that staying up and retaining it for another year would have to be considered a successful year. A few years ago it’d have been unthinkable, but this Energija-Nuklearna team is under-resourced and it now being expected shows just how far the club has declined. A two-time Top League champion, two-time National Cup winner, the fifth most successful club in Mytanija. This is Energija-Nuklearna. Relegation would be catastrophic for a club of their size, although Druga Liga officials, chairmen and club presidents will be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of having such a big club in their division should they be relegated. Madar will do well to keep them up this season, but you do wonder if relegation is what it will take for the club to be run properly again.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 13th - Energija-Nuklearna have several weaknesses but we predict them to stay up by the skin of their teeth in 13th place. They’ll be flirting with relegation throughout the campaign and relegation wouldn’t come as a shock given their obvious deficiencies defensively and down the flanks. The 18 year old Zdenko Smolic being their key attacking player is a sorry state of affairs, even if he did play 25 times last season and score 5 goals. You struggle to see where chances are going to come from if it isn’t Smolic creating them. Duje Madar likes counter-attacking football and to play that way you require a strong base to work from. Unfortunately for Madar his defence is either old (Luka Bobic); not up to scratch (Lucijan Baljak); or still developing (Zlatko Svalina and the promising Bruno Saranic). Thankfully he has a decent goalkeeper in Jasmin Bertovic and two strong defensive midfielders to shield the defence in Vukomanovic and Sukhorukov. Vedran Grcic is a decent player but he’s always been more of a winger than a striker, he’ll need to replace Mijat Simic’s goals if Energija-Nuklearna are going to avoid relegation. We may see Grcic return to the wing and youngster Ricardo Sculac used up front if things do start going awry early.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Jasmin Bertovic       24   MYT      3.0
DL    Lucijan Baljak        25   MYT      2.5
DC    Luka Bobic            34   MYT      2.5      Captain
DC    Bruno Saranic         18   MYT      2.5
DR    Zlatko Svalina        22   MYT      2.5
DMC   Predrag Vukomanovic   29   MYT      3.5
DMC   Vitomir Sukhorukov    23   MYT      3.0
AML   Sandro Pijevic        19   MYT      2.5      AML/AMC
AMC   Zdenko Smolic         18   MYT      3.0
AMR   Renato Ivezic         26   MYT      2.0
ST    Vedran Grcic          25   MYT      3.0      AML/ST

GK    Sasa Stjepanek        22   MYT      2.0
DL    Stjepan Viskovic      22   MYT      2.0      DL/DC
DC    Nebojsa Guzina        29   MYT      2.0
DC    Matej Pervan          16   MYT      2.0
DR    Dusan Gojkovic        28   MYT      2.5
DMC   Dejan Jovev           23   MYT      3.0
AML   Branko Poljic         17   MYT      1.5
AMC   Imanuel Bacic         16   MYT      1.0
AMR   Vedad Alomerovic      34   MYT      2.0
ST    Ricardo Sculac        18   MYT      3.0

OUT
Willi Meindl [TEU] from Energija-Nuklearna to Torpedo, NSD 250,000
Mijat Simic [MYT] from Energija-Nuklearna to Liria, NSD 1,750,000

Legends: Kristian Haugen (player); Miroslav Filo (player); Niklas Kulmala (player); Mario Tschauner (manager)
Icons: Filip Wachsmuth (player); Omet Drazaal (player); Carlos Alberto Saez (player); Duje Madar (player/manager)

[Mytanija]

MYTANAR TOP LEAGUE 30/31 SEASON PREVIEW PART FOUR.

Tactical (T) styles      Notes
Counter                  Favours counter-attacking build-up play
Defensive                Favours defensive football
Long Ball                Favours direct build-up play
Offensive                Favours offensive football
Philosopher              Strong proponents of a specific way of playing
Possession               Favours shorter build-up play
Regimented               Organised and well-drilled approach in all phases of play
Tinkerman                Regularly makes tactical changes

Recruitment (R) styles   Notes 
Buyer                    Happy to buy in what they need, has a clear idea of signings they want to make    
Developer                Develops youngsters helping them reach their potential ability
Merchant                 Happy to make lots of transfer dealings both in and out     
Resourceful              Finds novel ways to utilise players, has an eye for under-appreciated players who can improve their team
Thrifty                  Disinclined to spend money and prefers to work with what they have

Personality (P) styles   Notes
Abrasive                 Causes friction, both with other managers/teams and at their own club
Ambitious                Wants to succeed and manage at the very pinnacle of the sport
Casual                   Relaxed and laidback approach
Charismatic              Motivates players and keeps morale high
Intense                  Extremely focussed and involved in their job
Loyal                    Loyal to club they are at/players they currently have, remembers past allegiances
Maverick                 Unorthodox and independent-minded, expect the unexpected
Perfectionist            Strives for high standards and is annoyed by those who don't
Spirited                 Fierce competitor and highly out-spoken

ARKA

Location: Snezhnaya, Visoravna
Stadium: Arka Park (Capacity: 32,000)
Manager: Luka Kostic, 53, 1st season in charge; T: offensive, R: resourceful, P: casual

Club synopsis: Arka have a strong regional presence in Visoravna and for a long time were regarded as the best-run club in Mytanija due to their focus on sustainable finances. They use their world class scouting networks to identify talent other clubs don't and then they set about improving those players before selling them on for a profit. It has allowed Arka to become one of the most financially stable clubs in Mytanija. Their fanbase identify strongly with a possession-based approach which the club have implemented across all age-levels, you will find Arka's youth teams all playing the same way as the first team and that eases the transition to the senior game for academy graduates. They are generally well-respected across the country for how their club is run and particularly for winning a couple of titles without ever changing their principles or breaking the bank and risking the club's future as some other teams have done.
Fanbase: A fanbase which is mostly limited to Arka's home region of Visoravna and has strong links to Snezhnaya's sea-related industries, they're known for filling out the thrillingly modern Arka Park and making it a hostile venue for opposing teams to come to. The thing they get most frustrated about is the club's board not reinvesting money on the pitch when they sell some of their better players; given how well-run the club is there isn't the same need to sell players like other clubs, so when that happens the supporters want to see money spent to ensure the squad doesn't fall back. The board's penny-pinching can grate, but there isn't pressure for success as there is at some other clubs. Krivulja Sjever are the club's main ultras group, they're formally apolitical with their main focus being supporting Arka away from any political stances, they are known to enjoy a bit of hooliganism though and particularly when they meet 1896 Ebor.
Rivals: 1896 Ebor (Northern Derby)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★★ / Training facilities ★★★★ / Youth academy ★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★★ / Scouting ★★★★★ / Youth recruitment ★★
Sponsors: Plazibat Plovidba (shipping)

Major honours: 2 x Mytanar Top Leagues (16/17, 17/18); 1 x National Cup (16/17)

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Dalibor Kosec
• Where do Arka stand ahead of the 30/31 season?
Requiring a 93rd minute equaliser in the final game of the season in order to stay up against the already relegated BVK Dinamo wouldn’t have been in anybody’s plans at Arka Park last season. Their fourth round exit from the National Cup at the hands of then Druga Liga FK Magevskaya added insult to injury. It is a wonder that nobody on the board thought such a poor season could happen whilst constantly selling off the best players in the team and forcing popular manager Nemanja Pivec to quit as a result. Poor old Nikola Zivic came into a club in turmoil and in the end keeping Arka up has to be considered a success, the 65 year old had been adored by the Granica support throughout his time there (his only other managerial appointment in a long career), so the lack of enthusiasm the Arka fans had for him (he was seen as a bit of a board stooge) probably cut deep. He was a forlorn figure at times on the touchline and it was no surprise to see him resign once the season came to an end. Arka will try to move forward into a new era under Luka Kostic’s leadership. The long-time Crvena Zvezda manager delivered their best years of success with the help of Jezdimir Ocokoljic and Arka’s board have decided he is the man to take them forward. It seems to have reignited the enthusiasm of the Arka support, but we’ll have to wait to see if it results in changes to the club’s approach to recruitment.

