The 2024-2025 V-League season has left many marks with the championship of Nam Dinh Club, progress in applying VAR technology and fierce competition between top teams.
Convincing championship
This season witnessed the convincing rise of Nam Dinh Club, under the leadership of coach Vu Hong Viet, Nam Dinh not only maintained a sharp attacking style of play but also demonstrated a solid defense. To achieve this result, Nam Dinh Club showed effective investment from the leadership. The team at Thien Truong Stadium brought in "blockbuster" contracts in the middle of the season to promptly patch up the gaps in the squad, when the pillars Nguyen Xuan Son, Nguyen Van Toan, Hendrio or To Van Vu were absent for many reasons.
Thanks to that, the team from Thanh Nam has surpassed two formidable opponents, Hanoi Club and Hanoi Police - "rich" teams that do not hesitate to spend money to buy good and talented players. Along with The Cong Viettel , the 4 teams in the leading group always show stability, contributing to the dramatic "throne" race.
With strong investment, Nam Dinh Club deserves to be crowned V-League 2024-2025 champion. Photo: VPF
The final standings also show that the prerequisite for competing for the championship or staying in the V-League lies in operating costs. From the runner-up position of the 2023-2024 V-League, Binh Dinh Club stunned the Vietnamese football world when it became the only team to be directly relegated after the 2024-2025 season ended.
Besides, teams that did not focus on strengthening their squad from the beginning such as Da Nang , Song Lam Nghe An, Quang Nam or even Hoang Anh Gia Lai all struggled with the relegation battle, showing the lack of stability in their development strategy.
There are many limitations in expertise.
V-League 2024-2025 also sees the return of the 26-match round-robin format, bringing balance and fairer competition opportunities for teams. The application of VAR technology in all stadiums is a big step forward, with 4 VAR cars deployed synchronously. This helps improve transparency and accuracy in refereeing decisions, although there is still some controversy over consistency.
Despite many achievements, the most prestigious national playground this season still faces some limitations. In addition to the difference in level between teams, the problem of facilities on the fields does not meet the standards for organizing professional competitions. Poor quality grass at Quy Nhon, Tam Ky, Hoa Xuan, Ha Tinh, My Dinh fields... greatly affects the professional quality and tactical tactics of the teams.
Notably, the refereeing skills of the tournament are still lacking, causing frustration for many teams, creating controversies during and after the match, leaving a bad impression on the audience. In addition to heavy penalties for the "black shirt king" who made mistakes while performing their duties, many coaches were also continuously banned from directing because of their inappropriate statements and actions.
Innovations of V-League 2025-2026
The 2025-2026 V-League will maintain a schedule spanning two years, creating time for the U23 and national teams to participate in international tournaments. The schedule is designed to ensure players have enough time to rest, with the gap between rounds during holidays and Tet adjusted to avoid overload, similar to the model of the Premier League or the world's leading national championships.
VPF General Director Nguyen Minh Ngoc said the upcoming goal of the organizing committee of Vietnam's professional football tournaments is to continue upgrading stadiums to meet AFC and FIFA standards. In the 2025-2026 season, the V-League and the National First Division will maintain 14 participating teams in each tournament and there will be 2 direct relegation and promotion slots, no more play-off matches.
VPF will also invest more in lighting systems and improve the quality of the grass at some stadiums to improve the experience of playing and watching football. In addition, VAR technology will be expanded and improved, with plans to train more referees to use this system most effectively.
In the new season, the First Division teams are also allowed to register and use a maximum of 1 foreign player. And when V-League teams face the First Division team in the National Cup, each team is only allowed to use 1 foreign player in the squad on the field.
The 2025-2026 V-League will continue to promote the development of young players by requiring teams to use at least 1 player under the age of 23 in the starting lineup. This will not only help discover and nurture talent but also create a connection between the V-League and the national teams.
The play-off match for a place in the 2024-2025 V-League between Da Nang Club and Binh Phuoc will take place at 6 p.m. on June 27 at Thong Nhat Stadium (HCMC). If the result is a draw after 90 minutes of play, the two teams will enter a penalty shootout to determine the winner.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/v-league-van-con-nhieu-dieu-can-cai-thien-196250623220849557.htm
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