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Pre-decided title, but a battle on the other fronts – this is how the situation in the First League looks like before the start of the playoffs. For another year, the Bulgarian football championship holds such a format, in which after the end of the regular season of 30 rounds, the teams are divided into groups.
They are three – the first six, in which the teams fight for the title and the places to participate in the European tournaments, the second four, in which the intrigue is who will finish in seventh place, as well as the third six, where the relegations of the Second League are determined.
The playoffs start this weekend, with 42 games to be played within a month.
There is no title fight
Not even a miracle can deprive “Ludogorets” of the 13th consecutive title in the championship, after the team from Razgrad enters the playoffs with a lead of 12 points over CSKA. In the final phase, a maximum of 15 points can be won, so with a victory in the first round, “Ludogorets” will once again rejoice with the gold medals.
In the first round of the championship playoff, “Ludogorets” hosts the newcomer “Krumovgrad”, who is having a remarkable season and finished the regular season in sixth place.
The remaining matches of the first round are the derby CSKA – “Levski”, as well as “Black Sea” against “Lokomotiv” (Plovdiv). The first six is played with only one rotation of the teams, or five rounds.
© LAP.bg
Outside the first position, the intrigue is for the second place, which certainly gives the right to participate in the Conference League. CSKA enters the playoffs with only a point lead over “Black Sea” (63 vs. 62). The rest are behind, with “Lokomotiv” with 55 points, “Levski” with 54, and “Krumovgrad” with 44 points.
However, the fourth position could prove crucial at the end of the season because of the play-off for the Conference League. It pits the third-place finisher against the seventh-place finisher. In the event that one of “Ludogorets” or CSKA wins the Bulgarian Cup, the fourth will go to the play-off after the end of the playoffs.
The interesting matches in the first six:
(31st round) CSKA – “Levski” (weekend April 27-28)
(Round 32) “Ludogorets” – CSKA (May 11-12)
(Round 33) “Black Sea” – “Ludogorets”
(Round 34) CSKA – Black Sea
(round 35) “Levski” – “Ludogorets”
Who will be in the coveted seventh place?
In the final rounds of the regular season, the battle was not to enter the top six of the championship, but who would get away with it. Because of the championship system and the big differences, the sixth place finisher literally plays for nothing, while the group that will argue for the seventh position is very important.
It includes “Botev” (Plovdiv), “CSKA 1948”, “Arda” and “Slavia”, playing each against each twice.
On paper, all four teams in the group have chances for the seventh place, which gives the right to participate in the play-off for the Conference League. However, those of “Slavia” are only in theory, as the Whites have 33 points and are 11 behind “Botev” (44 points). “CSKA 1948” enters the playoffs with 43 points, and “Arda” has 39.
For “Botev”, there are also chances to participate in Europe in the Bulgarian Cup, as the team from Plovdiv is in the semi-finals, and in the first match it beat CSKA 1:0 and is waiting for a rematch.
The battle to stay in the elite
The situation is also intriguing in the third six, where there are “Beroe” (33 points), “Pirin” (30 points), “Heber” (30 points), “Lokomotiv” (Sofia) (28 points), ” Botev” (Vratsa) (22 items) and “Eter” (14 items). In this group, the teams also rotate once.
The bottom two in the standings are relegated directly to the Second League, while the 14th-placed team plays a play-off with the third-placed team in the second tier of football.
The one surefire loser seems to be Aether, who could only make it to the playoffs in theory. The team from Veliko Tarnovo is 14 points behind “Lokomotiv” (Sofia) with a maximum of 15 that can be won.
© LAP.bg
“Eter” and “Botev” (Vratsa) are almost certain to be relegated
With only six wins since the beginning of the season, “Botev” (Vratsa) also looks like it would be difficult to save. The situation is also difficult for “Lokomotiv” (Sofia), which has lost seven times in its last 10 matches. However, the differences from 11th to 14th place are small and each team is in danger of participating in a play-off.
The schedule of days and times for the playoffs in the First League is to be announced by the Sports and Technical Commission of the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU). What are the matches round by round see here.
