Mladost is the champion of Montenegro, for the first time in history.
In its tenth edition, the Telekom 1st Montenegrin football league won its sixth different champion, and Mladost rejoiced only a year after winning its first trophy, in the Cup.
Nikola Rakojević's team deservedly reached the throne, because they literally held the leadership position from the beginning, and they finished the job in the style of true champions, winning away from home against their biggest rival, the Budućnosti team, for the third time in the season.
"A well-deserved title, because we spent most of the season in first place. There were moments of crisis, the arrivals of Rudar and then Buducnosti, but the decisive factor was that we remained calm even in such moments, the tension was only there for one day in the week. It helped me a lot that I have an experienced team that knows how to behave in such moments," said Mladost coach Nikola Rakojević who, like Claudio Ranieri from Leicester, won the first national champion trophy in his career.
Mladost celebrates two rounds before the end, because it has a huge ten points advantage over Buducnost, and 13 over Rudar. In the remaining two rounds, the people of Podgorica have a unique opportunity to become champions with a record margin, because no champion in the past ten years has finished the championship with a double-digit advantage over their rivals.
"Before the start of the season, the goal was to go to Europe, by any means. As the championship progressed, we had a chance and we took it in the right way. We are overjoyed, we finished everything two rounds before the end, now it's time to celebrate" , says goalkeeper Mileta Radulović, one of the most deserving for Mladost's third win against Buducnosti this season.
The autumn part of the Mladost season ended with nine consecutive victories, as many as 12 out of 13 games (with one draw), in the period from August to November.
It was the series that decided, because even the slightly slower second part of the championship was enough to maintain the difference compared to Rudar and Budućnost.
The most critical for the champion was five days ago, when Budućnost came within four points.
"Honestly, we were all a little scared. We felt like we didn't have any blood, we couldn't win away from home, and the rivals were coming. However, when it mattered most we were right, we won two derbies in the end, we confirmed our dominance against Buducnost. Although Buducnost played the best football in the last two months, our form was the most consistent since the beginning of the season, and we are the champions," said Mirko Šćepanović, Mladost's top scorer, who has a chance to finish the championship as the best league top scorer (17 goals so far).
"Last year I was recognized as the best player in the league, we won the trophy in the Cup. Now we are champions, if I am the best scorer, that would be the crown, both on a team and individual level".
Until today's match against Budućnosti under Gorica, Mladost did not celebrate away from home in the second half of the season. However, she maintained the difference with great games at home - as many as 13 consecutive victories, nine without conceding a goal. Šćepanović and company have a chance to even improve the phenomenal series at home in the two remaining rounds (against Rudar and Mornar).
"What can I say, this is a historic success, who knows when Mladost will be in a position to be a champion again. We deserved this, first of all with a series of victories, records. We had a great first half-season and a solid second, which when everything is added up was more but enough. I think the chemistry and atmosphere in the team decided. We had an experienced, but also a team of real guys. For many, this is the crowning glory of their career," said Mladost assistant coach Srđan Nikić.
What's next? Mladost will play two more rounds, and then, for the first time, they will prepare for the Champions League qualifiers.
That's the story they left at the Podgorica club for the end of the season...
"We will see how it ends and what to do next, some players' contracts are expiring, my contract is also expiring," said Nikola Rakojević.
"Champions, champions", echoed on the field of the stadium under Gorica, and then in the dressing room. While "I love the future" was chanted from the stands, this time the party was reserved for the boys in red jerseys.
Mugoša: The title is a gift to our citizens of Tito
Mladost president Marko Mugoša said after the match that he was proud of the players and the coaching staff.
"This is the crown of many years of work. Last year we won the Cup, now we won the title, and in an extremely dominant way. We dominated from start to finish, we beat Budućnost three times, which was our closest rival in the finish. Congratulations to the footballers and the professional staff," Mugoša said.
"We present the title to our citizens of Tito. There is God," he said at the end.
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