# 2008–09 Moldovan National Division

The 2008–09 Moldovan National Division (Romanian: Divizia Națională) was the 18th season of top-tier football in Moldova. The season started on 2 July 2008 and ended on 17 May 2009.
Just prior to the start of the season, FC Politehnica Chișinău withdrew from the competition, causing the league to play with 11 teams this year. Further, CSCA-Steaua Chișinău merged with Rapid Ghidighici. The new club play under the name CSCA-Rapid Chișinău.

## Clubs

| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| FC Academia UTM | Chișinău | Dinamo Stadium (Chișinău) | 2,692 |
| CSCA-Rapid Chișinău | Ghidighici | Ghidighici Stadium | 2,000 |
| FC Dacia | Chișinău | Stadionul Republican | 8,100 |
| FC Dinamo | Bender | Dinamo Stadium (Bender) | 5,061 |
| FC Iskra-Stal | Rîbnița | Orăşenesc Stadium | 2,000 |
| FC Nistru | Otaci | Călărăseuca Stadium | 3,000 |
| FC Olimpia | Bălți | Olimpia Bălți Stadium | 5,000 |
| Politehnica Chișinău | Chișinău | Dinamo Stadium (Chișinău) | 2,692 |
| FC Sheriff | Tiraspol | Sheriff Stadium | 14,300 |
| CS Tiligul-Tiras | Tiraspol | Stadionul Municipal | 3,525 |
| FC Tiraspol | Tiraspol | Sheriff Stadium | 14,300 |
| FC Zimbru | Chișinău | Zimbru Stadium | 10,500 |

## Promotion and relegation

Due to the withdrawal of FC Rapid Ghidighici in mid-November 2007, no teams were relegated to Moldovan "A" Division. Promoted to Moldova's top-tier football were FC Academia UTM Chișinău.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Sheriff Tiraspol (C) | 30 | 25 | 3 | 2 | 61 | 15 | +46 | 78 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Dacia Chișinău | 30 | 20 | 3 | 7 | 47 | 17 | +30 | 63 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Iskra-Stal Rîbnița | 30 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 28 | 15 | +13 | 52 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round |
| 4 | Zimbru Chișinău | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 42 | 30 | +12 | 46 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Dinamo Bender | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 42 | 45 | −3 | 42 | |
| 6 | Olimpia Bălți | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 30 | 32 | −2 | 40 | |
| 7 | Tiraspol | 30 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 30 | 36 | −6 | 32 | |
| 8 | Nistru Otaci | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 30 | 43 | −13 | 30 | |
| 9 | CSCA-Rapid Chișinău | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 28 | 47 | −19 | 29 | |
| 10 | Tiligul-Tiras | 30 | 7 | 4 | 19 | 24 | 60 | −36 | 25 | Folded |
| 11 | Academia Chișinău | 30 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 27 | 49 | −22 | 24 | |
| — | Politehnica Chișinău (R) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Relegation to Division "A" |
* ↑ Dacia Chișinău qualified for the second qualifying round of the Europa League through league performance and them being a finalist in the 2008–09 Moldovan Cup.
* ↑ Zimbru Chișinău were at first denied a license for competing in Europa League next year, so their spot should have been taken by 5th placed team Dinamo Bender. However, Zimbru appealed successfully and eventually were allowed to enter the Europa League.
* ↑ Tiligul-Tiras folded on 6 June 2009 due to financial problems. As a consequence, Academia Chișinău were spared from relegation.
* ↑ Withdrew from league prior to 1st round, reason unknown.

## Results

The schedule consists of three rounds. During the first two rounds, each team played each other once home and away for a total of 20 matches. The pairings of the third round were then set according to the standings after the first two rounds, giving every team a third game against each opponent for a total of 30 games per team.

### First and second round

| Home \ Away | ACA | CRC | DAC | DIN | ISK | NIS | OLI | SHE | TIL | TIR | ZIM |
| Academia Chișinău | | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–5 |
| CSCA-Rapid Chișinău | 0–1 | | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 |
| Dacia Chișinău | 1–0 | 3–1 | | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Dinamo Bender | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 4–2 | 2–1 |
| Iskra-Stal Rîbnița | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Nistru Otaci | 3–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 0–0 | | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 0–1 |
| Olimpia Bălți | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Sheriff Tiraspol | 1–0 | 6–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Tiligul-Tiras | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–4 | | 1–0 | 0–4 |
| Tiraspol | 3–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | | 0–1 |
| Zimbru Chișinău | 2–3 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | |

### Third round

Key numbers for pairing determination:
| 23rd round | 24th round | 25th round | 26th round | 27th round | 28th round |
| 1 - bye | 1 - 2 | 2 - bye | 1 - 4 | 3 - bye | 1 - 6 |
| 2 - 11 | 8 - 6 | 3 - 1 | 2 - 3 | 4 - 2 | 2 - 5 |
| 3 - 10 | 9 - 5 | 4 - 11 | 9 - 7 | 5 - 1 | 3 - 4 |
| 4 - 9 | 10 - 4 | 5 - 10 | 10 - 6 | 6 - 11 | 10 - 8 |
| 5 - 8 | 11 - 3 | 6 - 9 | 11 - 5 | 7 - 10 | 11 - 7 |
| 6 - 7 | bye - 7 | 7 - 8 | bye - 8 | 8 - 9 | bye - 9 |
| 29th round | 30th round | 31st round | 32nd round | 33rd round |
| 4 - bye | 1 - 8 | 5 - bye | 1 - 10 | 6 - bye |
| 5 - 3 | 2 - 7 | 6 - 4 | 2 - 9 | 7 - 5 |
| 6 - 2 | 3 - 6 | 7 - 3 | 3 - 8 | 8 - 4 |
| 7 - 1 | 4 - 5 | 8 - 2 | 4 - 7 | 9 - 3 |
| 8 - 11 | 11 - 9 | 9 - 1 | 5 - 6 | 10 - 2 |
| 9 - 10 | bye - 10 | 10 - 11 | bye - 11 | 11 - 1 |
| Home \ Away | ACA | CRC | DAC | DIN | ISK | NIS | OLI | SHE | TIL | TIR | ZIM |
| Academia Chișinău | | | | | | 0–0 | 0–4 | 3–3 | | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| CSCA-Rapid Chișinău | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | | | 0–0 | | |
| Dacia Chișinău | 2–0 | | | | | 3–0 | 2–0 | | | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| Dinamo Bender | 2–2 | | 2–1 | | 0–3 | 2–1 | | | | 1–0 | |
| Iskra-Stal Rîbnița | 0–3 | | 1–0 | | | 2–0 | 0–0 | | | 1–0 | |
| Nistru Otaci | | 1–2 | | | | | 1–3 | 0–3 | 2–0 | | 2–0 |
| Olimpia Bălți | | 1–2 | | 1–2 | | | | 0–1 | 1–1 | | 1–0 |
| Sheriff Tiraspol | | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | | | 2–0 | | |
| Tiligul-Tiras | 1–0 | | 0–1 | 0–5 | 1–2 | | | | | 0–1 | |
| Tiraspol | | 2–1 | | | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | | | 1–1 |
| Zimbru Chișinău | | 0–0 | | 3–1 | 0–1 | | | 0–2 | 3–2 | | |

## Top goalscorers

| Pos | Player | Scored for | Goals |
| 1 | Oleg Andronic | Zimbru Chișinău | 14 |