2019–20 Kategoria Superiore

Kategoria Superiore
Season	2019–20
Dates	23 August 2019 –; 29 July 2020
Champions	Tirana; 25th title
Relegated	Flamurtari; Luftëtari
Champions League	Tirana
Europa League	Kukësi; Laçi; Teuta
Matches played	180
Goals scored	454 (2.52 per match)
Top goalscorer	Kyrian Nwabueze; (23 goals)
Biggest home win	Partizani 8–1 Luftëtari; (14 June 2020)
Biggest away win	Luftëtari 0–5 Tirana; (7 June 2020)
Highest scoring	Partizani 8–1 Luftëtari; (14 June 2020)
Longest winning run	7 matches; Tirana
Longest unbeaten run	14 matches; Tirana
Longest winless run	21 matches; Flamurtari
Longest losing run	10 matches; Luftëtari
	← 2018–19 2020–21 → All statistics correct as of 29 July 2020.

The 2019–20 Kategoria Superiore was the 81st official season, or 84th season of top-tier football in Albania (including three unofficial championships during World War II) and the 20th season under the name Kategoria Superiore. The season began on 23 August 2019 and ended on 29 July 2020.^[1] Tirana, won the league title on 19 July 2020 with 2 matches to spare.

The winners of this season's Kategoria Superiore earned a place in the first qualifying round of the 2020-21 Champions League, with the second and third placed clubs earning a place in the first qualifying round of the 2020-21 Europa League. The competition was suspended from 12 March to 3 June 2020, due to a pandemic of COVID-19 in Albania.

Teams

Two clubs earned promotion from the Kategoria e Parë, Bylis and Vllaznia. Kastrioti was relegated to Kategoria e Parë at the conclusion of last season, Kamza was excluded from the championship and relegated to the Kategoria e Dytë, after a violent incident during a match against Laçi in the 24th round.^[2]

Locations

Locations of the 2019–20 Kategoria Superiore teams

Team	Home city	Stadium	Capacity	2018–19 season
Bylis	Ballsh	Adush Muça Stadium	5,200	Champion (Kategoria e Parë)
Flamurtari	Vlorë	Flamurtari Stadium	8,500	5th
Kukësi	Kukës	Various		2nd
Laçi	Laç	Laçi Stadium	2,300	6th
Luftëtari	Gjirokastër	Gjirokastra Stadium	8,400	8th
Partizani	Tirana	Selman Stërmasi Stadium	9,500	Champion
Skënderbeu	Korçë	Skënderbeu Stadium	12,343	4th
Teuta	Durrës	Niko Dovana Stadium	12,040	3rd
Tirana	Tirana	Selman Stërmasi Stadium	9,500	7th
Vllaznia	Shkodër	Loro Boriçi Stadium	16,000	Runner-up (Kategoria e Parë)

(1) Kukësi will play their 2019–20 home games at various stadiums, due to the reconstruction of the Zeqir Ymeri Stadium in Kukës.
(2) Partizani will play their 2019–20 home games at the Selman Stërmasi Stadium in Tirana. Their new home ground, Partizani Complex, is currently under construction.

Stadiums

Bylis	Flamurtari	Kukësi	Laçi	Luftëtari
Adush Muça Stadium	Flamurtari Stadium	Various	Laçi Stadium	Gjirokastra Stadium
Capacity: 5,200	Capacity: 11,200		Capacity: 5,300	Capacity: 8,400

Partizani	Skënderbeu	Teuta	Tirana	Vllaznia
Selman Stërmasi Stadium	Skënderbeu Stadium	Niko Dovana Stadium	Selman Stërmasi Stadium	Loro Boriçi Stadium UEFA stadium category
Capacity: 9,500	Capacity: 12,343	Capacity: 12,040	Capacity: 9,500	Capacity: 16,000

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	President	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Bylis	Besnik Kapllanaj	Veljko Dovedan	Valentino Murataj	Uhlsport	−
Flamurtari	Sinan Idrizi	Marcello Troisi	Andi Ribaj	Joma	−
Kukësi	Safet Gjici	Orges Shehi	Besar Musolli	Macron	Kevin Construction
Laçi	Pashk Laska	Armando Cungu	Aleksandar Ignjatović	Uhlsport	Pavin Caffe
Luftëtari	Bekim Halilaj	Neritan Novi	Erald Hyseni	Macron	Energ Company
Partizani	Gazmend Demi	Renaldo Kalari	Alban Hoxha	Joma	MCN
Skënderbeu	Ardian Takaj	Ilir Daja	Bajram Jashanica	Joma	Fix
Teuta	Edmond Hasanbelliu	Edi Martini	Renato Arapi	Uhlsport	Caffè Pascucci
Tirana	Refik Halili	Emmanuel Egbo	Erando Karabeci	Uhlsport	−
Vllaznia	Municipality of Shkodër	Hysen Dedja	Gilman Lika	Uhlsport	−