For a long time Arka have been considered one of the best-run clubs in Mytanija. That view seems to be dissipating a little given the chaos of the past couple of seasons. The Arka support will be pleased that the club haven’t sold any key players this summer, although it remains to be seen whether this is down to the board ‘seeing the light’ or if it is a product of the board fearing serious reprisals with further sales of the likes of Bruno Ozmec or Leandre Junior. It has mostly been fringe players leaving, with Ilija Canic leaving to join Dinamo Esca on a free transfer and Toro Martinez and Cosme Morillo departing on matching NSD 100,000 fees to Torpedo Vershina and SK Elita Ryzaev respectively. Two smart additions have been made, although neither really break the bank. We see Anton-Dusan Straka return to Snezhnaya on a free upon the expiration of his contract with Liria Prizren. It’s hoped the 31 year old has a couple more years left in him yet. Azem Senekovic also joins from Crvena Zvezda for NSD 500,000, Luka Kostic gaining a player he trusts from his old club following relegation and Crvena Zvezda will be grateful for the money. It seems a good deal for both sides, with Senekovic able to add some experience to the Arka midfield.

• What represents success for Arka in 30/31?
There is an expectation that Arka have a much more comfortable campaign this year and the signings of Straka and Senekovic appear to be the board offering a bit of an olive branch to the support to show they’re working towards that end. Straka in particular is a very good signing for PR purposes, but the Arka support won’t be fobbed off with that signing if it doesn’t help to deliver concrete improvement on last season. Krivulja Sjever aren’t known for being the most well-tempered bunch in the world and you imagine they won’t tolerate another relegation-threatened campaign. If Luka Kostic can come in and steer Arka to a safe mid-table position over this season then he’ll quickly build up a lot of credit both with the fans and the board and that could potentially help to enact some major changes across the board in Snezhnaya. Given how Arka struggled last term and the board’s consistent approach to buying and – mostly – to selling players there is not too much in the way of optimism over this season being any different to the last or the board finally realising that selling your best player year after year is a bad idea.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 12th - It will be interesting to see how Luka Kostic does in his first season with Arka, he had some fantastic times at Crvena Zvezda and coaches an attacking style of football which can get the fans onside quickly. Scoring was one of Arka’s problems last season – Smajlovic and Leandre Junior were joint leading goal scorers with a paltry six apiece – but that certainly shouldn’t be an issue in a Kostic coached team and with Straka back at the club, he loves to poach a chance or two and netted ten times last season. The other side of Kostic is that his departure from Crvena Zvezda came after a few years of the board selling the club’s best players to service their financial issues. This seems reminiscent of Arka’s situation, albeit theirs is self-imposed as the board use sales to keep the club as sustainable as possible. The Arka squad now compared to Kostic’s Crvena Zvezda squad in the last few seasons of his time there might be an eerie comparison for some within the Arka support. He did manage to get that depleted squad to win the National Cup in 28/29 before relegating them a season later, whether Arka supporters would be happy with that pay-off is hard to say. We feel he’ll be able to steer them to a safer 12th place by the end of this season.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Sergei Khlebov        25   MYT      3.0
DL    Veselin Hristov       25   MYT      2.5
DC    Ezi Yivix-Zenon       21   QUS      2.5
DC    Sinisa Jaksic         28   MYT      2.0
DR    Sime Dujmic           27   MYT      2.0      DL/DR
MC    Azem Senekovic        27   MYT      3.0
MC    Bruno Ozmec           22   MYT      3.5
MC    Dejan Pavlovic        29   MYT      2.5      Captain
AMC   Leandre Junior        23   LOR      3.0
ST    Anton-Dusan Straka    31   MYT      3.5
ST    Safet Smajlovic       27   MYT      2.5

GK    Antonio Pueko         26   MYT      2.0
DL    Adam Grdic            18   MYT      2.0
DC    Martin Zvokelj        35   MYT      2.0      DC/MC
DC    Janez Jezersek        18   MYT      2.0
DR    Gordan Cindric        33   MYT      1.5      DL/DR
MC    Vinko Zagorac         18   MYT      2.5
MC    Marko Maras           18   MYT      2.0
AMC   Dario Lukacic         19   MYT      1.0
ST    Aca Zivanovic         25   MYT      2.5      AMR/ST
ST    Samir Mevzelj         35   MYT      2.0

ARKA
IN
Azem Senekovic [MYT] from Crvena Zvezda to Arka, NSD 500,000
Anton-Dusan Straka [MYT] from Liria to Arka, free transfer

OUT
Ilija Canic [MYT] from Arka to Dinamo, free transfer
Toro Martinez [AZT] from Arka to Torpedo, NSD 100,000
Cosme Morillo [DOM] from Arka to SK Elita Ryzaev, NSD 100,000

Legends: Mikkel Kohlemainen (player); Daniel Schiffer (manager); Nate Parkinson (player); Leandre (player)
Icons: Tim Dalgaard (player); Samir Mevzelj (player); Obioma Chukwufumnanya (player); Hans Nielsson (player); Martin Zvokelj (player)

LOK. CASSIA

Location: Cassia, Rauchnya
Stadium: Stadion Cassia (Capacity: 22,000)
Manager: Edis Znidarsic, 40, 3rd season in charge; T: philosopher, R; resourceful, P: ambitious

Club synopsis: The club of Cassia's (and Rauchnya's) railway workers, Lok. are your standard well-supported provincial team which perhaps hasn't always played as well as a team from a city of around 1 million people should. Their rivalry with Ararat Severyan is one of the most fiery matches in Mytanar football and hasn't been played as often in recent years due to the two clubs' different trajectories, a resumption of the fixture is always eagerly awaited on both sides of the Rauchik divide. They are a club of modest means, but they are another which has been bolstered by recent government investment, a brand new stadium their reward ahead of the Copa Rushmori held in Mytanija. Lok. Cassia held the unwanted accolade of being the worst Top League club ever for around 12 years following their pitiful total of 12 points in the 16/17 season, thankfully that has since been surpassed in sheer awfulness by FK Magevskaya's 10 point season in 28/29.
Fanbase: Whilst Lok. Cassia's main rivals Ararat Severyan respond to anti-Rauchik sentiment by promoting Mytanar unity and inclusivity, the Gate 11 ultras respond to it with vociferous right-wing Rauchik nationalism. Gate 11 do not have as much influence over the club as other right-wing groups seem to enjoy and they are regularly criticised by players, managers and more moderate sections of the Lok. fanbase as a result. It is a large fanbase which crosses socioeconomic lines due to the size of Cassia's population. Their biggest rivalry is with Ararat Severyan due to both regional proximity and opposing political views; and the Gate 11 group also have a bone to pick with CDSA's ultras whom they regard as lily-livered communists that talk a good game but weren't there when the Rauchik people were being exterminated by Kalinina's regime. There are regularly violent clashes with right-wing groups from parts of the country which backed Kalinina's regime too (eg. with Energija-Nuklearna's Grolija, 1923 Esca's Odeljak 1-11 etc).
Rivals: Ararat Severyan (Rauchik Derby); CDSA (political)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★★ / Training facilities ★★ / Youth academy ★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★ / Scouting ★★ / Youth recruitment ★★
Sponsors: Inženira (engineering)

Major honours: none

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Irma Simunec
• Where do Lok. Cassia stand ahead of the 30/31 season?
Lok. Cassia were fantastic last season, a breath of fresh air in the Druga Liga with their attacking style of football allowing them to score an incredible 87 goals in 30 games. Their defence wasn’t so good, conceding 55 over the course of the season (the third worst record in the second tier and even worse than relegated Turbine Decraa!), but their attacking play was brilliant enough to win them the Druga Liga and gain promotion to the Top League as a result. A third round exit from the National Cup at the hands of Litala ’93 is nothing to be sniffed at either given that the focus was very much on the league. Edis Znidarsic is gaining a reputation as a fantastic manager – another of the ‘Repin school’ of tactical flexibility – and drawing glances of admiration from the likes of Atletik and Liria, something which could result in job offers should either Hjik or Badjkev leave either of those jobs. That sort of attention should say everything about his quality as a coach.

