Part one of the series, which you can read here, saw us touch on the originator of the split-league format, the league that started a revolution with creative formats, and one that took inspiration from the Latin American world.
We now delve into three countries who have added some interesting approaches.
Moldova
Who likes confusing formats? Moldova cooked up a treat for you in this case.
Now in the fourth year of this current make, the Super Liga made a slight tweak in the off-season. In the first three years, the eight clubs faced each other home and away before the split. For this year, the sides meet thrice, with at least one home and one away contest.
After the 21-game regular season, the top six clubs partake in the title playoffs, where they battle each other twice more. In the previous three years, the slate was wiped clean, with no points carried over. Now, half of the points won against fellow top six teams from the first stage are brought over to the second stage, rounded downward.
There was a rare situation in the league last season, as record champions Sheriff Tiraspol went unbeaten in the season, but did not capture the title. Of course, they had accrued the most points in both stages combined. But, since the points were reset after the first half, it played a big role in them being pipped to the title by Milsami Orhei. Sheriff did beat the same opponent in the cup final though, so they did not go empty-handed.
If you thought that was confusing, the relegation/promotion group is even more chaotic. Currently, Moldova is the only nation where clubs from the top two divisions play in a group format for promotion and relegation. The bottom two clubs from the regular season are grouped with four sides from the second tier. They also play each other home and away, just like the title playoffs group.
The winner of this group qualifies for the Super Liga next term. As for the remaining five teams, they play in a playoff tournament involving six clubs from the second division's relegation playoffs for the last spot in the top flight the following term.
It almost feels as if the top two divisions are intertwined, since 14 teams are involved in a chaotic system to determine who goes up and who drops down.
Slovakia
Okay, this format is much more straightforward than the previous one. In fact, it is used in a few other countries like Austria, Denmark, and Wales (for now). However, in the central European nation, there is one standout feature that is not adopted in the others mentioned.
For the Nike Liga, the 12 clubs have a normal regular season of 22 games, where they face off home and away. Then, the league splits in half, where the top six meet twice more, and likewise the bottom six. All points won from the regular season carry over to the playoffs.
Now, you read this and wonder, where is the uniqueness here? Well, in the three other countries previously listed, there is a European play-in match, or a mini-tournament to determine the last UECL spot. That is a guarantee. Slovakia does it slightly differently.
The Slovak spots in UEFA club competitions see the champions enter the Champions League, the cup winners partake in the Europa League, and the second and third place teams qualify for the Conference League. So, no play-in match or mini-tournament, right? Well, not quite.
As per the league's regulations, a mini-tournament occurs if the cup winner finishes in the top three. In that case, the bottom three teams in the title playoffs, plus the top finisher in the relegation playoffs, meet in a final four format to decide who takes the free Conference League spot, with the highter-ranked team hosting each game.
This quirk makes them one of two nations where there is the potential for a European play-in, but it depends on other factors. The other nation to also have this as a possibility is Malta.
It can result in problems though. Last term, there was a situation where Podbrezova, who went into the last round of the title playoffs knowing they would be finishing last, faced cup winners Spartak Trnava, who would finish third with a win. So, losing this game would send Podbrezova, along with DAC Dunajska Streda, Kosice, and Zemplin Michalovce into a mini-tournament.
Trnava won the match, and the play-in occurred. DAC, who could have finished third and avoided the extra two games, ultimately won the mini-tournament, only to lose out on European football due to a multi-club ownership conflict. Ironically, Podbrezova were the team who lost in the final.
Albania
Finally, we head to Albania, where their change to their league format only happened a couple of years ago. Similar to Malta, they took inspiration from the Americas - just not Central/South America.
With 10 teams in their top flight, it can feel a little boring seeing that they face each other four times - twice at home and twice on the road. That in part resulted in a change heading into the 2023/24 campaign.
There are quite a few nations in Europe to have 10 sides in their top tier. In all of them, it is simply a quadruple round robin (triple round robin in the Faroe Islands), and that is it. However, in Albania, the top four clubs end up in a knockout mini-tournament for the title and European places. There is a draw to determine the semi-finals, with the top two being seeded. All four matches - the semis, third place playoff, and final - take place at the national stadium.
This playoff set-up mirrors what happens across the pond in North America. Virtually all leagues in the United States, whether it be football or another sport, has some sort of knockout tournament. So, Albania's format definitely translates well to them.
No other European top division has a playoff under a knockout format to determine the league champion, other than (potentially) Malta. All other playoffs for the title are done in a group of sorts.
With that said, there are a few leagues that do have the potential for a one-off final should two teams finish level on points. However, those are extremely rare, with the last one coming in 2018/19 in - yep, you guessed it - Malta.
Funny enough, there are typically some tight races at the top of the standings in Albania. There has not been a runaway winner since 2021/22. Adding the playoffs provides an extra twist to what is already a fascinating contest.
