2008 Belarusian Premier League

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.

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 goalscorer Gennadi Bliznyuk (16)
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 →

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
Location of teams in 2008 Belarusian Premier League
Team Location Venue Capacity Position in 2007
BATE Borisov City Stadium, Borisov 5,500 1
Gomel Gomel Central, Gomel 11,800 2
Shakhtyor Soligorsk Stroitel 5,000 3
Torpedo Zhodino Torpedo, Zhodino 3,020 4
MTZ-RIPO Minsk Traktor 17,600 5
Neman Grodno Neman 6,300 6
Naftan Novopolotsk Atlant 6,500 7
Vitebsk Vitebsk Central, Vitebsk 8,300 8
Dinamo Minsk Minsk Dinamo, Minsk 41,040 9
Smorgon Smorgon Yunost 3,500 10
Darida Minsk Raion Darida 6,000 11
Dinamo Brest Brest OSK Brestskiy 10,080 12
Dnepr Mogilev Spartak 11,200 13
Savit Mogilev Torpedo, Mogilev 3,500 First league, 1
Granit Mikashevichi OSK Brestskiy 3,130 First league, 2
Lokomotiv Minsk City Stadium, Molodechno 4,800 First league, 3

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) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Naftan Novopolotsk qualified for the Europa League second qualifying round by winning the 2008–09 Belarusian Cup.

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 to Granit with a score of 3–0 because Darida did not field a team for the match.[1]

Belarusian clubs in European Cups
Round Team #1 Agg. Team #2 1st leg 2nd leg
2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup
First round Cracovia 1–5 Shakhtyor Soligorsk 1–2 0–3
Second round Sturm Graz 2–0 Shakhtyor Soligorsk 2–0 0–0
2008–09 UEFA Cup
First qualifying round Legia Warszawa 4–1 Gomel 0–0 4–1
MTZ-RIPO Minsk 2–3 Žilina 2–2 0–1
2008–09 UEFA Champions League
First qualifying round BATE Borisov 3–0 Valur 2–0 1–0
Second qualifying round Anderlecht 3–4 BATE Borisov 1–2 2–2
Thind qualifying round Levski Sofia 1–2 BATE Borisov 0–1 1–1
Group stage Real Madrid 3–0 BATE Borisov 2–0 1–0
BATE Borisov 2–2 Juventus 2–2 0–0
Zenit St. Petersburg 3–1 BATE Borisov 1–1 2–0

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

See also

References
  1. Дарида - Гранит 0:3 (in Belarusian)
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