2017–18 Kategoria Superiore

The 2017–18 Albanian Superliga was the 79th official season, or 82nd season of top-tier football in Albania (including three unofficial championships during World War II) and the 18th season under the name Kategoria Superiore. The season began on 9 September 2017 and ended on 18 May 2018.^[1] Title record-holders KF Tirana did not participate in the top flight for the first time since competition's foundation. Kukësi are the defending champions.^[2] Skënderbeu, won the league title on 9 May 2018 with 3 matches to spare.

Kategoria Superiore

Season	2017–18
Dates	9 September 2017 – 23 May 2018
Champions	Skënderbeu 8th title
Relegated	Lushnja Vllaznia
Champions League	Kukësi
Europa League	Laçi Luftëtari Partizani
Matches played	180
Goals scored	458 (2.54 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ali Sowe (21 goals)
Biggest home win	Partizani 6–0 Lushnja (28 February 2018)
Biggest away win	Skënderbeu 1–5 Vllaznia (23 May 2018)
Highest scoring	Teuta 6–2 Lushnja (19 May 2018)
Longest winning run	7 matches Skënderbeu
Longest unbeaten run	13 matches Skënderbeu
Longest winless run	22 matches Lushnja
Longest losing run	12 matches Lushnja
← 2016–17 2018–19 → All statistics correct as of 23 May 2018.

Since Skënderbeu is banned from UEFA competitions, the runners-up of this season's Superliga earned a place in the first qualifying round of the 2018−19 Champions League, with the third and fourth placed clubs earning a place in the first qualifying round of the 2018−19 Europa League.^[3]

Teams

Two clubs earned promotion from the Kategoria e Parë, Kamza and Lushnja, and joined the Superliga this season.^[1] Korabi Peshkopi and Tirana were relegated at the conclusion of last season.

Locations

Flamurtari

Luftëtari

Kamza

Kukësi

Laçi

Partizani

Skënderbeu

Teuta

Lushnja

Vllaznia

Locations of the 2017–18 Kategoria Superiore teams

Team	Home city	Stadium	Capacity	2016–17 season
Flamurtari	Vlorë	Flamurtari Stadium	8,200	8th
Kamza	Kamëz	Kamëz Stadium	5,500	Kategoria e Parë
Kukësi	Kukës	Zeqir Ymeri Stadium	10,000	Champions
Laçi	Laç	Laçi Stadium	4,300	6th
Luftëtari	Gjirokastër	Gjirokastra Stadium	8,400	4th
Lushnja	Lushnjë	Abdurrahman Roza Haxhiu Stadium	8,000	Kategoria e Parë
Skënderbeu	Korçë	Skënderbeu Stadium	8,724	3rd
Partizani	Tirana	Selman Stërmasi Stadium(1)	9,600	2nd
Teuta	Durrës	Niko Dovana Stadium	12,400	5th
Vllaznia	Shkodër	Loro Boriçi Stadium	18,022	7th

• (1) Partizani play their 2017–18 home games at the Selman Stërmasi Stadium in Tirana. The club's former home ground, the Qemal Stafa Stadium, was demolished and their new home ground at the Partizani Complex is currently under construction.

Stadiums

Flamurtari	Kamza	Kukësi	Laçi	Luftëtari
Flamurtari Stadium	Kamëz Stadium	Zeqir Ymeri Stadium	Laçi Stadium	Gjirokastra Stadium
Capacity: 8,200	Capacity: 5,200	Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 2,300	Capacity: 8,400
Lushnja	Partizani	Skënderbeu	Teuta	Vllaznia
Abdurrahman Roza Haxhiu Stadium	Selman Stërmasi Stadium	Skënderbeu Stadium	Niko Dovana Stadium	Loro Boriçi Stadium
Capacity: 8,500	Capacity: 9,600	Capacity: 12,343	Capacity: 12,040	Capacity: 16,022

