With memories of the golden years (80's) of the albanian football still fresh on her mind, Albania is now attempting to recreate its strong football legacy. As young players start making their names abroad, the future is looking bright for Albanian football!
CanaYouDoIt wrote: ↑Thu Jul 22, 2021 11:24 pm
I’m talking post communist football. The modern era.
Plus Skenderbeu never had a result this good against opposition at the level of Feynoord.
Well in that case Dinamo tied Marseille at home 0-0 in 1991, the year they made the European Cup final
Still, Skenderbeu beating Sporting 3-0 is easily the best result by an Albanian team in the last 30 years. They also beat Dinamo Kyiv, no small feat. Not trying to diminish Drita's result as I think it's pretty massive but let's not overact here. Also Feyenoord, is not the same team these days that won the European Cup in 1970. They came in 5th last year in Eredivisie.
It is undoubtedly the biggest achievement by a Kosovar club and I think it's great as it will increase their club coefficient and improve their ranking.
Dutch league is in shambles and this Feyenoord team is the worst in their history. Only thing remaining from them is the name. They were worse the Vitesse this past season and we all know how bad Vitesse was.
Good result for the Kosovar team but not as special as it may seem. Prishtina lasting 70 minutes with Ferencvaros(a team built to qualify for the CL) was more impressive. Feyenoord is not even Europa League material atm.
Feyenoord is probably one of the strongest teams in this qualifying round. Great result for them but I wouldn't be surprised if they get embarrassed in the return leg.
Overall, this was an awful night for Albanian teams. Shkendija losing was disappointing since they usually do well in Qualifying but I can see them scrapping something in the return match. Teuta is straight up embarrassing and they were lucky enough to be in the Champions path where they are paired with village teams instead of playing more respectable teams like Basel, etc. Good result by Laci who always do well in qualifying. Vllaznia was okay but AEL just too good for them. Partizani lost half their starting lineup from last year so they obviously didn't stand a chance.
Another year were Albanian teams get knocked out early. When the best players of the league leave for mid table turkish second division teams you shouldn't be surprised when they get embarrassed.
Don't think it was a terrible year. They did what they had to do in the first round. Swiss, Cypriot, Romanian leagues are stronger than ours. Wasn't expecting any of the teams to qualify, but Laçi won and Vllaznia has still good chances in the return match. As for Teuta, well im not even going to count them.
MercedesBenz240 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 23, 2021 12:23 pm
Don't think it was a terrible year. They did what they had to do in the first round. Swiss, Cypriot, Romanian leagues are stronger than ours. Wasn't expecting any of the teams to qualify, but Laçi won and Vllaznia has still good chances in the return match. As for Teuta, well im not even going to count them.
With that mentality Albanian teams will always be knocked out since we'll always have the weaker teams. If Albanian teams can't have the ability to upset the Swiss, Cypriot and Romanian teams what about the Dutch, Belgian and Portuguese teams? We'll never qualify. The Cypriot, Swiss and Romanian teams aren't juggernauts.
artan wrote: ↑Fri Jul 23, 2021 2:02 pm
With that mentality Albanian teams will always be knocked out since we'll always have the weaker teams.
They have always been knocked out (apart from Skënderbeu) and will continue to. So yeah, for the time being we'll never qualify. And as i said, it's not neccessarily a bad year, Vllaznia and Laçi did good so far. This is our level whether you like it or not.
You can't win in Europe if a major source of your profits as a football club is matchfixing. Albanian clubs don't make much money but a thrown game in Europe can tip them heavily into the green.
Meanwhile our champion loses to Andorra's Inter Escaldes. Their star player and captain is a 41 year old who's career peak was a couple seasons in a relegation Serie B team. Laci's win by comparison is very good.
I struggle to believe Prishtina's squad is any better than Teuta's especially considering they loaned a bunch of higher level players to play this cup. Don't know if it's mentality, coaching or what but matchfixing is the easiest scapegoat and the one that makes the most sense too.
MercedesBenz240 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 23, 2021 12:23 pm
Don't think it was a terrible year. They did what they had to do in the first round. Swiss, Cypriot, Romanian leagues are stronger than ours. Wasn't expecting any of the teams to qualify, but Laçi won and Vllaznia has still good chances in the return match. As for Teuta, well im not even going to count them.
With that mentality Albanian teams will always be knocked out since we'll always have the weaker teams. If Albanian teams can't have the ability to upset the Swiss, Cypriot and Romanian teams what about the Dutch, Belgian and Portuguese teams? We'll never qualify. The Cypriot, Swiss and Romanian teams aren't juggernauts.
Problem is in Albania there is no competition, Duka decides which teams will be promoted on Kategoria Superiore, who will get relegated and which team will win title and which teams will participate on european competitions. Dinamo for example two seasons ago deserved to get relegated and last season they didn't deserve to get promoted. I have nothing against Dinamo i am very glad they are back but this is sad truth. Duka prefers Albanian teams, especially the elite ones to be vulnerable and highly dependent on his "generosity". I can't blame clubs they can't make keep their players because in such environment it's impossible to make long term projects, that's why serious investors are not involved.
