The Lebanese Football Association announced on Tuesday, 28 February 2023, that Bourj FC will represent Lebanon in the 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup, renamed King Salman Club Cup for this edition, which will be hosted by Saudi Arabia.
Bourj FC earned this opportunity by classifying third in the 2021-2022 season of the Lebanese Premier League. Usually the top two teams of the Lebanese League qualify for the AFC Cup, and therefore the third placed team qualifies for the Arab Club Champions Club.
This would be the first time that Bourj FC participates in the Arab Club Champions Cup and only the second time they participate in an official international competition. 29 years ago, after winning the Lebanese Cup in 1993, Bourj FC took part in the 1994-1995 Asian Cup Winners' Cup, but were eliminated by future runners-up Al Shaab (of the United Arab Emirates) 5-1 on aggregate in the second round.
The good news came in a rather difficult moment for the club, as their declared objective for this season, the third place, has been missed. On Saturday afternoon, at Fouad Chehab Stadoum in Jounieh, Bourj FC lost 1-0 to Nejmeh and therefore lost any theoretical chance to reach the third place. However, they still have good chances to claim the fourth place, which would have been a more realistic objective for this season and can still be achieved.
The only goal of the match was scored very early, by Jefinho, whose left-footed shot from inside the box was slightly deflected by Khodor Hallak, who was trying to block the shot: 0-1 (6').
Bourj FC starting line-up. Photo source: The LFA Facebook page
Nejmeh starting line-up. Photo source: The LFA Facebook page
Jefinho's shot was deflected by Khodor Hallak and Nejmeh were 1-0 up very early. Photo source: The LFA Facebook page
After the goal, Bourj FC tried hard to equalize, and were able to dominate the rest of the match, but without reaching the opposite box effectively. They had the ball most of the times, tried various offensive strategies, without too much success. Nejmeh defended well and launched dangerous counterattacks. Set pieces were important moments for both teams, although eventually nothing came out of those either.
Bourj FC players Mohamad El Dor (#2), Dennis Tetteh (#17) and Ali Merkabaoui (#9) surrounding one Nejmeh player. Photo source: The LFA Facebook page
Despite Bourj FC attacks, Nejmeh had the biggest goal-scoring opportunities, with shots hitting the cross-bar twice, once in the first half, and once at the end of the match, and another shot hitting the side post in stoppage time, when Bourj FC launched a full offensive and left wide open spaces in their defence.
This was one of the few matches when Bourj FC had a different manner of playing the game, as they were forced to play offensively, because they were 1-0 down almost from the very start. It proved, on one hand, that they still have the ability to attack, but, on the other hand, that they also need better forwards, and especially a striker. Stephen Sarfo has not been in the squad in 2023 (for unknown reasons), so Dennis Tetteh, Ali Merkabaoui or Hussein Al Outa were used in the position of central forward, which is clearly not suitable for any of them. This was also visible in this game, too. The few chances that Bourj FC created came mostly from the sides, where Mohamad Sadek and Ali Merkabaoui were very active. The number of chances grew towards the end of the game, with several good shots by subs Mahmoud Kaawar and Hussein Al Outa, but it was not enough to get an equalizer.
Starting line-ups:
Bourj: Abdelkarim Saleh - Mohamad El Dor, Richard Baffour, Khodor Hallak, Shadi Skaf - Mohamad Al Faour, Mohamad Sibaii "Wartan" - Ali Merkabaoui, Khaled Takaji, Mohamad Sadek - Dennis Tetteh. Manager: Hussein Tahan.
Nejmeh: Ali Al Sabaa - Said Awada, Ali Hamam, Kassem El Zein, Abdullah Moughrabi - Hassan Kourani, Vitor Hugo Freitas "Barata", Karim Abou Zeid - Alaa Ezzo, Jefesson Viera "Jefinho", Matheus de Santana "Farinha". Manager: Paulo Menezes.
This win was crucial for Nejmeh, as it maintains their title hopes (still) alive, with two rounds to go. They will have however to win against Ansar in the next match, on Sunday, and to hope that the other results will go in their way, also in the last round.
Bourj will face Shabab Al-Ghazieh on Sunday, and they also need to win to enhance their chances for the fourth place at the end of the season. Their decisive match will be in the last round, against their long-term rivals Shabab Sahel.
In the play-out, nothing is yet decided regarding relegation.
Full results, tables, and fixtures:
Play-off
Round 8 (25-26 February 2023)
Shabab Al-Ghazieh – Al Ahed 0-3
Bourj – Nejmeh 0-1
Shabab Sahel – Ansar 1-2
Table
|
1 |
Ansar |
8 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
43-10 |
32 |
(+) |
|
2 |
Al Ahed |
8 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
34-11 |
30 |
|
|
3 |
Nejmeh |
8 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
29-11 |
28 |
(+) |
|
4 |
Shabab Sahel |
8 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
26-20 |
20 |
(+) |
|
5 |
Bourj |
8 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
21-22 |
18 |
(+) |
|
6 |
Shabab Al-Ghazieh |
8 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
13-34 |
6 |
|
(+) Points have been rounded up.
If two or more teams have the same number of points, the teams that had their points rounded up will be classified below those which had their points halved neatly, as the main ranking criterion, followed by the head-to-head results, the goal difference, and the number of goals scored.
Initial classification before the start of the play-off: Ansar 14p, Shabab Sahel 13p, Al Ahed, Nejmeh and Bourj 12p, Shabab Al-Ghazieh 6p.
Round 9 (4-5 March 2023)
Al Ahed – Shabab Sahel
Bourj – Shabab Al-Ghazieh
Nejmeh – Ansar
Play-out
Round 8 (24 February 2023)
Salam Zgharta – AC Tripoli 2-1
Hikma / Sagesse – Tadamon Sour 2-1
Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley – Safa 2-2
Table
|
7 |
Tadamon Sour |
8 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
25-21 |
21 |
|
|
8 |
AC Tripoli |
8 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
15-33 |
17 |
(+) |
|
9 |
Hikma / Sagesse |
8 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
16-23 |
15 |
(+) |
|
10 |
Safa |
8 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
16-26 |
14 |
|
|
11 |
Salam Zgharta |
8 |
3 |
0 |
5 |
14-25 |
13 |
(+) |
|
12 |
Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley |
8 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
19-35 |
12 |
(+) |
(+) Points have been rounded up.
If two or more teams have the same number of points, the teams that had their points rounded up will be classified below those which had their points halved neatly, as the main ranking criterion, followed by the head-to-head results, the goal difference, and the number of goals scored.
Initial classification before the start of the play-out: Safa and Tadamon Sour 5p, Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley, Salam Zgharta and Hikma / Sagesse 4p, AC Tripoli 3p.
Round 9 (4 March 2023)
AC Tripoli – Hikma / Sagesse
Safa – Tadamon Sour
Salam Zgharta – Al Akhaa Al Ahly Aley
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