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It’s often touted as “the most exciting league in the world,” but this season the English Premier League is looking a tad boring in comparison with the Algerian Premier Division title race.
While Chelsea, who have topped the table since the opening day of the season, is on the verge of landing the English title, all 16 teams in the Algerian top flight are mathematically still able to finish first with just four games remaining. Only 11 points separate top to bottom after 26 rounds of fixtures.
“It is very possible that one of the minor clubs will win the championship, while one of the bigger clubs gets relegated,” former ES Setif and USM Alger boss Hubert Velud told FIFA’s official website.
League leaders ES Setif may be the division’s joint-second highest scorer with 32 goals – 11th-placed MC El Eulma has hit 34 – yet it has still managed to concede more than any of the three teams sitting in the relegation zone, having been breached on 25 different occasions.
Fourth-placed USM El Harrach, meanwhile, has recorded the most victories this season with 12, but only two teams have endured more defeats than the 11 it has suffered.
The Algerian Premier Division has not always been so close – USM Alger won the title last season by 14 points, while also finishing 48 points ahead of bottom-placed CRB Ain Fakroun.
“Everybody is wondering why it has been so tight this season, but there are no answers. We have tried to find an explanation but we just haven’t got one,” Le Buteur journalist Farid Ait Saada told CNN.
“It’s not normal that there’s only 11 points difference from top to bottom. Nobody would normally believe that is possible.”
Not all as it seems
If the Algerian Premier Division gives the impression of being a thrilling spectacle to the outsider, Ait Saada insists the quality of football on offer has been less than thrilling this season.
“Everybody in Algeria says it’s the weakest league in the history of Algerian football,” Ait Saada added. “The leader now has 41 points and it’s not enough. 41 points from 26 games is very, very weak. It reflects the very low level of the league this season.”
So much so that a conference will be held next week in which coaches will discuss how to improve Algerian football.
According to Ait Saada, there will be plenty to discuss.
A lack of Algerian internationals playing in the league is holding it back, he says, while the high turnover of coaches at clubs has also played its part.
“There is a crisis in local football in Algeria. If you look in the national team, most of the players play in Europe and are formed in Europe. Algeria doesn’t form the players and doesn’t learn,” explained Ait Saada.
“Some club presidents can be foolish and this is the manner of them to reject the responsibility of bad results. To most of them, the responsibility is that of only the coach. Changing the managers is very common in Algeria, but why do we not try to change the presidents? Then results might be better.”
ES Setif won the African Champions League last season to qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup, but has been unable to follow up that success by dominating the Algerian Premier Division this year.
“During the campaign everybody is focused on the goal of winning the African title, but after having reached that goal everybody thinks about other things,” Ait Saada said.
“When you win a major title, after, the local title feels like rubbish. Money is certainly a problem that is holding back the league, but the biggest problem is mentality.”