2008 Latvian Higher League

The 2008 Virslīga season was the 17th Virslīga season. It began on 5 April 2008 with the first round of games and ended on 9 November 2008 with the final matches of the championship and relegation rounds. Ventspils were the defending champions.

Location of teams in the Latvian Higher League 2008

Season details

FK Ventspils - champions for third time in the row

For the 2008 season the league has expanded to ten clubs, and the fixture format has changed. Due to expansion there was no relegation at the end of the 2007 season, and the top two clubs from the 1. līga 2007 season, champions FK Vindava (from Ventspils), and second placed SK Blāzma (from Rēzekne) were both promoted. From the 2008 season on, the league will be held in two rounds.

In the first round each club played all the other nine clubs twice, home and away starting with Matchday 1 on 5 April and finishing with Matchday 18 on 10 August.

In the second round there were two "mini leagues", with the top six clubs after the First Round, playing each other twice and clubs in 7th to 10th place after the First Round playing each other four times. Second round matches started on 24 August and finished on 9 November.[1][2]

At the end of the season, the club finishing bottom of the Virslīga were automatically relegated to the 1. līga, and the champions of the 1. līga were automatically promoted, taking the place of the relegated club. The club that finished next to the bottom in the Virslīga play a two-legged playoff for the final place in the Virslīga for the next season with the club that finished second in 1. līga.[1]

First round

Standings

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
Head-to-head
1 Ventspils 18 12 4 2 33 6+27 40 Qualification to championship round
2 Skonto FC 18 11 3 4 28 19+9 36
3 Dinaburg FC 18 9 5 4 22 13+9 32
4 FK Rīga 18 9 3 6 28 27+1 30 RĪG 2–2 LIE
LIE 2–2 RĪG
5 SK Liepājas Metalurgs 18 7 9 2 27 17+10 30
6 FC Daugava Daugavpils 18 6 6 6 27 22+5 24
7 Vindava Ventspils 18 4 5 9 14 27−13 17 Qualification to relegation round
8 FK Jūrmala 18 3 7 8 15 27−12 16
9 Blāzma Rēzekne 18 2 4 12 8 26−18 10
10 Olimps/RFS 18 1 6 11 12 30−18 9

Source: Latvian Football Federation (Latvian)
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th overall wins; 5th goal difference; 6th goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Head-to-Head: used when head-to-head record is used to rank tied teams.

Results

Home ╲ Away BLĀ DGD DINJŪRLIERFSRĪGSKOVENVIN
Blāzma Rēzekne 1–1 0–2 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 0–2 0–3 1–1
FC Daugava Daugavpils 2–0 0–1 0–0 4–1 3–1 6–1 1–3 1–4 1–1
Dinaburg FC 2–1 0–3 2–2 0–0 1–0 2–0 3–0 0–1 1–1
FK Jūrmala 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 1–1 1–3 1–1 0–1 2–1
SK Liepājas Metalurgs 1–0 2–0 1–0 7–2 1–1 2–2 1–2 0–0 2–0
Olimps/RFS 1–1 0–0 0–2 2–1 1–3 1–3 0–1 1–3 0–1
FK Rīga 2–1 1–0 1–1 3–1 2–2 3–1 1–2 1–0 1–2
Skonto FC 1–0 3–1 0–3 2–1 2–2 3–1 1–2 1–0 3–0
Ventspils 3–0 2–2 3–0 2–0 0–0 0–0 2–0 1–0 1–0
Vindava Ventspils 2–0 1–2 0–2 0–1 0–0 2–0 1–2 1–1 0–7

Source: Matchday 1–9 results Matchday 10–18 results (Latvian)
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second round

Championship round

Standings

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Ventspils (C) 28 19 6 3 53 14+39 63 2009–10 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round
2 SK Liepājas Metalurgs 28 14 11 3 48 25+23 53 2009–10 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round 1
3 Skonto FC 28 15 7 6 43 31+12 52 2009–10 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round 1
4 Dinaburg FC 28 10 8 10 32 31+1 38 2009–10 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round 1
5 FC Daugava Daugavpils 28 10 7 11 40 35+5 37
6 FK Rīga 28 10 3 15 36 55−19 33

Source: Latvian Football Federation (Latvian)
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th overall wins; 5th goal difference; 6th goals scored
1Daugava Daugavpils won the Latvian Football Cup 2008 competition, thereby qualifying for UEFA Europa League 2009–10 second qualification round. However, Daugava Daugavpils merged with Dinaburg, so the Europa League spots were redistributed based on league position.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Head-to-Head: used when head-to-head record is used to rank tied teams.

