Lugano

Lugano missed out on European football by a single point in the end of what was pretty solid campaign that faded away late on mainly due to series of injuries to important defenders. Lugano’s style of play remained the same all season with coach Jacobacci using very defensive tactics that even if not bringing wins made the team very tough nut to crack. Lost just twice in the first 17 rounds, with 10 of those 17 games ending in draws. This stability and the excellent defensive displays from the likes of Maric, Keckes and Lavanchy meant that Lugano stayed out of trouble all season. To add further boost to their back line Lugano also added 35-year-old Ziegler to their squad in January and this proved crucial as late on he played key role after series of other defenders got injured. The main weakness all season was the scoring of goals and in search of more up front Abubakar also joined in winter, but he didn’t have the impact everyone hoped for with just 2 goals scored in 20 appearances. Still, Lugano looked well on course to top 3 finish come mid-April when back-to-back home wins even moved them in the top 2. Then in just one week 3 serious injuries to key players destabilised the displays for the rest of the season. Once Maric went out injured the stability in defence was no longer there and run of 4 consecutive defeats between rounds 31 and 34 ended all hope of qualifying for Europe. Lugano hope to be even better next season with the few players signed in the winter set to stay and coach Jacobacci expecting to receive fresh batch of young talents from parent club Juventus in the coming months.

Player of the Season: Mijat Maric