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Partizani	Skënder Gega	Mutual consent	2 June 2019	Pre-season	Franco Lerda	17 June 2019
Skënderbeu	Orges Shehi	Resigned	8 June 2019	Pre-season	Ilir Daja	8 August 2019
Vllaznia	Agim Canaj	Mutual consent	19 July 2019	Pre-season	Mirsad Jonuz	19 July 2019
Kukësi	Ernest Gjoka	Sacked	19 July 2019	Pre-season	Shpëtim Duro	25 July 2019
Flamurtari	Gerd Haxhiu	Resigned	14 August 2019	Pre-season	Dritan Sadedini	14 August 2019
Luftëtari	Klevis Dalipi	Resigned	23 August 2019	Pre-season	Klodian Duro	23 August 2019
Luftëtari	Klodian Duro	Mutual consent	5 September 2019	10th	Georgios Marantas	6 September 2019
Laçi	Sulejman Starova	Mutual consent	15 October 2019	8th	Armando Cungu	15 October 2019
Flamurtari	Dritan Sadedini	Mutual consent	24 October 2019	10th	Luan Birçe	24 October 2019
Tirana	Ardian Mema	Mutual consent	25 October 2019	6th	Julian Ahmataj	25 October 2019
Tirana	Julian Ahmataj	Resigned	9 December 2019	8th	Ndubuisi Egbo	9 December 2019
Luftëtari	Georgios Marantas	Sacked^[3]	14 December 2019	9th	Neritan Novi	14 December 2019
Partizani	Franco Lerda	Sacked^[3]	14 December 2019	3rd	Renaldo Kalari	14 December 2019
Teuta	Bledi Shkëmbi	Sacked^[3]	14 December 2019	7th	Edi Martini	15 December 2019
Luftëtari	Neritan Novi	End of caretaker spell	3 January 2020	9th	Nikolin Çoçlli	3 January 2020
Partizani	Renaldo Kalari	End of caretaker spell	4 January 2020	5th	Adolfo Sormani	4 January 2020
Flamurtari	Dritan Resuli	End of caretaker spell	25 January 2020	10th	Marcello Troisi	25 January 2020
Luftëtari	Nikolin Çoçlli	Resigned	24 February 2020	9th	Neritan Novi	24 February 2020
Kukësi	Shpëtim Duro	Sacked	29 February 2020	2nd	Orges Shehi	2 March 2020
Vllaznia	Mirsad Jonuz	End of contract	5 June 2020	8th	Hysen Dedja	9 June 2020
Partizani	Adolfo Sormani	Mutual consent	13 July 2020	6th	Renaldo Kalari	9 June 2020

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Tirana (C)	36	21	7	8	67	35	+32	70	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Kukësi	36	19	9	8	59	31	+28	66	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
3	Laçi	36	19	7	10	61	34	+27	64	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
4	Skënderbeu	36	17	7	12	42	43	−1	58
5	Teuta	36	15	12	9	41	34	+7	57	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round^[a]
6	Partizani	36	15	8	13	51	40	+11	53
7	Bylis	36	12	15	9	46	38	+8	51
8	Vllaznia (O)	36	12	10	14	36	41	−5	46	Qualification for the relegation play-off
9	Flamurtari (R)	36	2	9	25	32	72	−40	15	Relegation to the 2020–21 Kategoria e Parë
10	Luftëtari (R)	36	2	8	26	19	86	−67	14	Relegation to the 2020–21 Kategoria e Parë

Source: Albanian Football Association, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Draw.^[4]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ Teuta qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round as the 2019–20 Albanian Cup winners.