Retaining their creative midfield duo of Slavoj Akrapovic and Izudin Kastelec is probably their best bit of business over the summer, both had extremely impressive campaigns in the Druga Liga last season. Keeping hold of your best players is one of the most important aspects ahead of a potential relegation fight and Lok. Cassia have passed that particular test with flying colours. Znidarsic does have to deal with a flurry of retirements however and the fact that all are experienced campaigners will make it an especially large blow. Alessandro Trevi marshalled the Lok. defence brilliantly during their promotion push last year, whilst Marko Dukic was crucial on the right-side of their defence (an area which does look particularly weak in his absence). Evgeny Netto provided experience from the bench. Lok. Cassia’s only signing is Efthimis Spiteroglou from Atletik Thessia, the Othilean forward signing for NSD 250,000 after a particularly fruitful loan spell in the 28/29 season. That was Znidarsic’s first year with Lok. Cassia and Spiteroglou made such an impression on the young coach that he was happy to bring him back after he spent a year coming off the bench for Atletik during the 29/30 campaign. It gives Lok. Cassia a younger threat up front with the veteran Srecko Stankovic now 35 and not having the same pace in his legs. Spiteroglou could grow into a great striker for Lok., he has a bit of everything and with the right service he has shown he can score goals. The issue could be stopping goals going in at the other end, though Gerasim Runov remains a very solid goalkeeper and should bail their rather ramshackle back four out of trouble several times this season.

• What represents success for Lok. Cassia in 30/31?
The Lok. Cassia board will feel that they have to take advantage of having Edis Znidarsic in charge whilst he remains in Rauchnya. There will surely come a time when he moves on to a bigger club and Lok. could do with establishing themselves as a Top League side before he decides to do that, lest they follow a similar path to NK Dyka and lose their top-flight status and their exceptionally talented manager (in that case Dzvezdan Kitanchev) in close succession. Rebuffing offers for Slavoj Akrapovic and Izudin Kastelec from mid-table Top League sides demonstrates that the club’s board are serious in their ambitions, those are the sort of players that will keep you up. A small spend on Spiteroglou backs the manager too, it’s understood Znidarsic wanted Spiteroglou specifically and the young Othilean will have to play a big part if Lok. Cassia are going to stay up. Retaining their Top League status would be a brilliant achievement, you feel that if they don’t it could be a while before Lok. Cassia could play at this level again as you imagine it’ll be the end of Znidarsic, Akrapovic and Kastelec representing the Rauchik club.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 14th - Sadly for Lok. Cassia the history of the Mytanar Top League suggests that even with their inspirational manager and some fine players in midfield positions they are going to struggle to stay up. They are very similar to last season’s NK Dyka and if they mirror their performance it will mean that they impress throughout the campaign but end up relegated despite that. The right-side of their back four – made-up of Miralem Rakic and Enej Kumar – looks like the right-side of Druga Liga club’s defence. The 21 year old Miljan Kocjan has a steep learning curve in the other central defensive position as he takes over as a starter, even with his undoubted potential. Left-back Vladan Marusic falls into a similar category to Rakic and Kumar. You know Znidarsic’s team are going to be fine going forwards, but it will be a real test of the young manager to keep things tight at the back in the Top League with this defensive personnel. If he can manage that then he might well keep Lok. Cassia in the Top League. It is difficult to see that being possible and for the Gazeta Sporta writers that’s a rather terminal problem which will result in relegation.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Gerasim Runov         27   MYT      3.0      Captain
DL    Vladan Marusic        24   MYT      2.0
DC    Miljan Kocjan         21   MYT      2.5
DC    Miralem Rakic         33   MYT      1.5
DR    Enej Kumar            26   MYT      1.5
DMC   Vukasin Jelic         28   MYT      2.5      DMC/MC
MC    Slavoj Akrapovic      22   MYT      3.5
MC    Izudin Kastelec       19   MYT      3.0
AML   Edvin Vehovec         20   MYT      2.5
AMR   Milos Tsvetanov       30   MYT      2.0      AMR/ST
ST    Efthimis Spiteroglou  22   OTH      2.5

GK    Daniel Novakovic      20   MYT      2.0
DL    Vladan Basic          34   MYT      2.0
DC    Daris Dolinsek        20   MYT      1.5
DC    Rasid Zuzek           17   MYT      1.5
DR    Svetozar Tomazin      21   MYT      1.0
DMC   Hajrudin Kerin        25   MYT      2.0
MC    Joso Pretnar          17   MYT      2.0
MC    Misel Lukic           28   MYT      1.5
AML   Rolando Ledinek       24   MYT      1.5
AMR   Smajil Krasevec       17   MYT      2.0
ST    Srecko Stankovic      35   MYT      2.5
ST    Anel Belsak           18   MYT      2.0

IN
Efthimis Spiteroglou [OTH] from Atletik to Lok. Cassia, NSD 250,000

RETIRED
Marko Dukic [MYT], DR, 37
Evgeny Netto [MYT], MC, 37
Alessandro Trevi [AUS], DC, 38

Legends: Viktor Janczek (manager)
Icons: Takats Piursz (player); Sergey Kochergin (player); Edin Znidarsic (manager/player)

RUDAR

Location: Uchenik, Avnalia
Stadium: Velenija (Capacity: 20,000)
Manager: Dusko Konecni, 49, 7th season in charge; T: counter, R: resourceful, P: charismatic

Club synopsis: Rudar are a small club from Avnalia who represent Uchenik's mining workers. They are a working-class club with deep roots in their local community and their support is fiercely loyal despite their relative lack of numbers. Uchenik is a relatively poor place and this is reflected in the club's finances and therefore its recruitment, the club has to produce its own players where possible due to the financial restrictions it has in place. Across Mytanija Rudar is thought of as a tough place to go despite the good weather, Velenija's stands are so tight to the pitch it creates a really intimidating atmosphere and its 20,000 capacity represents 10% of Uchenik's population when full. That demonstrates the importance of the club to locals.
Fanbase: A small but loyal fanbase with significant links to Uchenik's mining community, something which all Rudar supporters are very proud of. Avnalia is a chain of three islands and Uchenik's island is the only one which has significant mining activity and Rudar supporters like the fact that this marks them out from their fellow Avnalis, some of which may support Nyva which is rather handy given they're Rudar's main rivals. Rudar's ultras PS 11-19 are enormously right-wing and have a deep friendship with Energija-Nuklearna's Grolija, both groups are regularly seen together at games against the likes of CDSA, Ararat and Atletik. This friendship is built upon their right-wing politics and support for the Kalinina regime as well as widespread adherence to the Zentrian Orthodox branch of Christianity in both Uchenik and Miago. PS 11-19 also have friendships with groups from 1923 Esca and FK Magevskaya for similar reasons. This means they have a large target on their backs when they visit clubs with left-wing supporters.
Rivals: Nyva Zvornik (All-Avnalia Derby)
Facilities: Stadium ★★ / Pitch ★ / Training facilities ★★ / Youth academy ★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★ / Scouting ★★ / Youth recruitment ★★
Sponsors: RM I-P (mining)

Major honours: none

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Cerim Jovic
• Where do Rudar stand ahead of the 30/31 season?
Bouncing straight back from relegation is often considered to be quite, but in recent years it does seem to be happening more and more often. Rudar managed it last season by keeping faith with Dusko Konecni and keeping hold of key players like Ante Tutic, Lenka Novachkov and Stamat Dumbalakov. It means that whilst Rudar’s team is quite young it has lots of players that are very familiar with Konecni’s playing style and with playing alongside one another. Even if they don’t have the quality to stay up they have a group of players that are developing well alongside one another as long as they can keep hold of the key pieces. A 2nd place Druga Liga finish and promotion is great, but if their 3-0 aggregate elimination from the National Cup at the hands of Tekstil Ibon is anything to go by Rudar might have a difficult season ahead of them.

Rudar manage to keep hold of their key men too, Stamat Dumbalakov and Ante Tutic in particular drawing attention and Konecni was very pleased to see the transfer window close with both of them still in Rudar’s squad. No sales and no retirements leave them with much the same squad as last season, although two new additions do improve their team overall. Yue midfielder Zhen Luo is a fantastic addition on a free transfer, joining from his homeland from Beian Rovers. Luo will definitely improve Rudar’s chances of staying up and as long as he plays well he should end up playing Top League football in 31/32 no matter what happens this season. Luka Cvitanic was part of the Tekstil team which dispatched Rudar with ease during the National Cup last season and he arrives on a free transfer to beef up Rudar’s centre-back options on a bench which is pretty light on experience outside of himself, Kunovac and Jovic.

