A good two weeks for Aalborg BK

May 10th, 2011 | by: Cerberus | Comments Off

The sad tale of Aalborg BK has been part of the story of this season. Three seasons past winning the title, they have found themselves holding the bottom of the table and in serious danger of relegation.

If they had been relegated it would have meant the end of a 29 year long streak in Denmark’s top division and would have been a serious black eye to one of the oldest teams in Denmark.

Apparently the historic weight of this season has finally broken through to the players, because they have been playing fantastically lately, winning four of the last five games, including the last two, finally wrenching themselves out of relegation and into the relative comfort of a mid-table position.

If they can maintain this for the remaining four games, they might not have a season to remember, but that will be a good thing.

So what’s been the results of the last two weeks?

As noted, Aalborg has had the best two weeks, with a 2-0 win over FC Midtjylland and a 2-1 win over Lyngby.

This fortune was not shared by SønderjyskE who have continued their slump with losses to FC København (3-0) and FC Midtjylland (2-1) to slip into relegation.

Similarly, FC Nordsjælland, who had earlier escaped relegation look to be approaching danger again with a one-point difference separating them from the danger zone after a 1-0 loss to Lyngby and a 2-0 loss to bottom of the table Esbjerg fB.

Esbjerg have had a mixed week, with that win and a loss 1-0 to Odense BK still leaving them at least 3 points behind escaping relegation.

In the mid-table, little gain has been made on the top 4 with Silkeborg tying 2-2 with Randers and 0-0 with second-place Odense BK.

AC Horsens has had similar difficulty in making any real gain with a dreary 0-0 draw with Brøndby and a 1-0 loss to Randers.

Beyond that, the big derby between Brøndby and FC København ended all square after an early goal for each team.

What this all means, besides the very good news for Aalborg is not very much.

For the top four teams, Odense BK has managed to secure a 4 point lead over Brøndby and Midtjylland with 4 games to go which they’ll need to guard to ensure Champion’s League play next year. Brøndby and Midtjylland sit tied on points in 3rd and 4th and a 7 point lead over 5th place is likely to guarantee both teams European competition next year at the very least.

With things settling so much at the top of the table, the bottom of the table is indeed turning out to be the real exciting competition for the last games of the season.

7 points separates the second relegation spot and 5th place and a bad finale could doom any of the teams. Aalborg is sitting pretty, but 2 points separates 11th from 8th and now that Esbjerg is the bottom team in the league, they’ll be the new wild card to watch out for.

Especially since Esbjerg BK have the recent sour note of beating FC Midtjylland away 2-1 and then losing the home tie on a penalty shootout thus shutting down their chance to go down a division, but still see European competition.

A team that can beat a good team, but has nothing left to play for? It’s a dangerous combination.

On that cup news, FC Midtjylland will be playing in the Danish Cup final against FC Nordsjælland, who will also be looking to salvage something from their season. A Rawez Lawan goal was the only separation between them and Randers FC. The cup final will be played on May 22nd.

This is of course a replay of last year’s Danish Cup final, so Midtjylland will be looking to change history.

So overall, we salute the players of Aalborg BK for valiantly avoiding becoming an embarrassment to the team name.

Good job lads.