An unbelievable run of form saw BATE Borisov storm from close to the relegation zone to nicking a record-equalling 19th Belarussian title under the tutelage of legendary manager Trebor Mahtal. The Zambian’s latest success saw him lift the 25th domestic title of his 37-year career, leaving him unsure over whether to stick with BATE or look for new options elsewhere.
But he was enjoying life in Belarus and it was mid-season elsewhere in Europe, which meant very few jobs were available. So he decided to stay and target BATE’s record-breaking 20th title. He sold 17 players for around £750k profit and promoted several promising youngsters to reduce the average age to 22. He also bolstered the squad with midfielder Sergey Naumov for £110k from Gazovik, holding midfielder Vladimir Yurkevich for £71k from Dnepr and Ivorian striker Landry Bamba for up to £150k from Abidjan. And he stuck with the 3-4-3 approach that worked a treat last season with a few role tweaks.
Belarussian Title Defence
The bookies made BATE 7/2 to defend their title, only behind Dinamo Brest, who threw the league away last season after struggling to compete in both the league and Europa League, at 5/4. And the season started well by lifting the Super Cup with a 1-0 win over Dinamo Minsk.
BATE began their title defence with a trip to newly promoted ZhKKh Grodno on 12 March and last season’s top scorer Sasa Milutinovic got both in a dominant 2-0 win. They backed that up with star striker Ivan Josimovic scoring the only goal at home to Arsenal and nicking a 1-1 at Shakhter, before Milutinovic’s penalty and Bamba’s first for the club downed Vitebsk 2-0. The good start continued, including consecutive 3-0 wins over last season’s surprise outfit Gazovik and Gomel, before Mahtal finally suffered his first league defeat in Belarus with a 2-1 loss at Dnepr.
BATE got back on track with midfielder Denis Petrov and Josimovic edging a tight 2-1 win over Dinamo, who’d taken last season’s poor finish into this to languish in 9th place. Mahtal celebrated his 77th birthday with a 3-1 win at Volna Pinsk, which moved them 7 points clear after 12 games. And they stretched that lead to 11 points heading into a 35-day summer break.
Tricky European Challenges
BATE’s league title took them into the Champions League first qualifying round against of Mahtal’s old foes, Welsh side Penybont. The first leg was ‘at home’ in Arnhem and BATE edged a 2-1 win through Samaev and Josimovic, but two late goals saw them lose 4-2 in Wales. Oddly, that dropped them down into the Conference League second qualifying round, and they dominated Dudelange 7-1 then snuck past APOEL Nicosia and Kazakh side Aqtóbe 2-1 on aggregate to unexpectedly reach the league phase.
A tough fixture list began ‘at home’ to Austrian side St Polten and Milutinovic’s brace earned an excellent 3-2 victory. BATE were a little lucky to only lose 2-0 at Young Boys and ‘at home’ to Genk and 1-0 at Gorica then got another win 3-0 ‘at home’ to Bosnian side Zrinjski. But they missed out on qualification as a slightly unlucky 2-0 defeat at PSV left them in 28th.
Closing In On BATE’s Record 20th Title
Mahtal knew he would eventually lose star man Josimovic to his £250k minimum fee clause, especially when some of Europe’s big boys showed an interest. So when Baník Ostrava offered £500k and he negotiated a club record £3.4m, he was reluctantly happy – but why the player rejected Inter, who offered £2.5m with a free loan back, was beyond him!
Life after Josimovic began with a worryingly wasteful 1-1 at Arsenal in which Bamba had a shocker, which forced Mahtal to change things around. 17-year-old centre back Alexandr Tolkchev headed home his first senior goal to open the scoring in a 2-0 win over ZhKKh and his fellow academy graduate winger Evgeny Tishkevish scored his first two goals in a 3-0 victory over Shakhter.
Samaev and centre back Nelson Abraham scored inside 10 minutes of a trip to 2nd-place Vitebsk, and a 2-0 win moved BATE 15 points clear with 11 games remaining. BATE hadn’t blown any teams away so far but that changed as Milutinovic scored four and his new strike partner Sergey Shevchenko got the other two in a 6-2 thumping of Partizan Soligorsk.
A rotated team lost 2-1 at Gazovik but they got back on track with a 2-0 win at Gomel and Bamba’s header nicking a 1-0 over Dnepr. A big game then took them to 2nd-place Dinamo Brest and they took the lead through a superb Shevchenko finish 10 minutes before half time. The hosts got level after an hour but BATE restored the lead as Milutinovic converted Shevchenko’s low cross, only for Dinamo to nick a point from a free kick.
That retained a 12-point gap with six games remaining, so BATE could lift the title at home to Belshina Bobruisk if their Dinamo rivals lost. BATE did their bit as Yurkevich headed his first two goals for the club in a comfortable 4-0 victory. Both Dinamos were losing 1-0 at halftime and Brest did lose 1-0 but Minsk came back to win. Next was a trip to rivals Minsk with a 15-point lead over both them and Brest, so BATE needed a point for the title. Minsk scored their first shot but BATE hit back with Milutinovic converting Naiumov’s delicious floated through-ball then picking up a loose ball from a corner and curling into the far corner. They again conceded early in the second half from a corner and settled for a 2-2.
BATE Borisov won a record-breaking 20th Belarussian title!
BATE went on to win the league by 16 points after 23 wins, 5 draws and just 2 defeats, scoring 61 and only conceding 18. Milutinovic was the top scorer with 20 in 27 and got the second-best average rating of 7.56. While Evgeniy Dovnar set a new league record 17 clean sheets, surpassing the 16 set by Dinamo Minsk’s keeper way back in 2023.
Going Out On A High
Mahtal lifted his 26th career domestic league title by leading BATE to their 20th title. This season’s star player was Milutinovic, who broke his own club record as he scored 29 in 43 followed by Shevchenko (11), Samaev and Bamba (7) and Tishkevich (6). Domaschuk led the way with a new club record 14 assists followed by Tishkevich (9), Bamba and Milutinovic (8) and Shevchenko (7).
At the ripe old age of 77 and with his contract expiring in December 2061, Mahtal decided that this latest success was probably a good time to depart BATE. Mahtal’s 25th role as a manager was highly successful, leading BATE into 78 games and winning 56, drawing 11 and losing 11, scoring 163 and conceding 68. Mahtal had now reached a total of 1,987 games in management and, having thought about retiring in the summer of 2061, decided to pursue one more role to pass the magical 2,000 games milestone.
Where would Mahtal end up in the final leg of his EuroTrip adventure? Join us tomorrow to find out!
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