• What represents success for Rudar in 30/31?
It feels like staying up might be a bit belong this Rudar team, as it was the last time they were in the Top League, but it has to be their goal even if it is a particularly difficult one. Rudar seem to be producing useful second tier players quite often, so that might be their level, but given how Nyva have managed to establish themselves in the Top League over the past few years that surely has to be the aim of the Uchenik based club too. It’ll be extremely difficult for them to do that given that there’s three relegation spots and promoted sides always seem to struggle, so the slightly more realistic goal of winning a couple of All-Avnalia Derby games against Nyva might make what could be a very tough campaign a bit more palatable.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 15th - Rudar are undoubtedly going to struggle and we see them relegated in 15th this season. The likes of Stamat Dumbalakov, Zhen Luo and Ante Tutic will all improve their chances over the course of the campaign. You do feel that the best years of their Top League careers might be found somewhere other than at Velenija however. Lenka Novachkov is a decent second tier striker, but he is likely to struggle in the Top League with the greater quality on show in opposition defences. At least Tutic will continuously try to provide him with service. Look out for 18 year old left-back Kur Ordanov, he could have a big future ahead of him and he’ll be thrown in the deep end as a starter for them this season. Konecni is a decent enough coach, but this is a tough task given some of the teams he will have to fight against to keep Rudar up.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Zvonimir Luketic      27   MYT      2.0
DL    Kur Ordanov           18   MYT      2.0
DC    Stamat Dumbalakov     22   MYT      3.0
DC    Kur Samardzhiev       23   MYT      2.5
DR    Miljan Rakocevic      30   MYT      1.5
ML    Stojan Jovanovska     23   MYT      2.0 
MC    Zhen Luo              21   YZH      3.0
MC    Zvezdan Obradovic     31   MYT      2.5      Captain
MR    Ivan Tuntev           22   MYT      2.0
AMC   Ante Tutic            23   MYT      3.0
ST    Lenka Novachkov       23   MYT      1.5

GK    Branimir Lukic        24   MYT      1.5
DL    Ivica Ivezic          20   MYT      1.5
DC    Luka Cvitanic         33   MYT      2.0
DR    Blagoj Kovachev       20   MYT      1.5
ML    Sofroni Tsitskov      20   MYT      2.0
MC    Teodor Tsarknias      23   MYT      2.0
MR    Efim Kunovac          34   MYT      1.5
AMC   Mitse Gioshev         16   MYT      2.0
ST    Avgo Jovic            35   MYT      1.5

IN
Luka Cvitanic [MYT] from Tekstil to Rudar, free transfer
Zhen Luo [YZH] from Beian Rovers [YZH] to Rudar, free transfer

Legends: Boba Umkhayev (player); Dusko Konecni (manager)
Icons: Vaclav Simon (manager); Zvezdan Obradovic (player)

FK MAGEVSKAYA

Location: Stratenberg, Magevskaya
Stadium: Utcastadion (Capacity: 26,000)
Manager: Slava Raspopov, 49, 5th season in charge; T: possession, R: developer, P: casual

Club synopsis: The footballing arm of the famed Magevskaya sports club, they aren't quite as successful as their sibling organisations in other sports, most commonly found bouncing between the Top League and Druga Liga. FK Magevskaya are known for trying to be quite progressive in terms of the football they play, with the club playing the same possession game through all the age-groups from the under-9 team to the men's team. They also try to be as self-sufficient as possible in producing players through the club's youth system, FK Magevskaya have solid recruitment within their home region - although their rivals Vitalia are increasingly competing with them more and more in that department - however they are rather limited in trying to broaden their reach given that they are based on an island on its own off the coast of mainland Mytanija, with their nearest neighbours being Princess Beatrice Island and Bakartirla rather than other Mytanar regions.
Fanbase: A moderately sized fanbase by national standards, FK Magevskaya's support crosses across socioeconomic boundaries given its position as the biggest representative of the region when it comes to football. Historically Magevskaya sided with the Kalinina regime during the Mytanar Conflict and this does mean that FK Magevskaya aren't particularly well-liked in certain parts of Mytanija because their supporters generally reflect those political positions (Vitalia are the left-wing Magev club that is supportive of Mytanar unity). Their fanbase want to see Magev players in their starting line-up, that's more or less the only expectation they have for the club. Ultras Magev are right-wing ethnonationalists who have friendships with the likes of 1923 Esca's Odeljak 1-11, Energija-Nuklearna's Grolija and Rudar Uchenik's PS 11-19 due to their political beliefs.
Rivals: Vitalia (regional)
Facilities: Stadium ★★★★★ / Pitch ★★★★★ / Training facilities ★★★ / Youth academy ★★
Recruitment: Financial power ★★ / Scouting ★ / Youth recruitment ★★
Sponsors: Yakhontov (brewery)

Major honours: none

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GAZETA SPORTA SEASON PREVIEW by Nevenka Planinc
• Where do FK Magevskaya stand ahead of the 30/31 season?
FK Magevskaya squeaked into third place in the Druga Liga last season, finishing a point better off than the now disgraced Akademija. It allowed them to bounce straight back to the top tier and compete against the great and the good of Mytanar football. Perhaps the most impressive part of FK Magevskaya’s 29/30 campaign was their run in the National Cup. The Stratenberg side managed to get all the way to the semi-finals, nearly threatening to become only the second lower league side ever to win the National Cup (after Tekstil Ibon). That would have been quite the story, but unfortunately for the Magev side CDSA turned up to ruin their fun with a 6-3 aggregate victory at the last hurdle before the final. A fantastic year in the end and one which vindicated the club’s decision to stick with Slava Raspopov as manager despite their relegation in the previous season.

Not much in the way of business for FK Magevskaya at all and sadly for them they can’t really even point to keeping hold of their best players as a great piece of business because nobody really came in for the likes of Alexei Shinsky or Aleksandar Ovichnik. Captain Olexandr Sokolenko is 37 and still one of their better players, which says a lot, although the likes of Viktor Kolosov, Yeremey Gribov and Sejfudin Pasic being with the team means that they should be in a decent position to cope without Sokolenko whenever he decides to call time on his career. Vladimir Kainovski was FK Magevskaya’s only piece of business in or out and he joins from NK Dyka on a free to add a little more experience on the bench in centre defence. Again, this looks a lot like a Druga Liga side in specific areas still, a very similar problem to that which Rudar Uchenik are likely to face this season. It’s likely to make sure FK Magevskaya suffer a similar fate come the end of the campaign.

• What represents success for FK Magevskaya in 30/31?
Last time FK Magevskaya were in the Top League they managed to take the rather unwanted tag of ‘worst Top League team ever’ as they could only manage 10 points with a mere 22 goals scored and 77 conceded over the course of a thirty game season. It was a truly dire return and anything which offers an improvement on that would have to be considered a success for the Magev club this year. Staying up obviously has to be their eventual goal too, even if it will be extremely difficult given their lack of quality in a few areas. An expanded Utcastadion gives them a brilliant place to play their football, but it’s not clear that the board’s ambitions will allow that football to be in the Top League again come the 31/32 season.

GAZETA SPORTA WRITERS' PREDICTION: 16th - Whilst FK Magevskaya do have some decent players – the likes of Ovichnik and Shinsky – there’s a few too many positions which can be exploited by opponents. Their unusual 4-3-2-1 formation provides plenty of protection for their back four, which might help their chances, but at this point we’ve seen the likes of Tyoma Putinov and Stas Bebchuk in the Top League and we know what they can offer. They will find it hard and it’s likely that Ipar Amiyategi’s best years are behind him between the sticks, all of which seems to be a recipe for disaster even if Kolosov is a passable lower-end Top League defender and Gribov has potential aplenty. At the other end Pasic and Sokolenko should be decent enough, though Yevdokim Mosyakov might find the step up a bit too hard even if he has played at this level before. FK Magevskaya will probably be relegated, but even if that is the case their bench full of youngsters that have potential to come good means it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them back at this level once again in a couple of seasons.

