The 2016 Umaglesi Liga was a special transitional season of top-tier football in Georgia. Dinamo Tbilisi were the defending champions. This transitional season is a result of the Georgian Football Federation's decision to change the Umaglesi Liga season from an Autumn–Spring schedule to a Spring–Autumn one. The season began on 7 August 2016 and concluded with the second leg of the championship final on 11 December 2016.
Teams and stadiums
Sapovnela Terjola and Merani Martvili were relegated at the end of the previous season; they were not replaced. The league contracted from 16 teams to 14 this season; this will further be reduced to 10 for next season.
Team Location Venue Capacity Chikhura Sachkhere Sachkhere Tsentraluri Stadioni 2,000 Dila Gori Gori Tengiz Burjanadze Stadium 5,000 Dinamo Batumi Kobuleti Chele Arena 6,000 Dinamo Tbilisi Tbilisi Boris Paichadze Stadium 54,549 Guria Lanchkhuti Lanchkhuti Evgrapi Shevardnadze Stadium 8,000 Kolkheti Poti Poti Erosi Manjgaladze Stadium 5,000 Locomotive Tbilisi Tbilisi Mikheil Meskhi Stadium 27,223 Saburtalo Tbilisi Tbilisi Stadioni Bendela 2,000 Samtredia Samtredia Erosi Manjgaladze Stadium 5,000 Shukura Kobuleti Kobuleti Chele Arena 6,000 Sioni Bolnisi Bolnisi Tamaz Stepania Stadium 3,242 Torpedo Kutaisi Kutaisi Tsentraluri Stadioni 19,400 Tskhinvali Tskhinvali Mikheil Meskhis Sakhelobis Stadionis Satadarigo Moedani 2,500 Zugdidi Zugdidi Tsentraluri Stadioni 2,000 Source: Scoresway
Regular season
For this transitional season only, the 14 teams were divided into two groups of seven teams, Group Red and Group White. Each team played home-and-away against the other six teams within their own group only, resulting in 12 games each played (a decrease on the 30 games played in the previous season).
At the end of the regular season, the two group winners, Samtredia and Chikhura Sachkhere, met in the Championship final, this two-legged tie decided the overall champion and the berth for 2017–18 UEFA Champions League; the loser had the consolation of a berth in 2017–18 UEFA Europa League.
The four teams finishing in second and third in each group took part in the Bronze play-offs, the winning team clinched overall third place in the league (and bronze medals), and also a berth in 2017–18 UEFA Europa League.
The fifth and sixth-placed teams took part in relegation play-offs, the two losers joined the two bottom-placed teams in the 2017 Erovnuli Liga 2.
Group Red
Group White
Play-offs The play-offs schedule was unveiled on 15 November 2016. Bronze play-offs
Semi-finals
2–2 on aggregate. Dinamo Batumi won on away goals.
Dinamo Tbilisi won 1–0 on aggregate.
Final
Dinamo Batumi qualified for the 2017–18 Europa League first qualifying round.
Relegation play-offs
Dila Gori won 2–0 on aggregate and retained their place for 2017 Erovnuli Liga; Guria Lanchkhuti were relegated to 2017 Erovnuli Liga 2.
Shukura Kobuleti won 5–4 on aggregate and retained their place for 2017 Erovnuli Liga; Sioni Bolnisi were relegated to 2017 Erovnuli Liga 2
Championship final A draw was made on 28 November 2016 to determine the order of the legs.
Samtredia won 4–2 on aggregate and qualified for 2017–18 Champions League second qualifying round; Chikhura Sachkhere qualified for 2017–18 Europa League first qualifying round.
Top goalscorers RankGoalscorerTeamGoals1 Budu ZivzivadzeSamtredia112 Saba LobzhanidzeChikhura Sachkhere83 Jaba DvaliFC Tskhinvali74 Bachana ArabuliSamtredia6 Davit VolkoviSioni Bolnisi66 Gega DiasamidzeLocomotive Tbilisi5 Giorgi KharaishviliSaburtalo Tbilisi5 Elguja LobjanidzeDinamo Batumi5 Oleg MamasakhlisiTorpedo Kutaisi5 Temuri ShoniaDinamo Batumi5
Source: soccerway.com
References
External links