Results

Clubs will play each other four times for a total of 36 matches each.^[4]

First half of season

Home \ Away	BYL	FLA	KUK	LAC	LUF	PAR	SKE	TEU	TIR	VLL
Bylis	—	5–0	2–1	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–3	0–0	3–1	0–0
Flamurtari	2–2	—	0–3	3–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–3	2–2	1–3
Kukësi	2–1	1–0	—	1–1	4–1	1–0	1–1	4–0	2–1	1–2
Laçi	0–0	3–0	1–0	—	4–0	1–0	1–2	3–0	1–2	3–0
Luftëtari	1–1	2–1	0–0	1–1	—	0–1	2–0	0–0	0–3	0–2
Partizani	1–1	1–0	0–0	1–0	2–0	—	3–1	1–1	1–2	1–0
Skënderbeu	0–3	1–0	0–0	1–4	2–0	3–2	—	1–0	2–1	0–1
Teuta	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–1	3–1	1–0	1–0	—	1–1	0–0
Tirana	2–1	2–0	1–3	2–1	3–0	1–2	3–1	0–0	—	0–0
Vllaznia	0–1	2–0	1–2	1–0	0–0	1–3	4–0	0–0	0–2	—

Source: Albanian Football Federation
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season

Home \ Away	BYL	FLA	KUK	LAC	LUF	PAR	SKE	TEU	TIR	VLL
Bylis	—	0–0	1–1	0–3	2–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–3	2–2
Flamurtari	2–3	—	1–4	1–3	6–1	1–2	0–1	2–3	0–2	1–3
Kukësi	1–0	4–1	—	3–1	2–1	1–0	0–0	3–0	1–2	0–0
Laçi	2–1	2–1	2–0	—	3–1	1–3	1–0	1–1	3–1	5–2
Luftëtari	1–1	0–1	2–5	0–2	—	0–3	0–1	1–5	0–5	0–1
Partizani	2–2	2–0	1–3	1–0	8–1	—	1–2	0–1	1–1	3–0
Skënderbeu	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–1	2–0	4–1	—	3–2	1–2	2–1
Teuta	1–0	1–1	2–2	2–3	1–1	0–0	1–0	—	1–0	3–1
Tirana	1–1	2–0	1–2	1–0	5–1	5–1	1–1	2–1	—	3–0
Vllaznia	2–2	1–1	1–0	0–0	4–0	1–0	0–1	0–3	0–1	—

Source: Albanian Football Federation
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-off

2 August 2020

19:00

Vllaznia	3−1	Besëlidhja
Kruja 15' Marku 19' Lika 78'		Djordjević 33'

Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër

Attendance: 0

Referee: Laver Alla

Both clubs remained in their respective leagues.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals^[5]
1	Kyrian Nwabueze	Laçi	23
2	Vasil Shkurtaj	Kukësi	22
3	Sherif Kallaku	Teuta	14
4	Michael Ngoo	Tirana	13
5	Redon Xhixha	Laçi	12
6	Dejvi Bregu	Skënderbeu	10
	Eraldo Çinari	Partizani
	Gilman Lika	Vllaznia
	Idriz Batha	Tirana
	Kristal Abazaj	Kukësi
	Saliou Guindo	Bylis

Discipline

Player

Most yellow cards: 14
- Albano Aleksi (Teuta)

Most red cards: 2
- Agustín Torassa (Tirana)
- Blagoja Todorovski (Teuta)
- Donald Mëllugja (Bylis)
- Fabian Beqja (Teuta)
- Erion Hoxhallari (Tirana)
- Theophilus Solomon (Partizani)
- Valdo Zeqaj (Flamurtari)

References

^ "Zyrtare, Kategoria Superiore rinis më 3 qershor, vjen ok nga Ministria e Shëndetësisë! – SuperSport". 29 May 2020.
^ AP (6 March 2019). "Albanian soccer club expelled after referee attack". USA Today. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Nuk ndalet vala e shkarkimeve të trajnerëve, Luftëtari largon Marantas". 14 December 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Superliga: Season rules". Soccerway. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
^ "2019-20 top scorers". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 March 2020.

External links

Official website (in Albanian)
Kategoria Superiore at uefa.com

[table_note_res_EL1Qcup0.40610576300235-4] Teuta qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round as the 2019–20 Albanian Cup winners.

[1] "Zyrtare, Kategoria Superiore rinis më 3 qershor, vjen ok nga Ministria e Shëndetësisë! – SuperSport". 29 May 2020.

[2] AP (6 March 2019). "Albanian soccer club expelled after referee attack". USA Today. Retrieved 23 April 2019.

[gazetatema.net-3] "Nuk ndalet vala e shkarkimeve të trajnerëve, Luftëtari largon Marantas". 14 December 2019.

[rulesAlbania-5] "Superliga: Season rules". Soccerway. Retrieved 28 January 2020.

[topscorer-6] "2019-20 top scorers". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 March 2020.

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