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
Flamurtari	Sinan Idrizi	Ardian Behari	Franc Veliu	Kappa	—
Kamza	Naim Qarri	Julian Ahmataj	Argjend Halili	Uhlsport	Mokador
Kukësi	Safet Gjici	Peter Pacult	Ylli Shameti	Macron	Kevin Construction
Laçi	Pashk Laska	Gentian Mezani	Taulant Sefgjinaj	Uhlsport	Baste Live
Luftëtari	Grigor Tavo	Hasan Lika	Orjand Beqiri	Legea	−
Lushnja	Fatos Tushe	Ilir Gjyla	Fatjon Sefa	Legea	−
Partizani	Gazment Demi	Klevis Dalipi	Idriz Batha	Joma	—
Skënderbeu	Ardian Takaj	Ilir Daja	Orges Shehi	Puma	Ama Cafè
Teuta	Edmond Hasanbelliu	Gentian Begeja	Rustem Hoxha	Kappa	Caffè Pascucci
Vllaznia	Municipality of Shkodër	Ervis Kraja	Ndriçim Shtubina	Legea	–

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Luftëtari	Mladen Milinković	End of contract	30 June 2017	Pre-season	Daniel Fernández	10 August 2017
Partizani	Sulejman Starova	Mutual consent	6 July 2017		Mark Iuliano	22 July 2017
Kukësi	Ernest Gjoka	Sacked	23 July 2017		Mladen Milinković	29 July 2017
Laçi	Stavri Nica	Resigned	26 September 2017	7th	Gentian Mezani	26 September 2017
Luftëtari	Daniel Fernández	Sacked	15 October 2017	7th	Hasan Lika	18 October 2017
Vllaznia	Armando Cungu	Mutual consent	19 October 2017	8th	Ernest Gjoka	19 October 2017
Lushnja	Artan Bano	Resigned	23 October 2017	10th	Hysen Dedja	31 October 2017
Partizani	Mark Iuliano	Mutual consent	5 November 2017		Sulejman Starova	7 November 2017
Kukësi	Mladen Milinković	Resigned	23 December 2017	4th	Peter Pacult	3 January 2018
Teuta	Gugash Magani	Resigned	26 December 2017		Stavri Nica	4 January 2018
Teuta	Stavri Nica	Resigned	12 February 2018	9th	Gentian Begeja	12 February 2018
Lushnja	Hysen Dedja	Resigned	14 February 2018	10th	Dritan Çuko	20 February 2018
Partizani	Sulejman Starova	Mutual consent	5 March 2018	5th	Klevis Dalipi	5 March 2018
Lushnja	Dritan Çuko	End of caretaker spell	21 March 2018	10th	Ilir Gjyla	21 March 2018
Kamza	Ramadan Ndreu	Sacked	10 April 2018	7th	Julian Ahmataj	11 April 2018
Flamurtari	Shpëtim Duro	Resigned	18 April 2018	6th	Ardian Behari	18 April 2018
Vllaznia	Ernest Gjoka	Resigned	14 May 2018	9th	Ervis Kraja	14 May 2018

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Skënderbeu[a] (C)	36	22	6	8	68	41	+27	72
2	Kukësi	36	18	9	9	61	41	+20	63	Qualification to the Champions League first qualifying round
3	Luftëtari	36	16	11	9	47	37	+10	59	Qualification to the Europa League first qualifying round[b]
4	Laçi	36	16	8	12	45	39	+6	56
5	Partizani	36	15	8	13	41	36	+5	53
6	Flamurtari	36	11	13	12	37	37	0	46
7	Kamza	36	12	10	14	37	41	−4	46
8	Teuta	36	12	10	14	55	58	−3	46
9	Vllaznia (R)	36	12	8	16	38	42	−4	44	Relegation to 2018–19 Kategoria e Parë
10	Lushnja (R)	36	2	5	29	29	86	−57	11

Source: Albanian Football Association (in Albanian), 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.^[6]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. In March 2018, Skënderbeu was handed a 10-year ban from UEFA club competitions over match fixing.^[4][5]
2. Skënderbeu qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2017–18 Albanian Cup. However, since they were banned from entering UEFA competitions, the spot awarded to the cup winners was passed down the league.