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Pos.  Name                  Age  Nation   Ability  Notes
GK    Ipar Amiyategi        33   ASG/EQS  2.0
DL    Tyoma Putinov         28   MYT      1.5
DC    Viktor Kolosov        25   MYT      2.5
DC    Stas Bebchuk          27   MYT      1.5
DR    Yeremey Gribov        21   MYT      2.5
DMC   Rados Ristic          29   MYT      1.5
DMC   Aleksandar Ovichnik   19   MYT      3.0
DMC   Alexei Shinsky        24   MYT      3.0
AMC   Sejfudin Pasic        19   MYT      2.5
AMC   Olexandr Sokolenko    37   MYT      2.5      Captain
ST    Yevdokim Mosyakov     22   MYT      2.0

GK    Artemiy Zheglov       18   MYT      2.0
DL    Roman Shelomov        18   MYT      2.0
DC    Vladimir Kainovski    32   MYT      1.5
DC    Zafer Muratovic       35   MYT      1.0
DR    Adam Yakushev         23   MYT      2.0
DMC   Luka Shchavelsky      16   MYT      1.5
DMC   Sasa Cosic            32   MYT      1.0
AMC   Seryozha Koryavin     23   MYT      2.0
AMC   Arkadiy Prokofiev     18   MYT      2.0
ST    Jora Zyomin           22   MYT      2.0

IN
Vladimir Kainovski [MYT] from NK Dyka to FK Magevskaya, free transfer

Legends: Nyar Utca (player); Olexandr Sokolenko (player)
Icons: Vasya Kanadin (manager); Alexei Shinsky (player); Viktor Kolosov (player)

[Mytanija]

MYTANAR TOP LEAGUE 30/31 SEASON REVIEW PART 1

There’s a strong argument that fairy-tale endings are a rarity in real-life. That’s why they are reserved for reassuring bedtime stories for children, laced with moral lessons about right and wrong along the way, but the hero always ends up happy. Football – like most art forms – tends to imitate life and you find that the storybook conclusions are something supporters speak about in hushed tones, willing them to come true, but the sport often has other ideas. Football is a brutal game. There is little room for sentiment. Clubs have to employ the best players and coaches they can afford and it means others get cast aside with very little though. The biggest clubs have more money and as a result can break-up promising collections of players at smaller clubs almost at will. A player will join and become a part of a well-oiled winning machine; alternatively they can join and flop, consigned to the ignominy of being thrown onto the scrapheap of players who couldn’t quite reach the required level. Supporters remain a constant and all the while they are yearning for a fairy-tale ending to their season, experiencing the journey on the way to lifting a trophy is like very little else. At the opposite end the relegation candidates experience a story which is very different, the sort which parents might tell their children to scare them into better behaviour. A slow march towards seemingly inevitable doom, standing on the precipice of relegation and hoping that their team can be the one to walk the proverbial tightrope to safety. For three clubs there is no fairy-tale ending and second tier football awaits in the following season, but every so often the stars can align and clubs can experience their fairy-tale, during the 30/31 campaign that happened for two quite different teams: Liria Prizren and 1923 Esca.



At the start of the season there were whispers of Liria Prizren manager Danek Badjkev calling time on his managerial career. He would be 65 come the end of the season and would have spent five seasons in charge in his second spell as manager of the club. He had unquestionably got them back towards the pinnacle of the Top League, but some wondered if his considered build-up possession-based football had perhaps been left behind a little in this day and age. Liria are one of the three biggest teams in Mytanija, incredibly well-supported (second only to Atletik in that particular category); financially powerful; and successful. The issue for many Liria supporters is that all of that success – their three Top League titles, three National Cups, two UICA Globe Cups and a Rushmore Copa de Campeones – belongs to a bygone era. If they went trophyless in the 30/31 campaign it would be 15 years since their last domestic triumph. Danek Badjkev had also been in charge for that trophy-laden era, but some questioned whether the club was being too sentimental in keeping him on whilst their Klasicni rival Atletik continued their domestic dominance. Badjkev himself wondered in private if it would be best to hand the reins over to somebody else, he had built the ship for them, but maybe it was time for somebody else – with fresh ideas – to captain it and steer Liria into a successful new era.

Their campaign started under a cloud, the media asking questions about Badjkev’s future and the manager becoming increasingly irritable in having to answer them. A defeat at recently promoted Lok. Cassia and a draw against determined CDSA left them with only one win in their first three whilst Atletik started the season with three wins from three. It couldn’t happen again, could it? Surely Atletik couldn’t win three titles on the bounce? Liria’s captain, the veteran centre-half Niksa Obadko, held discussions with the team and they decided that they needed a clear answer from the gaffer on what his future looked like. The team respect him enormously, many owing their status at the club to Badjkev’s transfer dealings, but the off-field questions from journalists were distracting the team. Obadko approached Badjkev and informed him of the team’s concerns and the legendary manager took his time in making a decision on what to do next. Some managers might have seen it as a potential mutiny, a problem to be nipped in the bud from the very start, players should play no matter what is going on around the club, right? Badjkev was too experienced to fall into such a trap, he needed the players to play for him, particularly if he wanted to go out on a high. He had made his decision and wanted this to be his final season as Liria manager. Niksa Obadko passed the information on to the players and it galvanised the team, they resolved to give him the fairy-tale ending they felt he deserved.

“He told us what was happening and we said we had to fight like animals for the gaffer. We know how much he means to this club and we wanted the supporters to have great memories of him, we wanted him to be able to retire at the top.” Davor Mahovlic told the club’s internal media team at the end of the campaign. Badjkev made a brave decision in making the 22 year old midfielder a key part of the starting line-up this season, selecting him ahead of the more experienced Othilean Kostas Aklis. Mahovlic became a bit of a firebrand for the supporters as the season wore on, proof if ever it was needed that the club’s youth academy – famed for producing midfielders like Yuri Matveyev – was alive and kicking. Mahovlic is a different type of midfielder to Matveyev, though, all energy and bite in the centre of the pitch. His presence was key in Liria’s season however, his combative play alongside the excellent Mersudin Smajic allowed Radovan Pogaenik to really flourish. Pogaenik has been a frustrating player at times down the years, but he’s still only 26 and once freed of defensive responsibilities this season he became a real difference maker. Few would bet against him adding to his 11 caps for Mytanija in this kind of form. He was able to operate in advanced areas, creating lots of chances alongside Alen Gvetadze, safe in the knowledge that Smajic and Mahovlic would be there to shield the Liria defence behind him.

A pivotal week in autumn arrived, Liria would play Energija-Nuklearna and Atletik Thessia six days apart, a Sunday-Saturday turnaround which necessitated a team at the top of its game. Two matches against passionate opponents that would like nothing more than to trample all over Liria’s title hopes. Liria were helped by Atletik have a mid-week assignment against Savojar side Partisan Sjoedrhavn (a match which ended in a 4-3 defeat for the Thessian club), just before their fixture, but Danek Badjkev played down how much that mid-week exertion would affect the Klasicni claiming: “Atletik are a club which want to be fighting on all fronts, just like us, they have all the resources to deal with having two important games close together. There can be no excuses.”

It was a battle-cry which delighted the Liria support and after a thumping 3-0 Vojovitican derby win over Energija-Nuklearna the Prizren club went into the game full of confidence and belief, belief that this could be the season where they overturn the Atletik dominance of the Top League. As so often is the case with the Klasicni, the opening minutes were extremely cagey, neither side willing to give the other any space or easy opportunities. Robin Hjik could be seen cajoling his young side from the touchline, urging them to play forwards at speed, but Badjkev’s side were suffocating them with intense pressure. Mahovlic often leading attempts to win the ball back from his central midfield position. Mijat Simic was a constant thorn in the side of Bigger Mbala-Ekakia and Andrija Ugljanin too, the summer signing crossing the Miago-Prizren divide in the summer and looking to put his new team into title contention. He had scored the previous week against his old club and looked dangerous once again against Atletik. For all of Liria’s pressure and dominance the match was eventually decided by a mistake. Veteran full-back Tihomir Feric had come on for young Zahir Ivankovic around the hour mark and it was Feric’s square pass, intended for Mbala-Ekakia but not quite having the legs, which Simic seized upon and lashed past Nurija Jasarevic to silence the Novi Atletskistadion crowd. Badjkev and his coaching staff celebrated wildly on the sideline and at the end of the game the whole team gathered to salute a buoyant away section. The sense that something special was happening had suddenly arrived, fragrant in Thessia’s crisp autumnal air.

