Weekly domestic football review

Hostert relegated

The one thing that was surely and definitively decided on Sunday was Hostert's drop from the BGL Ligue. Their 6-year stint in the top flight finally came to an end last week after a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of Differdange.

One might say it was a timely farewell from USH, who spent most of their time since promotion languishing near the play-off places, twice requiring wins against Swift Hesperange and FC Mamer 32 (this one via a penalty shootout) to retain their place in the division. Ultimately, there's no third chance for them to salvage their season in a one-off tie, as the gap separating them from the play-off places has grown to five points.

Hostert had a troubling start to the season under then-manager Lars Schäfer, starting with six winless games that duly cemented the club's last place. The fact they never once had a position above 12th place on the league table is really telling about the miserable 2022/23 they had.

It was only a matter of time when Schäfer would get the sack, and the inevitable happened on 5 March, when he was surprisingly replaced by the experienced Henri Bossi, poached straight from Hesperange's sporting director's seat.

Of course Bossi's presence wasn't a pure coincidence. The manager had already had two stints with the same team, constantly managing to keep them up against all odds. Having twice been hired for firefighting stints in March and managing a combined 160 games at the helm, the board thought the wisest idea was to turn to the 65-year old, who resigned at the end of last season, deeming the task too tiring in the long term.

This time around, Bossi proved no superhero and the losses kept coming. At no point after the managerial change was Hostert out of the automatic relegation places, and Bossi's tenure has so far brought three draws and seven losses in ten games. Even in a league where the smaller teams find it hard to find points come by, this level of underachievement couldn't stay unpunished.

With a squad largely assembled from former amateurs in Luxembourg and Germany, perhaps the squad was always unequipped to compete at such a high level. That is definitely a concept the board will have to measure if they consider giving Bossi a contract beyond the season. Although the current setup might just be enough to go again and achieve promotion at the first time of asking, there is still the possibility of key players, such as Kilian Améhi or Quentin Zilli, leaving in the summer transfer window for free.

Marisca Mersch in the final

The Ehrenpromotion side's well-reported quarter-final heroics were followed up by an even more impressive coup last week, when Marisca wrote history by qualifying for their first-ever Coupe de Luxembourg final by beating Mondorf.

The Central Luxembourgers have already comfortably surpassed their previous longest run in the competition, as they had never been able to reach the quarter-final stage. In fact, the biggest achievement in their history was getting to a Coupe FLF (a cup competition excluding top-tier clubs) final in 2010-11, where they were soundly beaten 6-0 by Jeunesse Junglinster.

But now the club can prepare for a showpiece event at Stade de Luxembourg next week, where their opponents will be four-time cup winners FC Differdange.

And the great news didn't stop there: drawing against Alisontia Steinsel in the latest league fixture confirmed Marisca's place in the next edition of BGL Ligue. It has been in the making for a matter of time and will not surprise followers of the league, who saw the two top teams, Schifflange and Marisca Mersch edge further and further ahead of the rest of the pack.

Now, a final and a year in the top flight (another first) await for phenomenal manager Mikhail Zaritski and his crew. They aren't among the favourites to succeed in either, but winning as underdogs is something Marisca could have got used to over the course of the season.

Whether the fairytale continues vastly depends on what happens to the core of the squad and the backroom staff after the summer window, but even if they do get poached and Marisca will have to hunt for replacements, it will be worth the hassle. This team has already written history, and then re-written it with every passing round.

The intense relegation playoff battle

Wins from Mondercange, Etzella Ettelbrück and UN Käerjéng, alongside Fola Esch's draw with Racing Luxembourg complicates the situation surrounding the relegation places.

First thing first: the 15th-placed team will be the one to accompany US Hostert to the Ehrenpromotion with an automatic relegation (Käerjéng, as it stands). Then, the 13th and 14th-placed teams will face the third and fourth-placed sides from the division below respectively (Fola Esch and Etzella). Mondercange are in the blessed 12th position securing automatic safety, but only on goal difference and could yet easily be overtaken by Fola.

All four teams in question will be playing their final game of the 2022/23 season on Sunday with their lives on the line. Perhaps the one thing helping their case is that they all meet teams who have nothing to play for, their seasons having already been settled.

Victoria Rosport will host Mondercange, and although Rosport did have a remarkable revival over March and April, they seem to have fallen off since they accomplished safety with three games to go. Their 11th position is now confirmed, while Mondercange could technically still stay up with a loss, depending on the result of the other games. With the easiest task and the bets chances, one would back FCM to not give up their place at the last hurdle.

Käerjéng travel to the Oesling to play Wiltz 71, who might yet be overtaken by Strassen in the last minute, but their mid-table place has already been guaranteed. Meanwhile, Käerjéng are in the automatic relegation spot at the moment and require at least a draw to survive. Their goal difference are two goals worse than Etzella Ettelbrück's, so with a heavier Etzella loss, a draw might be enough to just about suffice for Käerjéng. They would also finish 14th with a win, and their chances of safety have diminished after last week's Mondercange win maintaining the four-point gap between the two newly-promoted sides.

Fola will have to play Strassen away from home, a team they had not lost to since 2015. Despite the impressive head-to-head record, and Strassen's own shaky start to the campaign, they are still the ones that can lay back and start planning for the summer, while Fola will want to do everything in their power to get themselves out of the scary, unpredictable concept of playing a relegation play-off. Even a win might not be enough for that to happen, in the event Mondercange also win. Less or equal points than Mondercange will confirm Fola's playoff place. (As it stands, the teams competing in the playoff from the Ehrenpromotion will be Bettembourg and Rodange 91).

And last but not least, a crucial tie to come between Union Titus Pétange and Etzella Ettelbrück. Union have lost their way recently, partly thanks to the injury of key striker Kai Merk, but having nothing to play for didn't help, either. They are thirteen places each from third and fifth place, their position being the most certain in the whole division by some distance. But last week's loss to Mondercange showed that they might have lost their drive to keep on going in this final phase of the season, and they can hardly be blamed for that. Etzella will hope their opponents haven't recovered quite yet, and will try to follow up on their relegation rivals' result. Thanks to their shambolic goal difference, a win couldn't get them out of the play-offs under practically any circumstances, but it would definitely get Käerjéng relegated. Anything less, and they are risking their own life.