Results

Clubs will play each other four times for a total of 36 matches each.^[7]

First half of season Home \ Away FLA KAM KUK LAÇ LUF LUS PAR SKË TEU VLL Flamurtari — 1–0 1–1 0–1 0–0 3–1 1–0 1–1 0–0 2–0 Kamza 0–3 — 2–2 3–1 0–1 2–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 Kukësi 1–1 1–0 — 3–0 1–2 1–3 1–2 1–2 4–2 2–2 Laçi 1–1 0–1 0–1 — 0–1 3–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 Luftëtari 1–1 1–2 0–3 1–1 — 2–0 5–0 2–0 2–3 0–0 Lushnja 0–1 0–0 0–2 0–3 0–0 — 0–3 1–3 2–1 0–2 Partizani 0–1 2–1 0–0 0–2 2–0 0–0 — 0–0 2–1 3–1 Skënderbeu 2–0 1–1 2–1 2–1 2–0 4–1 2–0 — 3–1 4–1 Teuta 1–2 0–1 1–2 1–1 2–1 2–2 1–2 1–4 — 1–0 Vllaznia 1–1 3–2 1–3 1–2 2–1 2–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 — Source: Albanian Football Association Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season Home \ Away FLA KAM KUK LAÇ LUF LUS PAR SKË TEU VLL Flamurtari — 2–2 1–2 0–0 0–1 2–0 1–2 0–3 3–1 1–1 Kamza 1–0 — 0–1 1–2 0–0 2–1 0–1 1–2 1–2 0–0 Kukësi 2–2 0–1 — 1–0 2–2 2–1 4–0 2–2 3–2 2–0 Laçi 4–2 2–0 0–0 — 2–2 3–1 0–3 3–2 4–2 1–0 Luftëtari 2–1 1–0 2–1 2–1 — 2–0 2–2 3–1 0–0 0–0 Lushnja 0–2 2–3 1–2 1–3 1–2 — 1–1 2–4 2–3 0–2 Partizani 1–0 0–1 1–3 0–0 3–0 6–0 — 0–1 1–3 2–0 Skënderbeu 1–0 3–2 0–1 4–0 2–1 3–1 1–0 — 1–3 1–5 Teuta 0–0 3–3 3–2 1–0 2–3 6–2 1–1 1–1 — 2–0 Vllaznia 3–0 0–0 2–1 1–0 0–2 4–0 0–0 2–1 2–0 — Source: Albanian Football Association Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[8]
1	Ali Sowe	Skënderbeu	21
2	Sindrit Guri	Kukësi	20
3	Reginaldo	Laçi	18
4	Kristal Abazaj	Luftëtari	13
	Sebino Plaku	Kamza
6	Elis Bakaj	Kukësi	12
7	Fatjon Sefa	Lushnja	10
	James Adeniyi	Skënderbeu
	Myrto Uzuni	Laçi
	Xhevahir Sukaj	Vllaznia

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Albanian Superliga hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Reginaldo	Laçi	Flamurtari	4–2 (H)	10 March 2018	[9]
Sindrit Guri	Kukësi	Partizani	4–0 (H)	14 April 2018	[10]
Ali Sowe	Skënderbeu	Lushnja	4–2 (A)	9 May 2018	[11]

Note

⁴ Player scored 4 goals; (H) – Home; (A) – Away

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Alban Hoxha	Partizani	14
2	Gentian Selmani	Laçi	13
3	Adis Nurković	Flamurtari	12
4	Shkëlzen Ruçi	Luftëtari	9
5	Orges Shehi	Skënderbeu	8
6	Enea Koliçi	Kukësi	7

Discipline

• Most yellow cards: 11^[12]
  • Taulant Sefgjinaj (Laçi)
• Most red cards: 2^[12]
  • Taulant Sefgjinaj (Laçi)
  • Ditmar Bicaj (Vllaznia)

See also

• Albanian Superliga