Military coup for Mladenov's CSKA

Strong attack may win battles, but defences win wars. That is a well-worn cliché in Bulgarian football, but PFC CSKA Sofia proved once more that it is rooted in truth as they claimed their 31st domestic title on Wednesday night.

Unassailable lead
A 3-1 win at PFC Botev Plovdiv saw the Army Men open up an unassailable 13-point lead over 2007 champions PFC Levski Sofia at the top of the A PFG table with three games to go. In their 27 unbeaten league games this season, they have conceded just nine goals, an average of one every three games, and kept 19 clean sheets. Of their 22 wins, eight have been 1-0 and six ended 2-0.

Perfect finish
Coach Stoycho Mladenov was understandably delighted with his side's achievement and now aims to finish the 30-game season unbeaten. "I think we were the best side during the first and second halves of the season and we deserved the victory," said the 51-year-old former CSKA and Bulgaria striker. "Now it is time to celebrate, but we then must focus on the remaining three league games."

Defensive rigour
The rock at the heart of this defensive behemoth was captain Alexander Tunchev, who also scored three times, while Kiril Kotev and Valentin Iliev also played their part in a fine rearguard, prior to the latter's move to FC Terek Grozny. Goalkeeper Ivailo Petrov was an ever-present while Todor Yanchev and Brazilian Marquinhos were the stars of a solid if unspectacular midfield.

Petre flamboyance
Up front, Brazilian Nei and Romanian international winger Florentin Petre were the most important figures. Nei had his off days, but still led the team's goalscoring line with 13 strikes, while right winger Petre scored eight times and set up nine more to underline his claim for a place at UEFA EURO 2008™.

Unhappy memories
CSKA have now earned a return to UEFA Champions League qualifying, where Mladenov will hope to avoid a repeat of a traumatic experience. Having led CSKA to the 2002/03 title, he took the club into Europe's top club competition only to come unstuck with humiliating 3-0 defeats home and away against Galatasaray SK in the third qualifying round.

'The Threes Man'
Those losses cost Mladenov his job and earned him the unflattering nickname 'Troycho' - 'The Threes Man'. Five years on, however, he is not ready to think about a group stage place. "It is too early to talk about it," he said. "There are a lot of things to be done at the club if we want to dream about that. I know what kind of players we need but let's wait now for the end of the season."