The 2008–09 Serbian SuperLiga (known as the Jelen SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons) was the third season of the league since its establishment in 2006. It began on 16 August 2008SuperLiga: Trio za titulu, jedan ispada, MTS Mondo, August 15, 2008 and ended on 30 May 2009. Partizan successfully defended their title.
Team changes from 2007–08 FK Bežanija were relegated to the Serbian First League after finishing in 12th place. Promoted from the First League were champions FK Javor Ivanjica and runners-up FK Jagodina.
FK Smederevo, having finished in 10th place, had to play a two-legged play-off against the fourth-placed team from the First League, FK Rad. Rad won 4–3 on aggregate and thus were promoted to the SuperLiga while Smederevo were also relegated.
FK Mladost Lučani declined their participation for the 2008–09 season due to financial problems on 2 July 2008.Mladost iz Lučana napustila Superligu, MTS Mondo, July 2, 2008 The spot left behind by Mladost was given to 11th placed (second to last) FK Banat Zrenjanin by the Serbian Football Association on the basis that the club has "better sponsors and more committed community support" than the other candidate for a free spot – FK Smederevo. This drew protests from FK Smederevo management who thought that their club has a better claim to stay in SuperLiga for the 2008–09 season based on their 2007–08 league finish. They even launched an official complaint with UEFA, but the answer they got was that UEFA stands by the Serbian Football Association's decision.
Future changes At the end of the 2007–08 season several SuperLiga clubs, most notably FK Bežanija, proposed an expansion of the league from 12 to 16 teams for 2008–09.Ostojić: Više klubova – veći kvalitet The FSS board rejected that proposal. However, it was decided that the 2009–10 season will feature 16 teams. Only one team will be directly relegated, while five First League clubs will be directly promoted.IO FSS: U MSL ostaje 12 klubova
Stadia and locations
TeamCityStadiumCapacityBanatZrenjaninKarađorđev Park Stadium13,500BoracČačakČačak Stadium6,000ČukaričkiČukarica, BelgradeČukarički Stadium5,000HajdukKulaStadion Hajduk11,000FK JagodinaJagodinaStadion FK Jagodina15,000JavorIvanjicaIvanjica Stadium5,000NapredakKruševacStadion Mladost10,811OFK BeogradBelgradeOmladinski Stadium13,912PartizanBelgradePartizan Stadium32,887RadBelgradeStadion Kralj Petar I6,000Red StarBelgradeStadion Crvena Zvezda55,000FK VojvodinaNovi SadKarađorđe Stadium15,000
League table
Results The schedule consists of three rounds. During the first two rounds, each team played each other once home and away for a total of 22 matches. The pairings of the third round were then set according to the standings after the first two rounds, giving every team a third game against each opponent for a total of 33 games per team.
First and second round
Third round Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 22 games): Round 23 Round 24 Round 25 Round 26 Round 27 Round 28 Round 29 Round 30 Round 31 Round 32 Round 33 1–12 1 – 2 3 – 1 1 – 4 5 – 1 1 – 6 7 – 1 1 – 8 9 – 1 1 – 10 11 – 1 2–11 11–3 2–12 2 – 3 4 – 2 2 – 5 6 – 2 2 – 7 8 – 2 2 – 9 10 – 2 3–10 10–4 4–11 11–5 3–12 3 – 4 5 – 3 3 – 6 7 – 3 3 – 8 9 – 3 4 – 9 9 – 5 5–10 10–6 6–11 11–7 4–12 4 – 5 6 – 4 4 – 7 8 – 4 5 – 8 8 – 6 6 – 9 9 – 7 7–10 10–8 8–11 11 – 9 5 – 12 5 – 6 7 – 5 6 – 7 12–7 7 – 8 12–8 8 – 9 12–9 9–10 12–10 10–11 12–11 6 – 12
Top scorers RankPlayerTeamGoals1 Lamine DiarraPartizan192 Nenad MilijašRed Star Belgrade183 Dragan MrđaVojvodina134 Nikola SimićJavor Ivanjica125 Almami MoreiraPartizan9 Eugene SepuyaČukarički Dušan TadićVojvodina
Source: superliga.rs
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Lamine Diarra Partizan OFK Beograd 5–1 Dragan Mrđa Vojvodina OFK Beograd 6–1 Nenad Milijaš Jagodina Red Star 1–5
Awards
Player of the Year Nenad Milijaš and Almami Moreira both received the same number of votes therefore they both share the title as co-winners.
Team of the Year The All Star team was voted on at the end of the season by the 12 coaches of each SuperLiga team.Награђени најбољи актери Јелен Супер лиге, FSS.rs, May 28, 2009 Almami Moreira was the only player to receive all 12 votes.
GK Mladen Božović PartizanRBIvan Stevanović PartizanCBNenad Đorđević PartizanCBBoban Dmitrović Borac ČačakLBIvan Obradović PartizanDMLjubomir Fejsa PartizanRMNemanja Tomić PartizanCMNenad Milijaš Red StarLMOgnjen Koroman Red StarAMAlmami Moreira PartizanSTLamine Diarra Partizan
Champion squad 1. FK Partizan Goalkeepers: Mladen Božović (33) Defenders: Ivan Obradović (29); Ivan Stevanović (26/1); Srđa Knežević (24/1); Nenad Đorđević (22/1); Marko Jovanović (16); Goran Gavrančić (12); Rajko Brežančić (7); Aleksandar Kosorić (2); Milovan Sikimić (2); Bogdan Stević (1). Midfielders: Ljubomir Fejsa (27); Almami Moreira (27/9); Adem Ljajić (24/5); Radosav Petrović (21/1); Juca (18/2); Nemanja Tomić (14/2); Nikola Vujović (11/3); Danijel Marčeta (2); Branko Mihajlović (1); Vojkan Miljković (1). Forwards: Miloš Bogunović (32/6); Lamine Diarra (29/19); Washington (12/4); Brana Ilić (11/2); Aleksandar Đoković (1).(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
Manager: Slaviša Jokanović.
On the roster but have not played in a league game: Darko Božović; Aleksandar Radosavljević.
Transferred out during the season: Vladimir Branković (on loan to Sevojno); Nenad Brnović (on loan to Rad); Dragan Čadikovski (to Incheon); Đorđe Lazić (to Metalurh); Nenad Marinković (to Teleoptik); Aleksandar Miljković (to Teleoptik); Alexis N'Gambi (to Daugava); Veljko Paunović (retired); Milan Perić (on loan to Jagodina); Zoran Tošić (to Manchester United); Kamel Zaiem (to Al-Khor).
References
External links Official Site Tables and results at RSSSF