2008–09 Kategoria Superiore


The 2008–09 Kategoria Superiore was the 73rd season of top-tier football in Albania and the eleventh season under the name Kategoria Superiore. The season began on 24 August 2008 and ended on 23 May 2009. The defending champions were Dinamo Tirana.
KF Tirana won their 24th national league title and qualified for the UEFA Champions League; Vllaznia, Dinamo Tirana and 2008–09 Albanian Cup winners Flamurtari gained access to the UEFA Europa League. On the bottom end of the table, Lushnja and Elbasani were directly relegated. Bylis and Partizani had to face teams from the Kategoria e Parë in relegation matches. Both teams lost and thus were demoted as well.

Promotion and relegation

and Skënderbeu were directly relegated to the Kategoria e Parë after finishing 11th and 12th in the previous year's standings. They were replaced by Kategoria e Parë champions Bylis and runners-up Apolonia.
9th placed Teuta and 10th placed Kastrioti had to compete in single-match relegation play-offs. Kastrioti were relegated in the process by losing on penalties against the 3rd placed team from Kategoria e Parë, Lushnja. On the other hand, Teuta saved their place in Albania's top league by beating Burreli, who had finished in 4th place in the Kategoria e Parë, with 2–1 after extra time.

Teams

Stadia and last season

TeamLocationStadiumCapacityLast season
ApoloniaFierLoni Papuçiu Stadium6,000Kategoria e Parë
BesaKavajëBesa Stadium12,0003rd
BylisBallshAdush Muça Stadium6,000Kategoria e Parë
DinamoTiranaSelman Stërmasi Stadium12,000Champions
ElbasaniElbasanRuzhdi Bizhuta Stadium13,0004th
FlamurtariVlorëFlamurtari Stadium8,5008th
LushnjaLushnjëAbdurrahman Roza Haxhiu Stadium6,000Kategoria e Parë
PartizaniTiranaSelman Stërmasi Stadium12,0002nd
ShkumbiniPeqinShkumbini Stadium6,0005th
TeutaDurrësNiko Dovana Stadium12,0004th
TiranaTiranaSelman Stërmasi Stadium12,0006th
VllazniaShkodërLoro Boriçi Stadium15,0007th

League table

Relegation play-offs

as 9th-placed team and 10th-placed Partizani both competed in relegation play-off games after the end of the season. Superiore sides Partizani and Bylis lost their matches and were thus relegated to the Kategoria e Parë.
----

Results

The schedule consisted of three rounds. During the first two rounds, each team played each other once home and away for a total of 22 matches. The pairings of the third round were then set according to the standings after the first two rounds, giving every team a third game against each opponent for a total of 33 games per team.

First and second round

Third round

Key numbers for pairing determination :
23rd round24th round25th round26th round27th round28th round
1 – 1211 – 11 – 109 – 11 – 87 – 1
2 – 1110 – 22 – 98 – 22 – 76 – 2
3 – 109 – 33 – 87 – 33 – 65 – 3
4 – 98 – 44 – 76 – 44 – 54 – 12
5 – 87 – 55 – 65 – 1211 – 98 – 11
6 – 76 – 1212 – 1110 – 1112 – 109 – 10

Top scorers

Source:
RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Migen MemelliTirana23
2 Sebino PlakuDinamo17
3 Vioresin SinaniVllaznia14
4 Emiljano VilaTeuta12
5 Xhevahir SukajVllaznia10
6 Mladen BrkićApolonia9
6 Marius NgjelaPartizani9
6 Fatjon SefaDinamo9
9 Endri BakiuBylis8
9 Vilfor HysaTeuta8
9 Erjon RizvanolliShkumbini8