The 2023/24 football season is coming to an end in many countries. It is a good time to take a look - what Armenian players clubs are fighting for and what tasks are fulfilled at the end of the season.
Some of them have already solved all the questions - becoming champions, like Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Tigran Barseghyan and Edgar Sevikyan, and some are fighting for survival or getting into European cups. In addition, some players can become the best in the league in terms of individual performance
Let's consider the tournament situation of all Armenian foreign players:
HENRIKH MKHITARYAN - INTER (Serie A).
‘Inter’ has long ago secured the championship in Italy and got a second star on the emblem. Inter now have 89 points and there are still three rounds left before the season ends. Consequently, the Nerazzurri have already lost any chance of breaking Juventus' 2013/14 record of 102 points in a season. Inter are also out of the Italian Cup final.
The team itself is no longer pursuing any goals, but Henrikh Mkhitaryan retains his chances of becoming the best assistant of the championship. According to the official Serie A statistics, Henrikh shares second place in assists with Leao and Giroud (8 assists each), while Paulo Dybala is the leader (9 assists). So Mkhitaryan still has something to fight for.
Serie A (35th round):
1. ‘Inter - 89.
2. ‘Milan - 71.
3. ‘Juventus - 66.
Next season Inter will play in the main stage of the Champions League (from the new season there will be no group stage), as well as in a new tournament - FIFA Club World Cup 2025.
SARGIS ADAMYAN - Cologne (Bundesliga).
‘Cologne’ is desperately fighting for survival in the Bundesliga. Adamyan's team has kept only a ghostly chance to stay in the Bundesliga. There are only 2 rounds left until the end of the season, and Cologne is 5 points behind the saving 16th place. The 16th place only gives the right to play in the transition matches.
In the remaining rounds ‘Cologne’ will play with one of the competitors ‘Union’ and ‘Heidenheim’.
‘Cologne’ need to beat ‘Union’ with an advantage of 2 or more goals and wait for Berliners to lose to ‘Freiburg’ in the last round. Or wait for Mainz to misfire, winning both of their games, of course.
GRANT-LEON RANOS - Borussia M (Bundesliga).
Borussia Mönchengladbach goes on the 13th place and can also drop out of the Bundesliga, under the worst possible circumstances. In a certain situation, Borussia could end up in 16th place and play in the transition matches.
Bundesliga (round of 32):
13. ‘Borussia M - 33
14. ‘Bochum’ - 30.
15. ‘Union - 30.
16. ‘Mainz’ - 29.
17. ‘Cologne’ - 24.
18. ‘Darmstadt - 17.
Grant-Leon Ranos also play for the second team in Regionalliga West this season. There, Borussia M-2 has already avoided relegation.
VAHAN BICHAKHCHYAN - ‘Pogon’ (Polish Ekstraklasa).
‘Pogoń’ could have solved all the issues by winning the Cup final, but there Bichakhchyan's team lost to the second division team, and now they are struggling to get into the European Cup through the championship. There are still 3 rounds left till the end of the season, ‘Pogon’ is still on the 4th place, but they need to be in the top 3 to get into the Conference League. Also, Pogoń still retain a mathematical chance of the championship.
Ekstraklasa (round 31):
1. ‘Jagiellonia’ - 56.
2. ‘Slask’ - 54.
3. ‘Lech - 52.
4. ‘Pogon’ - 51.
EDGAR SEVIKYAN - Ferencvaros (Hungarian Championship).
‘Ferencvaros’ has already secured the championship, but the Hungarian Cup final is still ahead. On 15 May, the cup final will take place against Paks.
Next season Ferencvaros will play in the first round of Champions League qualification.
TIGRAN BARSEGHYAN - Slovan (Slovakian Championship).
Barseghyan also secured the Slovakian championship with Slovan long ago - for the third time in a row. Slovan does not play in the cup final. The team has no tournament goals at the end of the season, but Barseghyan still has a chance to become the league's top scorer and top assist man. Right now, Tigran leads the league in both tables.
Barseghyan has 12 goals and 11 assists on the season. In goals he is tied with Polijevka (Banjska Bistrica), and in assists Tigran is 1 assist ahead of Kovacic (Podbrezov).
Next season Slovan will play in the first round of Champions League qualification.
NAREK GRIGORIAN - Farul (Romanian Championship).
There are 2 rounds left to the end of the Romanian Championship, ‘Farul’ has a small chance to qualify for the Conference League, but is 5 points behind the 3rd place.
Romanian Superleague (8th round of the championship round):
1. FCCB - 49.
2. ‘Universitatea - 40.
3. ‘Cluj’ - 40.
4. ‘Farul’ - 35.
LUKAS ZELARAYAN - Al-Fateh (Saudi Pro League).
‘Al-Fateh’ has already lost its chances to qualify for the Asian Champions League and is confident of a place in the top-10 of the championship.
EDGAR BABAYAN - ‘Randers’ (Danish Championship).
Babayan missed the second part of the season due to injury, and his Randers played in the survival group and already secured a place in the next season, taking the 2nd place in the survival group.
ARTUR AVAGIMYAN - Chornomorets (Ukrainian Championship).
‘Chernomorets’ confidently 10th place in the league, but with 3 rounds before the end of the season can be in 13th place - in the zone of transition matches. ‘Chornomorets’ is ahead of ‘Obolon’ on 4 points.
RUSSIAN PREMIER LEAGUE.
Eduard Spertsyan, Georgi Harutyunyan (Krasnodar), Nair Tiknizyan (Lokomotiv), Ugochukwu Iwu (Rubin), Khoren Bayramyan (Rostov), Valery Tsarukyan (Pari NN), Stepan Hovhannisyan (Orenburg) and Tigran Avanesyan (Baltika).
Russian clubs are not fighting for European cups, but the fight for championship and survival has not been cancelled.
‘Krasnodar’ is fighting for the championship with ‘Zenit’ and ‘Dinamo’.
‘Lokomotiv, Rostov and Rubin have already solved all their questions. Orenburg, Pari NN and Baltika are fighting for survival.
RUSSIAN FIRST LEAGUE.
A large number of Armenian footballers play in the FNL. Only Khimki Arshak Koryan and Akron Artur Galoyan should be singled out. They are struggling to qualify for the RPL. ‘Khimki and Akron have a great chance to directly enter the RPL from the first or second place.
STYOPA MKRTCHYAN - Osijek (Croatian Championship).
There are 3 rounds left until the end of the Croatian Championship, and Osijek are in a favourable 4th place, which will give them the right to play in the Conference League. In the remaining rounds they should defend a 4-point lead over Lokomotiv Zagreb.
Croatian Championship (33rd round):
3. ‘Hajduk’ - 61.
4. ‘Osijek - 51.
5. ‘Lokomotiv - 47.
ARMEN HOVHANNISYAN - Mosta (Malta Championship).
‘Mosta’ is struggling for survival and 2 rounds before the end of the season takes the saving 10th place, ahead of ‘Santa Lucia’ by only 1 point.
