Belarusian Premier League
Season2008
ChampionsBATE Borisov
RelegatedLokomotiv Minsk
Savit Mogilev
Darida Minsk Raion
Champions LeagueBATE Borisov
Europa LeagueNaftan Novopolotsk
Dinamo Minsk
MTZ-RIPO Minsk
Matches played240
Goals scored621 (2.59 per match)
Top goalscorerBelarus Gennadi Bliznyuk (16)
Belarus Vitali Rodionov (16)
Biggest home winBATE 5–0 Shakhtyor
Dnepr 5–0 Smorgon
Biggest away win2–6 – 1 game;
0–4 – 4 games
Highest scoringDarida 3–6 MTZ-RIPO
← 2007
2009 →

The 2008 Belarusian Premier League was the 18th season of top-tier football in Belarus. It started on April 6 and ended on November 16, 2008. BATE Borisov were the defending champions.

Team changes from 2007 season

Due to league expansion from 14 to 16 teams the only relegated team Minsk, who finished last in 2007, was replaced by three best teams of 2007 First League: Savit Mogilev, Granit Mikashevichi and Lokomotiv Minsk.

Overview

BATE Borisov won their 5th champions title and qualified for the next season's Champions League. The championship runners-up Dinamo Minsk, bronze medalists MTZ-RIPO Minsk and 2008–09 Cup winners Naftan Novopolotsk qualified for the inaugural tournament of Europa League. Due to decision to gradually reduce Premiere League to 12 clubs (14 in 2009, 12 in 2010) three lowest placed teams (Lokomotiv Minsk, Savit Mogilev and Darida Minsk Raion) relegated to the First League. The two latter teams disbanded prior to 2009 season.

Teams and venues

Team Location Venue Capacity Position in 2007
BATE Borisov City Stadium (Borisov) 5,392 1
Gomel Gomel Central Stadium 14,307 2
Shakhtyor Soligorsk Stroitel Stadium 4,200 3
Torpedo Zhodino City Stadium (Borisov)[1] 5,392 4
MTZ-RIPO Minsk Traktor Stadium 17,600 5
Neman Grodno Neman Stadium 6,300 6
Naftan Novopolotsk Atlant Stadium 5,300 7
Vitebsk Vitebsk Vitebsky CSK 8,350 8
Dinamo Minsk Minsk Dinamo Stadium[2] 40,000 9
Smorgon Smorgon Yunost Stadium 3,200 10
Darida Minsk Raion Darida Stadium 4,500 11
Dinamo Brest Brest OSK Brestskiy 10,080 12
Dnepr Mogilev Torpedo Stadium (Mogilev)[3] 3,500 13
Savit Mogilev Torpedo Stadium (Mogilev) 3,500 First league, 1
Granit Mikashevichi OSK Brestskiy (Brest)[4] 10,080 First league, 2
Lokomotiv Minsk City Stadium (Molodechno)[5] 4,800 First league, 3
  1. ^
    Due to renovation works at Torpedo Stadium in Zhodino, Torpedo spent most of the season at City Stadium in Borisov. In addition, one game was played at City Stadium in Molodechno and two games at Spartak Stadium in Bobruisk.
  2. ^
    One game played at Torpedo Stadium in Minsk.
  3. ^
    Due to renovation works at Spartak Stadium in Mogilev, Dnepr spent the season at Torpedo Stadium in Mogilev.
  4. ^
    Granit spent the season at OSK Brestskiy in Brest, as their own ground Polesye Stadium in Luninets was closed for renovation.
  5. ^
    Lokomotiv Minsk spent the season at City Stadium in Molodechno, as their own ground Lokomotiv Stadium did not meet Premier League criteria.

Table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 BATE Borisov (C) 30 19 10 1 54 20 +34 67 Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round
2 Dinamo Minsk 30 19 5 6 49 29 +20 62 Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round
3 MTZ-RIPO Minsk 30 17 6 7 65 37 +28 57
4 Shakhtyor Soligorsk 30 15 6 9 50 35 +15 51
5 Vitebsk 30 14 9 7 39 26 +13 51
6 Dinamo Brest 30 13 8 9 40 34 +6 47
7 Naftan Novopolotsk 30 13 7 10 41 35 +6 46 Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
8 Smorgon 30 10 9 11 26 39 −13 39
9 Dnepr Mogilev 30 9 11 10 45 42 +3 38
10 Granit Mikashevichi 30 8 12 10 35 34 +1 36
11 Gomel 30 9 6 15 35 47 −12 33
12 Neman Grodno 30 8 9 13 36 40 −4 33
13 Torpedo Zhodino 30 7 10 13 25 36 −11 31
14 Lokomotiv Minsk (R) 30 6 7 17 28 50 −22 25 Relegation to Belarusian First League
15 Savit Mogilev (R) 30 5 6 19 28 61 −33 21
16 Darida Minsk Raion (R) 30 4 7 19 25 56 −31 19
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd matches won; 3rd head-to-head
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Results

