RANS Relegated, Madura United Completes "Championship Series" Quota

Madura United opened up their hopes of becoming the new champions of League 1. Meanwhile, without winning in 18 games, RANS was relegated.

ANTARA FOTO/RIZAL HANAFI

Madura United player, Koko Ari Araya (left), fights for the ball with Arema FC player, Dedik Setiawan, during the BRI Liga 1 match at the Gelora Bangkalan Stadium, Bangkalan, East Java, Tuesday (30/4/2024). Madura managed to qualify for the championship series after a 0-0 draw.

A total of 34 weeks of the 2023-2025 BRI Liga 1 regular series were completed, Tuesday (30/4/2024). The battle for one remaining spot in the championship series was won by Madura United, while RANS Nusantara followed in the footsteps of Persikabo 1973 and Bhayangkara FC who will drop down to League 2 next season.

After Borneo FC, Persib Bandung and Bali United sealed the top three positions, the championship series quota only remained for the team in fourth place. Entering week 34, three teams, namely Madura, Dewa United and PSIS Semarang, have the opportunity to end the regular series in the top four zone.

PSIS briefly climbed to fourth place when Fredyan Wahyu scored a goal leading his team's win against Persija Jakarta at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Jakarta. The goal in the 64th minute brought PSIS up two spots from sixth place to fourth.

Also read: Three Reasons the Legendary Trio of Clubs Failed to Qualify for the BRI Liga 1 "Championship Series"

However, the position at fourth place only lasted for three minutes. This is because Persija's striker, Marko Simic, equalized the score in the 67th minute. "The Kemayoran Tigers" even sealed their victory through the contribution of a free-kick goal from foreign midfielder Maciej Gajos, as the game entered the 73rd minute.

The result made PSIS return to sixth position. Meanwhile, Dewa United defeated Borneo, the champion of the regular series, 2-1 at Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium, Bali. The result only brought Dewa to finish the season in fifth position.

ANTARA FOTO/RIVAN AWAL LINGGA

Persija Jakarta player, Maciej Gajos (left), celebrates with his teammate, Firza Andika, after scoring a goal against PSIS Semarang in a match of BRI Liga 1 at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Senayan, Jakarta on Tuesday (30/4/2024). Persija Jakarta won with a score of 2-1.

Fourth place was sealed by Madura who drew 0-0 against Arema FC at Gelora Bangkalan, East Java. Despite playing with 10 men in the last 17 minutes due to Novan Sasongko's red card, Madura was able to get one point to keep them in fourth place and become the last team to qualify for the championship series.

Koko Ari, Madura defender, is grateful to be able to ensure a place in the fight for the title of Indonesian League 1 this season. Even though he was disappointed that he failed to close the regular series with a win, Koko considered the results in the final match to be a provision to improve ahead of the championship series.

Also read: Cancel Postponed for a Month, League 1 Returns April 15 2024

"This performance is our preparation capital to face the championship series," he said.

Sitting in fourth place, Madura will face Borneo FC in the semifinals of the championship series. Then, Bali United met Persib. The two matches will take place in a home-away format. Likewise in the match for the Indonesian champion trophy which brought together the two semifinal winning teams.

However, the schedule for the championship series still awaits the journey of the Indonesian U-23 team in the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup. If Indonesia can beat Iraq in the duel for third place, Thursday (2/5/2024), then The first semifinal matches will be played on May 9 and 10.

ANTARA FOTO/NYOMAN HENDRA WIBOWO

Borneo FC player, Terens Puhiri (right), attempts to pass Dewa United player, Robi Darwis, during the BRI Liga 1 match at Captain I Wayan Dipta Stadium, Gianyar, Bali, on Tuesday (30/4/2024). Dewa United defeated Borneo FC with a score of 2-1.

If Indonesia has to take the inter-zone playoff route against Africa's representative, Guinea, to win the final ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics in Paris, then the championship series will start on May 14 and 15.

Complementary degradation

Meanwhile, RANS Nusantara completes the three teams that move down to Liga 1 in 2024-2025. RANS, which initially was not in danger of relegation, now occupies 16th place or the last position in the relegation zone on match day 33. This is due to Persita Tangerang's 2-1 victory over Persis Solo.

However, it only took two weeks for RANS to sit in the bottom three positions and knock them out of the competition for the most elite competition in the country. The certainty of RANS's failure to improve their ranking in the last week was caused by a 2-3 defeat from PSM Makassar at Batakan Stadium, Samarinda, East Kalimantan.

Having fallen behind through a brace or two goals from Yance Sayuri in the first half, RANS had the hope of a comeback thanks to a strike from striker Kushedya Yudo in the 62nd minute. However, PSM increased their lead in the 80th minute. And, RANS could only score a consolation goal through Evandro Brandao's penalty execution in the 90+2 minute.

The degradation punishment cannot be separated from RANS's poor performance, as they have not won a single match in their last 18 games. This means that they failed to secure any victories in the second round. RANS's last victory was recorded in week 16 when they faced Persija on October 22.

As a result, RANS could only survive for two seasons in Liga 1. They secured promotion tickets alongside Persis Solo and Dewa United in the 2021 Liga 2.

ANTARA FOTO/MOHAMMAD AYUDHA

Persis Solo player, David Gonzales Gomez Roni (center), vies for the ball with RANS Nusantara FC player, Hamka Hamsah (left), in a BRI League 1 match at Manahan Stadium, Surakarta, Central Java, on Saturday (30/3/2024). RANS' poor performance throughout the second half of the competition resulted in their relegation.

The owner of RANS, Raffi Ahmad, expressed his apologies for RANS' failure to survive in League 1. "Thank you to everyone. It's true that our team hasn't been able to reach its maximum potential. We really have to be sincere about RANS degradation. "It's fate," wrote Raffi in the story feature on his Instagram account.

RANS Coach Angel Alfredo Vera believes that his squad has done their maximum to achieve victory against PSM. However, he continues to state that this cannot still help his team to end the season with a positive result. In the 2021 Liga 1 season, Vera also failed to save Persipura Jayapura from the threat of demotion.

The places left by RANS, Bhayangkara, and Persikabo will be filled by the three best teams of the 2021 Liga 2 season, namely PSBS Biak, Semen Padang, and Malut United. The presence of PSBS and Semen Padang will once again expand the contestants of Liga 1 to include representatives from Sumatra and Papua Island. Meanwhile, Malut United is still planning to base themselves in Jakarta and its surrounding areas due to the absence of a stadium that meets Liga 1 standards in North Maluku.