On the photo: Petrocub head coach Shota Makharadze (left) is satisfied with the fact that the first phase ended on a major note // Photo: facebook.com
While the championship is “on pause”, the clubs will prepare for the decisive part and try to strengthen those positions that proved to be insufficiently reliable.
Since the change of the Super League format in 2022, only once out of three times the winner of the first phase became the Moldovan champion at the end of the season. In 2022, Sheriff went into the winter break as the leader and remained at the top of the standings until the final round on May 20, 2023.
The next two seasons were marked by unexpected castling. In the 2023/24 season, Sheriff were six points ahead of Petrocub before the winter break, but eventually fell six points behind them. The club from Hincesti then managed to gain 12 points in 10 rounds of the championship race.
Much more dizzying was the rise of “Milsami” in the season-2024/25. The gap from “Sheriff” at the end of the summer and fall part of the championship was 15 points. To win back such an impressive handicap from the 21-time champions of Moldova would have been impossible, but the Moldovan Football Federation (FMF) decided to reset all points before the second phase. The club from Orhei took advantage of this, Igor Picuszczak’s wards made a series of four consecutive victories at the beginning of the spring part. In the final round of the second phase with “Sherif” on its field in Tiraspol, “Milsami” managed to defend a zero draw, and with a margin of one point for the second time in its history to win the title of champions of Moldova.
The current Super League draw differs from the previous ones in that in the second phase the points earned by the first six teams before the winter break will be taken into account, although they will be divided into two. At the same time, the championship regulations approved by the FMF stipulate that only the points earned in matches against the first six teams in the league will be taken into account.
This clause caused numerous disputes in the soccer community and raised doubts about the observance of Fair Play provisions by teams in those matches that have no tournament significance. Perhaps the federation before the next season will listen to the critics, cancel this clause and thus nullify the attempts of unscrupulous figures to gain material benefits in matches involving outsiders.
“Petrocub” confidently moved towards the leading position in the Super League. Unlike the other teams of the “big four”, Hincesti relied on the pupils of their own academy. This gives results, which, in particular, is reflected in the application of the national team of Moldova, in which the players of the club from Hincesti are most widely represented.
Following the match of the final round of the first phase of the Super League with “Spartanii-Sportul” (8:0), the head coach of “Petrocub” Shota Maharadze said that the team wanted to leave for the winter break on a major note. “We approached this match in a fundamentally correct way, we realized that it was the end of the year. Many thanks to each player for their attitude to the game, beautiful goals and game discipline. Especially on this field, which is very difficult to play on,” the specialist emphasized after the away victory at the village stadium in Suruceni, Ialoveni district.
The Petrocub coaching staff counted exclusively on Moldovan players in this match. The only foreigner, 28-year-old Cameroonian midfielder Jesse Gera Giu, was absent even in the application form for the game. Petrocub striker Petru Popescu is second on the list of league scorers. He scored 11 goals in 21 Super League matches, that is, a quarter of the total number of goals scored by the club (44). In the ranking of the Super League clubs’ squad values, Petrocub is only in fourth position, significantly behind Sheriff (see table).
“Sheriff”, traditionally considered the favorite in the championship race, in the first phase had one of the worst series in its history, suffering four consecutive defeats. In early November, on the back of poor results, Vadim Skripchenko announced his resignation as head coach of the club, where he had been working for two months.
Matches with their principal rival, Zimbru, unexpectedly did not bring the Tiraspol team a single point. The capital club won all three meetings with a total score of 6:2, and this despite the fact that two matches were held in Tiraspol. The match on July 27 this year made history of this confrontation, as the Bisons managed to defeat the Wasps on their field for the first time in 17 years. The Tiraspol coaching staff is thinking about strengthening a number of positions during the winter break, which was recently mentioned by the assistant head coach Andrei Korneenkov.
Zimbru, managed by the Belarusian specialist Oleg Kubarev, performed stably, losing only at the start of the tournament to Milsami (0:3), Petrocub (1:2) and in the high-profile match of the 18th round with Spartanii-Sportul (2:3). The specialist brought with him to Chisinau several players, one of whom – striker Denis Kozlovski – became the leader of the attack, and at the end of the first phase with 15 goals in 21 matches became the leader among the scorers.
Milsami Orhei conceded the most among the Big Four clubs (25 goals), and before the second phase Igor Pikuschak and his team will have to work hard in order to fight for the title defense. Judging by the play in the first phase, it will be difficult for the Red Eagles to compete with the top three.
CSF Bălți will continue to fight with Dacia-Buiucani for fifth place. The gap between them will be initially large. In addition, Dacia-Buiucani failed to establish a stable game, and in the final part of the first phase, they repeatedly risked falling into the relegation zone. Fortunately for the Dacs, this did not happen.
The two outsiders were “Spartanii-Sportul” (Selemet village, Cimislia district) and the capital’s “Politehnica-UTM”, which last summer returned to the elite division after a 17-year absence. “Spartanii-Sportul was torn by the management situation and uncertainty about the future, while Politehnica-UTM lacked experience. The club, formed on the basis of Saksan (Ceadir-Lunga, ATU Gagauzia) and Radu Rebeji’s soccer academy, will have to compete with Spartanii-Sportul and the four leaders of Ligue 1 for the right to return to the Super League.
|
Ranking of Superleague clubs’ squad values |
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|
Place |
Club | Total squad value* |
Change (from 15.05.2025) |
|
1 |
“Sheriff |
€6.5 mln |
-24,4% |
|
2 |
“Zimbru” |
€5.66 mln |
+0,2% |
|
3 |
“Milsami |
€5.55 million |
+48% |
|
4 |
“Petrocub |
€4.66 million |
-22,3% |
|
5 |
CSF Bălți |
€2.44 mln |
+14,9% |
|
6 |
“Dacia-Buiucani |
€1.81 mln |
__** |
|
7 |
“Spartanii-Sportul” |
€1.59 million |
+51% |
|
8 |
“Politehnica-UTM |
€1.53 million |
__ |
| * According to Transfermarkt
** The club was not represented in the Superliga in the season 2024/25 |
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