Home \ Away BAT DAR DBR DMI DNE GOM GRA LMN MTZ NAF NEM SAV SHA SMR VIT TZH
BATE Borisov 1–0 1–0 2–0 2–2 2–0 1–1 1–0 4–3 2–1 0–0 3–0 5–0 2–2 1–1 2–1
Darida Minsk Raion 0–2 1–4 0–3 2–1 2–1 0–3[lower-alpha 1] 0–2 3–6 0–3 2–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 1–0 1–1
Dinamo Brest 1–3 2–1 1–1 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–2 0–2 1–1 4–1 2–1 0–0 1–0 2–0
Dinamo Minsk 2–1 2–2 1–4 1–0 3–1 1–1 2–1 2–0 3–0 3–0 3–2 1–0 2–1 1–2 0–1
Dnepr Mogilev 3–3 2–1 2–1 3–1 1–1 0–1 2–1 1–2 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–2 5–0 1–1 2–1
Gomel 0–2 2–0 2–0 0–2 4–3 2–4 1–0 2–1 3–2 2–2 1–0 2–6 0–1 1–2 0–1
Granit Mikashevichi 2–2 1–1 2–2 2–3 2–3 1–1 0–1 1–3 3–1 1–1 1–0 0–0 3–0 1–4 0–0
Lokomotiv Minsk 0–3 2–2 2–0 2–2 2–1 0–0 0–0 0–3 4–0 0–4 2–0 0–4 1–2 0–3 1–1
MTZ-RIPO Minsk 0–0 3–3 4–0 0–1 3–1 3–1 2–0 3–1 0–2 1–1 6–2 1–1 1–0 1–2 4–2
Naftan Novopolotsk 1–2 1–0 0–0 1–1 2–0 1–2 1–0 2–1 2–3 1–0 2–0 1–1 3–1 0–0 0–0
Neman Grodno 0–2 2–1 1–2 0–1 2–1 1–0 0–1 2–1 1–1 1–2 1–1 1–2 0–0 2–1 1–0
Savit Mogilev 0–1 1–1 1–4 1–4 1–1 2–0 0–0 2–1 1–2 1–4 3–5 0–4 2–0 1–2 0–2
Shakhtyor Soligorsk 0–2 1–0 0–2 0–1 0–0 1–1 1–0 3–1 2–1 3–0 3–2 3–4 0–1 2–1 1–0
Smorgon 0–0 3–1 2–3 0–1 1–0 2–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 2–2 0–0 0–4 0–3 0–0
Vitebsk 0–2 0–0 1–0 1–0 2–4 1–1 2–1 0–0 0–3 1–1 1–0 2–0 3–0 2–0 0–0
Torpedo Zhodino 0–0 2–0 1–1 0–1 0–0 0–3 0–2 6–2 0–2 0–3 2–1 1–0 1–3 1–3 1–1
Source: football.by (in Belarusian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. ↑ The match of Round 27 was awarded as a 3–0 win for Granit as Darida boycotted the game due to a conflict with BFF over bad refereeing.[1]

Belarusian clubs in European Cups

Round Team #1 Agg. Team #2 1st leg 2nd leg
2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup
First round Cracovia Poland 1–5 Belarus Shakhtyor Soligorsk 1–2 0–3
Second round Sturm Graz Austria 2–0 Belarus Shakhtyor Soligorsk 2–0 0–0
2008–09 UEFA Cup
First qualifying round Legia Warszawa Poland 4–1 Belarus Gomel 0–0 4–1
MTZ-RIPO Minsk Belarus 2–3 Slovakia Žilina 2–2 0–1
2008–09 UEFA Champions League
First qualifying round BATE Borisov Belarus 3–0 Iceland Valur 2–0 1–0
Second qualifying round Anderlecht Belgium 3–4 Belarus BATE Borisov 1–2 2–2
Thind qualifying round Levski Sofia Bulgaria 1–2 Belarus BATE Borisov 0–1 1–1
Group stage Real Madrid Spain 3–0 Belarus BATE Borisov 2–0 1–0
BATE Borisov Belarus 2–2 Italy Juventus 2–2 0–0
Zenit St. Petersburg Russia 3–1 Belarus BATE Borisov 1–1 2–0

Top scorers

Rank Name Team Goals
1Belarus Gennadi BliznyukBATE Borisov16
Belarus Vitali RodionovBATE Borisov16
3Belarus Artem KontsevoyMTZ-RIPO Minsk15
4Belarus Alyaksandr HawrushkaDnepr Mogilev14
5Belarus Dzmitry MazalewskiDinamo Brest13
Belarus Ruslan UsawVitebsk13
7Belarus Andrey SherakowTorpedo Zhodino12
8Belarus Oleg StrakhanovichMTZ-RIPO Minsk11
Belarus Andrey TsevanDinamo Brest11
10Russia Aleksandr AlumonaNeman Grodno10
Belarus Dzmitry KavalyonakNeman Grodno10
Slovakia Róbert RákDinamo Minsk10

See also

References

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