Suddenly Liria were away, that pair of wins giving them confidence and allowing them to get ahead whilst rivals 1896 Ebor, Atletik, FK Arsika, Olympic and a freshly emergent Ararat were dogged by inconsistency. Mijat Simic’s goals were a constant, he totted up 18 for the campaign in the end, but similarly important was their defensive record at the opposite end of the pitch – the second best in the Top League. A brief blip came after the winter break when Liria lost two in a row – a rarity over the course of the season – after coming up against an Omer Kuhar-Arh inspired Ararat and Sava Grgurovic’s excellent 1923 Esca side. That allowed 1896 Ebor back into contention, but Atletik’s young side seemed to be overawed by the prospect of a title battle and FK Arsika gradually fell away too. Niksa Obadko explained the feeling in the Liria camp: “We weren’t going to let it slip. We’ve spent too many years chasing after the others and we knew how it felt when we didn’t succeed, we didn’t want that feeling when we knew we had the best chance we might ever get. We wanted the gaffer to be able to say he had done the job he had come back to do: put Liria back at the top of Mytanar football again.”

A draw in the second Klasicni of the season back at the Stadion Prizren ensured Atletik would find it hard to close the gap, but 1896 Ebor retained an interest and given their star-studded line-up they would be exceedingly difficult to see off. Pasargan midfielder Michael Baer had proven to be an inspired signing, with Alexandre Onio improving the Northmen’s defence too. Their lack of a real star striker was cited as a potential reason that they might not be able to win the league, but their midfield and wingers chipped in with goals regularly and Petar Majdandzic was excellent as a focal point, the big striker adept at bringing everybody else into the game even if he isn’t the most natural goal threat himself. 1896 Ebor represented Liria’s final test, three weeks out from the end of the campaign, Liria a point ahead with three games to go. A win could pretty much seal the deal.

Liria were exceptional. Danek Badjkev’s team played 1896 Ebor off the park, defeating them 3-1 to effectively seal a first Top League title in fifteen years. Davor Mahovlic won man-of-the-match, he didn’t score or assist any goals but he was absolutely everywhere, a ball of furious midfield energy which didn’t allow the Northmen’s danger man Baer any time to think. Mersudin Smajic was also impressive whilst orchestrating Liria’s play as he so often does. Lazar Obradovic had a few important saves to make too, but was eventually beaten by Brajko Gavrilovic’s consolation goal. The Stadion Prizren crowd was absolutely jubilant, with two games remaining they had a four point gap and it appeared as if the title would be on its way to Prizren for the first time since the 15/16 campaign. Danek Bajdkev’s return would end in triumph, just as his first tenure had. A draw in the penultimate game away to Litala ’93 might not have been how they wanted to seal the championship but 1896 Ebor faltered against 1923 Esca too. The drought was over, the Top League title was returning to Prizren. A final day defeat against already relegated FK Magevskaya couldn’t dampen the Stadion Prizren crowd’s spirits, unusually 1896 Ebor also lost – against an Atletik side determined to finish in the top three – meaning the top two mimicked one another’s results over the final two weeks to ensure the gap remained at four points. None of that mattered to anybody in Prizren though, with Danek Badjkev perhaps summing it up best: “There’s no better way to end my managerial career than bringing the title back to these people, the Liria supporters have given me unconditional love and support over three different spells here as a player and then as manager twice. They deserve this success, we did it together, we got Liria back to where we belong!”

##  Top League             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01  Liria                   30   18   8   4    56   29  +27    62  C, IFCF CL
02  1896 Ebor               30   17   7   6    53   30  +23    58  IFCF CC
03  Atletik                 30   16   7   7    46   30  +16    55  IFCF CC
04  FK Arsika               30   16   6   8    49   33  +16    54  IFCF CC
05  Ararat                  30   16   5   9    40   25  +15    53
06  Olympic                 30   14   8   8    45   35  +10    50
07  1923 Esca               30   12  10   8    44   37   +7    46
08  Litala ’93              30   13   6  11    41   40   +1    45
09  CDSA                    30   10   9  11    38   39   −1    39
10  Lok. Cassia             30   10   8  12    40   48   −8    38
11  Tekstil                 30    9   7  14    40   50  −10    34
12  Nyva                    30    8   6  16    42   48   −6    30
13  Arka                    30    8   4  18    37   55  −18    28
14  Energija-Nuklearna      30    8   3  19    31   47  −16    27  R
15  Rudar                   30    7   5  18    30   56  −26    26  R
16  FK Magevskaya           30    7   3  20    28   58  −30    24  R

END OF SEASON AWARDS
Player of the Season:
#1: Mersudin Smajic [MYT] (Liria, MC, 24)
#2: Mingrong Yuan [YZH] (Ararat, DC, 25)
#3: Mijat Simic [MYT] (Liria, ST, 24)

Under-23 Player of the Season:
#1: Omer Kuhar-Arh [MYT] (Ararat, AMC, 21)
#2: Michael Baer [PAS] (1896 Ebor, MC, 22)
#3: Davor Mahovlic [MYT] (Liria, MC, 22)

Manager of the Season:
#1: Danek Badjkev [MYT] (Liria)
#2: Edis Znidarsic [MYT] (Lok. Cassia)
#3: Sava Grgurovic [MYT] (1923 Esca)

Golden Boot:
#1: Juljana Chmela [SRS] (FK Arsika, ST; 19 goals in 29 games)
#2: Mijat Simic [MYT] (Liria, ST; 18 goals in 27 games)
#3: Nebojsa Aleksic [MYT] (Tekstil, ST; 17 goals in 30 games)

Golden Glove:
#1: Pedja Kasun [MYT] (Ararat, GK; 12 clean sheets, 24 goals conceded in 30 games)
#2: Lazar Obradovic [MYT] (Liria, GK; 10 clean sheets, 29 goals conceded in 30 games)
#3: Oduor Bigombe [NYK] (1896 Ebor, GK; 9 clean sheets, 30 goals conceded in 30 games)

---

FIRST ROUND

...........Slavia   6–1   NK Custica      5–1  1–0
         Metalist   1–4   Pamuk           1–1  0–3
      Međunarodna   1–0   KF Shkelzena    0–0  1–0 (aet)
           Obalna   2–9   Slovan          2–5  0–4  
         Jedrenje   6–3   Obolon          2–0  4–3
     FK Sedlovina   1–4   Arsenal         1–2  0–2
             CVMZ   1–2   Spartak         0–1  1–1 (aet)
          Djakovo   1–2   Metalac         1–0  0–2 (aet)
          Hajerek   4–7   Rotor           1–2  3–5
           Padina   5–1   Vinogradar      3–0  2–1
             Meja   2–6   Ibalia          1–2  1–4
 FK Istocna Obala a 2–2   NK Istina       1–0  1–2
          JK Ebor   5–1   KF Volkovija    3–1  2–0
Jedinstvo Zavolja a 1–1   Radnik Avtovac  0–0  1–1
    Radnik Surcin   2–4   Granica         2–2  0–2
          Turbine   4–3   NK Bijeljina    3–2  1–1

SECOND ROUND

......JK Ebor   10–7   Jedrenje           6–3  4–4
       Pretia    6–2   Turbine            3–0  3–2
      Spartak    2–5   SK Elita Ryzaev    2–4  0–1
  Zeljeznicar    0–2   Crvena Zvezda      0–0  0–2
   BVK Dinamo    1–0   Dinamo             1–0  0–0
SK Port Jarko    0–1   Partizan           0–0  0–1
       Ibalia a  3–3   Lok. Ostrova       0–0  3–3
  Međunarodna    1–3   Zenit              1–1  0–2
      NK Dyka    4–0   Padina             3–0  1–0
      Torpedo    1–9   NK Thessia         1–5  0–4
      Granica    1–0   Jedinstvo Zavolja  1–0  0–0
        Pamuk    0–4   Vitalia            0–1  0–4
      Arsenal    7–3   Metalac            5–2  2–1
    Akademija    2–0   FK Istocna Obala   1–0  1–0
       Slovan    3–4   Slavia             0–1  3–3
        Rotor    1–0   Ribari             0–0  1–0

