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This week in Baltic football history, a new page of history will be opened - based on the experience of its predecessors in 1990 and 1993, as well as the revived football experience of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia over more than a decade, a modern league of three countries will start resembling the elite Champions League model.
In 1990, the Baltic Football League used a championship system, and the strongest team among 17 was Vilnius "Žalgiris". Three years later, in an experimental tournament with eight teams, similar to the current format, Žalgiris won the final against Riga's "Skonto" after 11 penalty shootouts. Meanwhile, last season in the Baltic Cup preliminaries, which featured champions from all three countries playing in two days, Panevėžys "Ekranas" triumphed.
The new Baltic league, with a system similar to the Champions League, is organized by the football federations of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, and UEFA has approved the Baltic League project and its regulations. The league budget is 710 thousand euros, with 13 thousand allocated to each club that enters the league, as well as rewards for results, with the winner receiving 5 thousand.
Four of the strongest teams from the countries compete in the league. They start in four groups, each with one team from a different country. Three groups feature the country's champion, runner-up, and fourth-place team, while one group includes teams that won bronze in their national championships. All teams in the groups play against each other home and away, and the top two enter the knock-out stage.
The knockout stage starts with the quarterfinals, where teams from Groups A and C and Groups B and D are paired. The winners of these pairs move on to the semifinals, and the winners of the semifinals advance to the final. In all stages of the knockout, two matches are played (home and away) with the away goals rule applying.
Group matches will be played over 6 rounds this year from March 6 to May 22, with the quarterfinals on June 13 - July 4, semifinals on August 29 - September 26, and finals on October 20 - November 3.
Groups for the 2007 tournament:
Group A "Kaunas" (1st place in Lithuania), Narva "Trans" (2nd place in Estonia), Daugavpils "Dinaburg" (4th place in Latvia).
Group B Panevėžys "Ekranas" (2nd place in Lithuania), Tallinn "TVMK" (4th place in Estonia), "Ventspils" (1st place in Latvia).
Group C Vilnius "Žalgiris" (4th place in Lithuania), Tallinn "Levadia" (1st place in Estonia), Liepāja "Metalurgs" (2nd place in Latvia).
Group D Vilnius "Vėtra" (3rd place in Lithuania), Tallinn "Flora" (3rd place in Estonia), Riga "Skonto" (3rd place in Latvia).
Schedule of the Baltic League:
Group Matches
Round 1 March 6 "Ekranas" - "TVMK" "Flora" - "Vėtra" March 7 "Kaunas" - "Trans" "Levadia" - "Žalgiris"
Round 2 March 13 "Metalurgs" - "Levadia" "TVMK" - "Ventspils" March 14 "Trans" - "Dinaburg" "Skonto" - "Flora"
Round 3 March 17 "Žalgiris" - "Metalurgs" "Ventspils" - "Ekranas" March 18 "Dinaburg" - "Kaunas" "Vėtra" - "Skonto"
Round 4 April 1 "Kaunas" - "Dinaburg" "Ekranas" - "Ventspils" "Metalurgs" - "Žalgiris" "Skonto" - "Vėtra"
Round 5 April 10 "Flora" - "Skonto" April 11 "Levadia" - "Metalurgs" "Ventspils" - "TVMK" "Dinaburg" - "Trans"
Round 6 May 22 "Trans" - "Kaunas" "TVMK" - "Ekranas" "Žalgiris" - "Levadia" "Vėtra" - "Flora"
Quarterfinals June 13, July 4 A1 - C2 C1 - A2 B1 - D2 D1 - B2
Semifinals August 29, September 26 1. C2/A1 - D2/B1 2. A2/C1 - B2/D1
Final October 20, November 3 Winner of Semifinal 1 - Winner of Semifinal 2
