V-League 2023: Breathtaking competition

V-League 2020 is the first season to apply the championship group format (8 teams) and relegation group format (6 teams) in the second phase, instead of playing two rounds as usual. This is a "last resort" choice of the tournament organizers in the context of the pandemic, which has shortened the tournament's length. However, in misfortune, there is luck. The number of matches has decreased, the opportunity to correct mistakes has decreased, meaning that teams have to compete more fiercely to win positions. Viettel and Hanoi Clubs have competed for the championship until the last round, similar to the unique relegation race between Nam Dinh and Quang Nam Clubs, where the winner and loser are only decided in the last 20 minutes of the season.

Goalkeeper Tran Minh Toan contributed greatly to helping Binh Duong Club hold Hanoi to a draw.

In the 2023 season, this format will return for an unavoidable reason, which is to shorten the transition season to prepare for the change to the new schedule of the V-League. After 9 rounds, the championship and relegation race has not yet been clearly defined. The teams are mainly 1-2 points ahead of each other. With just 1 win, a team can climb a few places. No team, even the leading team Thanh Hoa , has shown a superior position to the rest.

The fierceness and balance of V-League is most evident in round 9. Binh Duong Club held defending champion Hanoi to a draw despite being in the bottom group. Da Nang Club also took 1 point right on Hanoi's field, then blocked HAGL to get more valuable points. Ho Chi Minh City Club, although at the bottom of the table, showed a very hard-working style of play with 9 goals in the last 3 matches against the teams in the top group.

In the latest match of round 9 yesterday, May 28, Thanh Hoa FC won 3-2 against Viettel FC. Coach Velizar Popov and his team regained their winning feeling, thanks to that, they are 4 points ahead of the second-placed Hanoi Police FC. Mr. Popov once shared that short breaks make it difficult for many teams to catch up with their form, but Thanh Hoa FC's performance is making fans excited. The free-flowing, fast-paced attacking style but also very tight defense helps the Thanh team become a bright candidate for the championship this season.

The tension and intensity are also reflected in the unusually high number of draws this season, with 29 matches ending in a draw after 63 matches. In the last 14 matches, V-League has witnessed 8 draws. The number of wins with a difference of more than 1 goal has also decreased significantly, mainly due to the tight, cautious playing style and similar strength between the teams. Another relatively special statistic: V-League currently has only two teams with a winning rate of more than 50%, which are Thanh Hoa Club (ranked first) and Hanoi Police Club (ranked second). Hai Phong Club has only won 2 out of 9 matches since the beginning of the season, but is still ranked 8th - a position in the championship race. The close number of points between the teams signals an unpredictable disruption in the next 4 rounds.

In the unpredictable cycle of V-League, some national team and U.22 Vietnam players spoke up in round 9. Tien Linh quenched his thirst for scoring with a goal against Hanoi FC. In his second appearance in the V-League this season, Van Tung also scored the "opening goal". Tien Linh may still be the number 1 striker under coach Philippe Troussier in the Vietnam national team, but Van Tung is also fiercely competing. Van Do scored his 3rd goal after 4 starting matches in the V-League when he scored against SLNA, bringing Hanoi Police FC to second place in the table. In the HAGL shirt, Quoc Viet assisted Washington Brandao to score against Da Nang FC. Besides the collective race, individuals are also competing fiercely to get into the "green eye" of coach Troussier in the training session next June.

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