THIRD ROUND

...BVK Dinamo   4–2   NK Dyka             1–0  3–2
      Granica   1–8   Energija-Nuklearna  0–2  1–6
       Ararat   2–3   Nyva                2–2  0–1
       Ibalia   2–5   Pretia              1–2  1–3
      JK Ebor   3–4   Slavia              0–1  3–3
    1896 Ebor   3–1   Rotor               1–0  2–1
    FK Arsika   4–0   Atletik             3–0  1–0
      Vitalia   2–3   CDSA                1–1  1–2
      Olympic   6–2   SK Elita Ryzaev     2–0  4–2
        Rudar   5–5 a Crvena Zvezda       4–5  1–0
         Arka   0–1   1923 Esca           0–0  0–1
      Tekstil   3–2   Partizan            2–0  1–2
        Zenit a 1–1   Akademija           0–0  1–1
FK Magevskaya   2–4   Litala ’93          2–0  0–4
        Liria   5–1   Arsenal             4–1  1–0
  Lok. Cassia   0–1   NK Thessia          0–0  0–1

FOURTH ROUND

NK Thessia   2–5   Olympic             2–2  0–3
BVK Dinamo   1–2   Nyva                0–0  1–2
Litala ’93 a 3–3   Slavia              1–1  2–2
 1923 Esca   4–1   Zenit               2–0  2–1
   Tekstil   3–4   1896 Ebor           0–1  3–3
 FK Arsika   3–1   Energija-Nuklearna  2–1  1–0
    Pretia   1–2   CDSA                1–1  0–1
     Liria   1–2   Crvena Zvezda       1–1  0–1

QUARTER FINAL

1896 Ebor   2–1   CDSA           1–0  1–1
1923 Esca   5–1   Crvena Zvezda  4–1  1–0
     Nyva   4–7   Olympic        3–5  1–2
FK Arsika   3–0   Litala ’93     2–0  1–0

SEMI FINAL

1896 Ebor   0–1   FK Arsika  0–0  0–1
1923 Esca   6–3   Olympic    4–2  2–1

Final
Venue: Radnika, Esca (Attendance: 60,000)
Weather: Overcast (15°C)
Referee: Aleksandar Spasojevic

1923 Esca 1–0 FK Arsika

Sometimes certain managers just suit certain clubs. It can be the person you might least expect, too, like Sava Grgurovic in the case of 1923 Esca. 1923 Esca are often seen as the establishment club in the Mytanar capital. Those in the rest of the country regard the high opinion the club’s support have of themselves with derision given 1923 Esca’s lack of historic success, regularly cited as a classic example of how out of touch with reality Escans can be. They are well supported, though, with an excellent youth system and they play out of the country’s nominal national stadium. So why is it that 1923 Esca have struggled so much to match the biggest clubs from some of Mytanija’s other large cities? There has been mismanagement both at board level and by a string of inept coaches down the years. Whilst the likes of Atletik Thessia, Liria Prizren and 1896 Ebor were dominating Mytanar football 1923 Esca were experiencing severe financial issues and were even demoted to the second tier for a time. The ship has been steadied in recent years, first at board level and then on the pitch under the tutelage of Zdeslav Nesic (now of 1896 Ebor), and now latterly under the leadership of aforementioned Sava Grgurovic.

Prior to joining 1923 Esca Grgurovic had only ever managed Partizan Tsrvena, a provincial club best known for bouncing between the Top League and Druga Liga and for their main rival being Crvena Zvezda, the club of Jezdimir Ocokoljic, Petr Isaev et al. Being defined by who your rivals are and how you aren’t like them (god forbid!) is common in football, but the country’s biggest clubs have their own identity and absolutely define themselves on their own terms. It’s something 1923 Esca do, despite their lack of historic success, pointing towards being the capital’s biggest club – a disputed claim – and pride in producing fine young players that often go on to represent Mytanija. The likes of Srdan Vukovic, Dino Racic and Strahinja Nanusevski spring to mind in recent times, the latest additions to a fine roll call of players who started their careers with the Radnika club. For many 1923 Esca supporters asking Grgurovic to follow Nesic – a man who just seems to fit at big clubs due to his natural charisma – seemed like asking a 6’4 bruiser of a centre-half to try and be the encore after the opening night performance from one of the leading ballerinas at the nearby Esca Ballet. Grgurovic, to his credit, was always clear that he thought he was the right man for the job.

“I will come here and build a team. We will play hard-working football, become tough to beat and we will see where that takes us. I am sure the 1923 Esca fans will understand exactly what I’m trying to do soon enough.” He explained at the press conference just after being unveiled as the new manager. It wasn’t exactly what 1923 Esca supporters wanted to hear, particularly those with some delusions of grandeur about the exact way in which they wanted the team to play, one Odeljak 1-11 capo was ominously reported as saying that he ‘[didn’t] expect Grgurovic to last two months’ in the job. The feeling was that whilst he had done admirably with Partizan that this would be too big a job for him, one where he would have to try and balance the interests of various stakeholders and perhaps find it a bit too much. He had been able to run every aspect of Partizan whilst manager there, he would not be able to do the same thing with 1923 Esca.

In his first season the club came 12th relatively comfortably, finishing six points clear of the relegation zone and for once the Odeljak 1-11 ultras group were not setting off black smokebombs to illustrate their displeasure come the end of the season. A second round exit from the National Cup to the eventually relegated Rudar Uchenik was disappointing, but the main thing was creating a strong footing for the club to build on. Grgurovic could claim that as a small victory. In his second year at the helm they improved to 10th as Remy Vandendriessche really began to come to the fore, the influential Crelaander midfielder has arguably been key man during Grgurovic’s reign. Another second round exit from the National Cup stung, but as it was at the hands of league winners Olympic Thessia it was a little more palatable. A small improvement in Grgurovic’s third season, up to 9th, continued the upward trajectory. They still weren’t having too much joy in the National Cup however, with 1896 Ebor knocking them out in the third round (still the earliest opportunity as the competition was expanded). But by this point the doubters had changed their tune, Grgurovic had become a popular figure and even the ever hard to please Odeljak 1-11 were on side. It turned out he could hack it at a big club after all.

“We realised pretty quickly that this was a coach who knew his stuff, particularly when it came to setting up a team to make things difficult for the opponent.” Dino Racic explains. He grew into a fine defender and internationalist under Grgurovic’s management, developing enormously before being sold on to Savojar side Libertas Bergheim. “I think for a while there was an impression that 1923 Esca were this side that could play attractive stuff with lots of young players who weren’t afraid to express themselves, but that we had a soft centre due to the inexperience and that could be exploited. The boss changed that completely.”

It culminated with the club’s best season under Grgurovic in the 29/30 campaign, 1923 Esca finished in 6th, the best of the rest behind Mytanija’s big three of Atletik, Liria and 1896 Ebor and their closest challengers Olympic Thessia and FK Arsika. They did it comfortably too, six points clear of 7th placed Tekstil Ibon and really good value for the season. Grgurovic finished in second in the Manager of the Season award, with club captain Dino Racic matching the feat in the Under-23 Player of the Season gong. Unheralded Oppic goalkeeper Isak Vennerod managed third in the Golden Glove too thanks to the 9 clean sheets he and his defence managed to accumulate. It was a real team effort and an achievement that the club were understandably proud of at all levels.

“The boss changed what we thought was possible,” Remy Vandendriessche told the media following that season. “If you look at the age of our starting line-up it is young even by Mytanar Top League standards. Some of the lads didn’t think we could go up against these big teams with big name players and stand toe to toe, but that’s what Sava Grgurovic has made us believe we can do. And he’s been proven right by our results this season.”

Despite the league success one thing continued to evade them: a run to the latter stages of the National Cup. The 29/30 league campaign was excellent, but a disappointing result against Druga Liga side FK Magevskaya in the quarter finals left a bad taste in the mouths of everybody involved with the club. A 1-0 defeat at home at Radnika meant they weren’t out of it when they travelled to Magevskaya for the second leg, but they couldn’t turn things around as a stout defensive performance from the Magev club meant the tie fizzled out with a 0-0 draw, a 1-0 aggregate defeat. The disappointment was palpable all around the club, especially because FK Magevskaya were subsequently drawn against CDSA in what was seen as the more winnable tie at the semi-final stage – the other semi-final pitted Atletik Thessia against 1896 Ebor.

