2020–21 Lebanese Premier League
| Season | 2020–21 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 3 October 2020 – 24 April 2021 |
| Champions | Ansar 14th title |
| Relegated | Chabab Ghazieh Salam Zgharta |
| AFC Cup | Ansar Nejmeh |
| Matches played | 96 |
| Goals scored | 211 (2.2 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Hassan Maatouk (14 goals) |
| Best goalkeeper | Ali Daher (10 clean sheets) |
| Biggest win | Ansar 6–0 Salam Zgharta (8 December 2020) |
| Highest scoring | Ansar 6–1 Safa (6 November 2020) |
| Longest winning run | 4 matches Ansar Nejmeh[1] |
| Longest unbeaten run | 15 matches Nejmeh[1] |
| Longest winless run | 16 matches Salam Zgharta[1] |
| Longest losing run | 12 matches Salam Zgharta[1] |
| Total attendance | 0[a] |
← 2021–22 → | |
The 2020–21 Lebanese Premier League was the 59th season of the Lebanese Premier League, the top Lebanese professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1934. The league was initially scheduled to start on 18 September,[2] before being postponed to 3 October as part of preventive measures by the state towards the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4]
It was the first season to feature a "split" format, in which the season was divided into two phases. In the first phase, each club played against each other once, for a total of 11 matchdays. In the second phase, the league was split into two halves – the "top six" and the "bottom six". Points were carried over from the first phase, and each club played five games within its own half. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all games in the season were played behind closed doors.[5]
Since the 2019–20 season was cancelled, Ahed were the three-time defending champions, having won their 7th title in the 2018–19 season.[6] Ansar won their 14th Lebanese Premier League title, their first since 2007, beating Nejmeh in the Beirut derby 2–1 in the final matchday.
Summary
Regulations
On 24 June 2020, a player quota for the season was announced.[7] Each club had to involve one player under the age of 22 for at least 600 minutes, two players for at least 800 combined minutes, and three players for at least 1,200 combined minutes.[7] Also, each club was allowed a maximum of eight players over the age of 30, with only five being able to be fielded in a game.[7] In case a club were to not meet the required number of minutes at the end of the season, they would have had three points deducted from their total in the league.[7] Due to the economic situation in Lebanon, other regulations were introduced, namely the abolition of foreign players in the league.[8]
Format
The 2020–21 season consisted of two phases: in the first phase, each team played against one another once.[8] In the second phase, the 12 teams were divided into two groups based on their position in the first phase; the teams carried over their point tally from the first phase.[9] After the first phase was completed, clubs could not move out of their own half in the league, even if they achieved more or fewer points than a higher or lower ranked team, respectively.[9]
The top six teams played against each other once,[8] with the champion automatically qualifying to the 2022 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs—assuming they met the criteria set by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).[10] The runners-up instead directly qualified to the 2022 AFC Cup group stage—as long as the champions met the AFC criteria for the AFC Champions League.[8] The bottom six teams also played against each other once, with the bottom two teams being relegated to the Lebanese Second Division.[8]
Teams
Twelve teams competed in the league – the top ten teams from the 2018–19 Lebanese Premier League season and the two teams promoted from the Second Division. Due to the 2019–20 season being cancelled, the same 12 teams participated in the 2020–21 season.
Stadiums and locations
Prior to the start of each season, every team choose two stadiums as their home venues. In case both stadiums were unavailable for a certain matchday, another venue was used.
- Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahed | Beirut (Ouzai) | Ahed Stadium[note 1] | 2,000 |
| Akhaa Ahli Aley | Aley | Amin AbdelNour Stadium | 3,500 |
| Ansar | Beirut (Tariq El Jdideh) | Ansar Stadium[note 1] | — |
| Bourj | Beirut (Bourj el-Barajneh) | Bourj el-Barajneh Stadium[note 1] | 1,500 |
| Chabab Ghazieh | Ghazieh | Kfarjoz Stadium | 2,000 |
| Nejmeh | Beirut (Ras Beirut) | Rafic Hariri Stadium[note 1] | 5,000 |
| Safa | Beirut (Wata El-Museitbeh) | Safa Stadium[note 1] | 4,000 |
| Salam Zgharta | Zgharta | Zgharta Sports Complex | 5,000 |
| Shabab Bourj | Beirut (Bourj el-Barajneh) | Bourj el-Barajneh Stadium[note 1] | 1,500 |
| Shabab Sahel | Beirut (Haret Hreik) | Shabab Al Sahel Stadium[note 1] | — |
| Tadamon Sour | Tyre | Sour Municipal Stadium | 6,500 |
| Tripoli | Tripoli | Tripoli Municipal Stadium | 22,000 |
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation[b] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ansar (C) | 16 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 37 | 8 | +29 | 40 | Qualification for AFC Cup group stage[c] |
| 2 | Nejmeh | 16 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 31 | 10 | +21 | 35 | |
| 3 | Shabab Sahel | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 11 | +4 | 27 | |
| 4 | Ahed | 16 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 16 | +4 | 24[d] | |
| 5 | Safa | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 24[d] | |
| 6 | Akhaa Ahli Aley | 16 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 12 | −4 | 20 | |
| 7 | Bourj | 16 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 18 | 13 | +5 | 23[e] | |
| 8 | Shabab Bourj | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 22 | 14 | +8 | 23[e] | |
| 9 | Tripoli | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 15 | −4 | 19 | |
| 10 | Tadamon Sour | 16 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 16 | |
| 11 | Chabab Ghazieh (R) | 16 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 12 | 26 | −14 | 11 | Relegation to Lebanese Second Division |
| 12 | Salam Zgharta (R) | 16 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 6 | 50 | −44 | 1 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Draw.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
- ^ Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon, all games were played behind closed doors.