Results

Home ╲ Away DGD DIN LIERĪGSKOVEN
FC Daugava Daugavpils 2–0 1–2 2–0 2–1 0–2
Dinaburg FC 3–3 0–0 3–1 0–1 0–31
SK Liepājas Metalurgs 3–1 3–1 3–0 0–0 1–2
FK Rīga 0–2 3–2 1–4 1–2 0–2
Skonto FC 1–0 1–1 2–3 3–1 2–2
Ventspils 1–0 1–0 0–2 5–1 2–2

Source: Latvian Football Federation (Latvian)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
 1The match originally finished 0–0, but was eventually awarded with as won by a score of 3–0 to Ventspils because Dinaburg FC fielded player who was not in match protocol.[3]

Relegation round

Standings

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 FK Jūrmala 30 10 10 10 35 34+1 40
2 Vindava Ventspils 30 9 9 12 27 41−14 36
3 Blāzma Rēzekne (O) 30 5 8 17 20 43−23 23 Qualification to relegation play-offs
4 Olimps/RFS (R) 30 2 11 17 22 47−25 17 Relegation to Latvian First League

Source: Latvian Football Federation (Latvian)
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th overall wins; 5th goal difference; 6th goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Head-to-Head: used when head-to-head record is used to rank tied teams.

Results

First and second games

Home ╲ Away BLĀ JŪR RFSVIN
Blāzma Rēzekne 2–1 1–1 0–1
FK Jūrmala 2–0 2–0 3–0
Olimps/RFS 0–0 1–1 0–2
Vindava Ventspils 2–0 0–0 1–0

Source: Latvian Football Federation (Latvian)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Third and fourth games

Home ╲ Away BLĀ JŪR RFSVIN
Blāzma Rēzekne 1–3 1–0 2–2
FK Jūrmala 2–1 3–0 0–0
Olimps/RFS 2–2 0–2 5–1
Vindava Ventspils 1–2 2–1 1–1

Source: Latvian Football Federation (Latvian)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Relegation play-offs

Blāzma Rēzekne, the 9th placed team in the Virslīga, and 1. līga runners-up, Tranzīts Ventspils, competed in a two-legged play-off for a spot in the Virslīga 2009. Blāzma Rēzekne won 6–1 on aggregate and thereby kept their spot in the next season of the Virslīga.

15 November 2008
14:00 GMT+2
Tranzīts Ventspils 1 – 5 Blāzma Rēzekne
Baturinskis  42' Report
(Latvian)		 Gramovičs  55', 64', 74' (pen.)
Kurakins  70'
Silovs  86'
2. pamatskolas stadions, Ventspils
Attendance: 250
Referee: Vadims Direktorenko (Riga)

18 November 2008
13:00 GMT+2
Blāzma Rēzekne 1 – 0 Tranzīts Ventspils
Silovs  78' Report
(Latvian)
Sporta Aģentūras Stadions, Rēzekne
Attendance: 338
Referee: Andrejs Sipailo

Topscorers

Pos　 Name Team Goals
1 Vits Rimkus (LAT)FK Ventspils14
2 Kristaps Grebis (LAT)FK Liepājas Metalurgs13
- Oļegs Malašenoks (LAT)FK Jūrmala13
4 Andrejs Butriks (LAT)FK Ventspils11
5 Mikalay Ryndzyuk (BLR)Dinaburg FC9
- Vladimir Dvalishvili (GEO)Skonto FC9

References

External links

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