“We let the opportunity slip through our fingers,” Sava Grgurovic said calmly post-match. “I hope my players use this disappointment productively and try to ensure that they never feel like they do now again as a result. There’s some lads in that dressing room that are really cut-up about this. We’ve had a great season so far and we can’t let it affect what we have remaining.” Grgurovic deserves credit for ensuring it didn’t cause wider malaise for his team, steering them successfully to that 6th place finish and looking ahead positively to the 30/31 season.

And so to this season, the sale of Dino Racic worried a few given that he was the club’s captain and had been such a key performer in their excellent 6th place last year. However, this isn’t the 1923 Esca of 15-20 years ago who fail to reinvest intelligently, the club knew what they were doing. Off went Racic and in came Braco Evic, a player the capital club had sold to Atletik Thessia a few years prior due to his enormous potential. He never quite delivered on it for the Thessian giants but it was believed he would be coming back to Radnika with something to prove. Grgurovic had used a 4-4-2 formation for most of his time in charge, but the opportunity to bring in Marek Ladicorbic from relegated Crvena Zvezda on a cut-price fee meant a rethink of that and a switch to a 4-5-1 with an extra body in the centre of the pitch. Ladicorbic could sit at the heart of it, breaking-up the opposition’s play before then directing 1923 Esca’s own. Grgurovic showed no room for sentiment when raiding his old club Partizan for their starlet Imanuel Smiciklas, a 191cm playmaker who pairs power and creativity. A midfield trio of Vandendriessche, Ladicorbic and Smiciklas brings a little bit of everything to the table and really whet the appetite of a buoyant 1923 Esca fan base. Adding Mesud Erjavec for a bit more depth in the centre of the park showed ambition too.

It would have been difficult to follow-up the league campaign, but 1923 Esca were not far off, finishing in 7th and keeping the title as top dogs in Esca with their great rivals Litala ’93 a place further back in the table. Sava Grgurovic’s team might have dropped a place lower and been three points worse off than the season before, but a strong top-half finish was being paired with something the club hadn’t managed for a long time. An actual cup run. Like all the Top League clubs 1923 Esca entered the National Cup in the third round, being drawn against Arka Snezhnaya in a potentially tricky tie. A 0-0 draw up in Visoravna was fine and 1923 Esca scored early back at Radnika through promising young winger Milos Bajic, the only goal over 180 minutes of play and enough to see the capital club onto the fourth round where they would meet Zenit Esca in a local derby. Goals from Zeljko Kuzmanovic and Vandendriessche in the first leg gave 1923 Esca a nice buffer but an early Maciej Fomitschow goal at a raucous Turjaska threatened to make things unravel. Grgurovic’s half-time team talk was crucial.

“Good managers just seem to instinctively know the right words to tell their players in moments like that.” Mojsije Lazovic, one of the team’s starting centre-backs – another who has come on leaps and bounds under Grgurovic – said. “He calmed us all down, said we’d played in environments like this before and come through it just fine. We couldn’t let the crowd get to us, we had the better players and we had a quarter final to get to. ‘Get the ball down and play, trust your team mates’.”

In the second-half they were much better, dominating possession and quietening the Turjaska crowd. Imanuel Smiciklas equalised to put 1923 Esca 3-1 up on aggregate before substitute Thanasis Panagakos powered home a brilliant header from a delicious Vandendriessche cross. A 4-1 aggregate win and safe passage to the quarter finals. The draw gave Sava Grgurovic a chance to get one over his old club’s greatest rivals, Crvena Zvezda, which was also the case for Imanuel Smiciklas. It also meant an emotional return to the Stadion Ljudi for Marek Ladicorbic after he was relegated with them in the 29/30 campaign, his and Dusko Ocokoljic’s best efforts not enough to keep the club up. 1923 Esca were excellent in the first leg, rampant at times on their way to a 4-1 win, in the second things were a bit tighter and perhaps a little cruelly for the Crvena Zvezda support the game’s only goal came from their former hero Marek Ladicorbic. 1923 Esca were moving on to the semi-finals, one better than the season before, avoiding the banana skin of lower league opposition to set-up a huge tie against Olympic Thessia.

Olympic had endured a disappointing season, struggling for inconsistency and failing to get regular service into the likes of Anne-Linde van Oers and Adamo Fallaci. Rumours of an 1896 Ebor swoop for the former come the end of the season never really went away either, something Emil Jefak soon tired of during his press conferences. The Cup offered them an opportunity to salvage something from the campaign, but Grgurovic’s side were determined to get the club its first ever silverware and to a man seemed possessed by their end goal. The second leg being away from home concerned some among the 1923 Esca support, the Novi Kaunostadion would be a tough place to go behind or even with a lead, although Grgurovic was never really worried: “What can I do about that? We’ll play to win both legs of the tie.”

And they did exactly that, roaring out to a 4-2 win in the first leg with a Zeljko Kuzmanovic brace setting them on their way before overturning a 1-0 deficit to win the second leg 2-1 in Thessia. Vandendriessche was in inspired form, driving forward from midfield to score the equaliser before setting-up Emanuele Manzo for the winner. 1923 Esca would play in the National Cup final, an opportunity for the club to lift its first ever trophy, they would play the nouveau riche FK Arsika – a side which last tasted glory all the way back in the 05/06 National Cup final, meaning the meeting between the sides would be a bit of a collector’s item in terms of Cup finals. FK Arsika manager Dzvezdan Kitanchev is widely thought to be one of the most promising young managers in Mytanija, brought to FK Arsika to take them to the next level. He qualified for IFCF competition and got the club to the National Cup final in his first season, sending the likes of Atletik Thessia (4-0 on aggregate); Energija-Nuklearna; Litala ’93; and 1896 Ebor home before meeting 1923 Esca in the final. They had undoubtedly had the tougher run, facing a Top League opponent in every round and two of the best three teams in the country in Atletik and 1896 Ebor. They went into the final as favourites. Which was exactly what Sava Grgurovic wanted to hear.

“I got one of the office staff to print out photos of the odds different bookmakers were giving on 1923 Esca and FK Arsika to lift the cup. I put them up on the whiteboard in the dressing room and wrote six words: ‘they don’t think we can win’.” Grgurovic chuckles. “I might have been using a bit of creative licence. They didn’t have us as massive outsiders or anything like that, but that wouldn’t have been quite as good a motivational tool.”

But it worked, a few rocky moments notwithstanding, 1923 Esca played their usual hard-working, hard to beat game. FK Arsika playmakers Sefir Ajanovic and Vlado Arzhentinski weren’t given a second to think in the middle of the pitch, often having to play the ball back to Danilo Vasiljevic as Vandendriessche, Ladicorbic and Smiciklas buzzed around and blocked passing lanes into Pasha Secujac. Kemal Gajic’s pace was marshalled well by preventing the ball going in-behind or over-the-top and Juljana Chmela – winner of the Top League Golden Boot – was kept very quiet by Lazovic and Evic, both central defenders playing with passion and celebrating every tackle as if it was a goal. Given the enormous part he has played in Sava Grgurovic’s tenure it was rather fitting that the captain, Remy Vandendriessche, would score the winning goal.

“It had to be Remy,” Grgurovic says knowingly, a hint of emotion in his voice. “He just knows where to be when the big moments arrive.”

Good play by Milos Bajic down 1923 Esca’s right had FK Arsika on the retreat and a neat one-two with Imanuel Smiciklas got him to the by-line. Bajic appeared as if he was going to fire the ball across the six-yard box, as he had done a couple of times already during the game, but instead he gave the whole defence the eyes and cut the ball back to the penalty spot. The exact space Vandendriessche had chosen to run into. The Crelaander side-footed the ball through the crowd of bodies and underneath the diving Fadil Okanovic, tearing away to celebrate in a Radnika which could be heard on the other side of the capital. The final was a home game for 1923 Esca, their home ground of course being the nominal national stadium, estimates suggest that around 70% of those in attendance were supporters of the club as neutral tickets were sold on to them for the club’s biggest ever match. The noise was deafening and could only be matched by the roar upon Aleksandar Spasojevic’s full-time whistle, when it was confirmed that 1923 Esca had won the National Cup.

“Not bad for a fella who can only manage ‘provincial sides’, eh?” Grgurovic asks with a wry smile.