- ^ Teams play each other once (11 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).
- ^ No standby team qualified to the 2022 AFC Cup as only Ansar and Nejmeh were granted a license.[11]
- ^ a b Head-to-head results: Ahed 2–1 Safa, Safa 3–3 Ahed.
- ^ a b Head-to-head results: Shabab Bourj 0–1 Bourj, Bourj 1–1 Shabab Bourj.
Results
Matches 1–11
Teams play each other once.
Matches 12–16
After 11 matches, the league splits into two sections of six teams i.e. the top six and the bottom six, with the teams playing every other team in their section once.
Top six |
Bottom six
|
Season statistics
Scoring
Top goalscorers
.jpg)
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[12] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Hassan Maatouk
|
Ansar | 14 |
| 2 | Adnan Melhem
|
Shabab Bourj | 10 |
| 3 | Mohamad Kdouh
|
Ahed | 7 |
| Akram Moghrabi
|
Tripoli | ||
| 5 | Hassan "Moni" Chaito
|
Ansar | 6 |
| Mahmoud Siblini
|
Nejmeh | ||
| 7 | Ahmad Hijazi
|
Ansar | 5 |
| Fadel Antar
|
Bourj | ||
| Ali Hammoud
|
Ansar |
Hat-tricks
.jpg)
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohamad Kdouh |
Ahed | Bourj | 3–2[13] | 4 October 2020 |
| Hassan Maatouk |
Ansar | Bourj | 3–0[14] | 26 December 2020 |
| Haidar Awada |
Shabab Sahel | Salam Zgharta | 4–0[15] | 27 December 2020 |
| Akram Moghrabi |
Safa | Salam Zgharta | 5–0[16] | 3 January 2021 |
Most assists
.jpg)
| Rank | Player | Club | Assists[12] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hassan Maatouk
|
Ansar | 7 |
| 2 | Mohamad Haidar
|
Ahed | 6 |
| Khaled Takaji
|
Nejmeh | ||
| 4 | Ahmad Jalloul
|
Safa | 5 |
| 5 | Abbas Awad
|
Shabab Bourj | 4 |
| Hassan "Moni" Chaito
|
Ansar | ||
| Hussein Awada
|
Shabab Bourj |
Clean sheets
.jpg)
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets[12] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ali Daher
|
Shabab Sahel | 10 |
| 2 | Abedelkarim Saleh
|
Bourj | 9 |
| 3 | Nazih Assad
|
Ansar | 8 |
| Shaker Wehbe
|
Akhaa Ahli Aley | ||
| 5 | Mohamad Santina
|
Tadamon Sour | 7 |
| 6 | Ali Sabeh
|
Nejmeh | 6 |
| 7 | Mostafa Matar
|
Tripoli | 5 |
| 8 | Talal Dandashli
|
Safa | 4 |
| Mehdi Khalil
|
Ahed |
Discipline
Player
- Most yellow cards: 8
Jihad Ayoub (Ansar)- Zouhair Abdallah (Shabab Sahel)
- Most red cards: 1
- Yasser Achour (Shabab Bourj)
- Ali Rmeity (Shabab Bourj)
- Hussein Sayed (Chabab Ghazieh)
- Kazzem Attieh (Tadamon Sour)
- Ali Abdallah Bitar (Tadamon Sour)
- Hussein Zein (Ahed)
- Ahmad Khatib (Bourj)
Notes
References
- ^ a b c d Mahfoud, Maroun (25 April 2021). "The 2020-21 season in numbers". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ^ "September kick off for new Lebanese season". The AFC. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- ^ Mahfoud, Maroun (19 August 2020). "LFA cancels all on-going tournaments and postpone the Premier League". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
- ^ "The 2020-2021 Lebanese Premier League schedule has been revealed". FA Lebanon. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
- ^ "الجمهور يعود.. لا يعود". lebanonfg.com. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- ^ الميادين, شبكة (7 April 2019). "نادي العهد... قصة طموح ومثابرة نحو المجد". شبكة الميادين (in Arabic). Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- ^ a b c d "الاتحاد اللبناني يعلن عن قرارات حاسمة". كووورة. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Abou Diab, Rami (25 June 2020). "The new regulations for the Lebanese Premier League". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
- ^ a b "هل يُمكن أن يُحسم اللقب قبل الدورة السداسية؟". lebanonfg.com. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
- ^ Abdallah, Rakan (1 August 2020). "What are the criteria for a Lebanese club to play in the Champions League?". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
- ^ "List of Licensed Clubs for the 2022 AFC Cup" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
- ^ a b c "2020–21 Lebanese Premier League Stats". FA Lebanon. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
- ^ "Ahed vs Bourj". FA Lebanon. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
- ^ Khaled, Nasser (26 December 2020). هاتريك معتوق يقود الأنصار لاكتساح البرج [Maatouk's hat-trick leads Ansar to sweep Bourj]. Kooora. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
- ^ Khaled, Nasser (27 December 2020). هاتريك عواضة يعيد شباب الساحل بفوز عريض من زغرتا [Awada's hat-trick gives Shabab Sahel a big win against Zgharta]. Kooora. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ Khaled, Nasser (3 January 2021). الصفاء يؤمن تأهله لسداسية اللقب [Safa secure their qualification to the "top six"]. Kooora. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
External links
