In the last few years, we’ve seen some strange outcomes across European leagues, but none of them are even close to the awkward scenario of the current Austrian top flight.Their Bundesliga is approaching the very last round, as the league is divided into two more minor divisions – the championship and the relegation playoffs.But what happens is that we could be witnessing the most bizarre outcome possible. LASK Linz – who are competing in the relegation round – have won 37 points altogether so far. That is only two points below the current league leaders – in the championship round – Sturm Graz, who are on the verge of winning the title with 39 points ahead of the ultimate fixture.
The current runners-up, SK Austria Wien, have only 36 points, just like WAC, which is less than Linz.What happened is that teams have kept their points before the league split into two, and added those secured later to their total tally. For sure, it was easier for LASK Linz to dominate that relegation playout as they confronted the teams which don’t have the quality of the squads from the championship playoffs.
Still, it looks strange to have such a setup ahead of the final matchday, and it will probably cause certain changes in the Austrian Bundesliga in years to come. And, no, LASK won’t qualify for the Europa League or the Conference League despite that amount of points. Those places are reserved for the teams competing solely in the championship playoffs, regardless of the points they collect compared to LASK and other relegation strugglers.##NAJAVA_MECA_8931531##