2025-26: A Maltese Improvement?

Last season's Champions League heroics were a tough act to follow, and with three of our best four players leaving over the summer, it was time to start rebuilding.

With mid-July came the start of a new season, and after a disappointing 0-0 home draw against Skonto, we then trashed them 1-5 in Riga. A 5-0 aggregate win against Cyprus' Limassol followed, before we bowed out of the Champions League after losing 2-0 on aggregate against M. Tel Aviv.

The Europa League proved a mixed bag, where wins against Atletico Madrid (3-0h) and FC Groningen (0-1a; 2-1h), a couple of disappointing draws against H. Be'er-Sheva and an inevitable loss to Atletico Madrid saw us finish second in our group and set up a tie with English Champions Tottenham. However, it was a tie to forget, losing 0-5 at home, and then, while trying to chase something out of the game, losing 7-1 at White Hart Lane.

The real eye-opener of the campaign, however, showed up in Malta. Having gone almost 4 season without being beaten (108 games), we ended up the season losing 3 times (including a humiliating 0-3 home defeat to Tarxien), and although we ended up winning another Premier League and FA Trophy double - for the 7th consecutive year - this was our lowest points total and highest goals conceded in those 7 years.

Could this indicate an improvement in the other Maltese clubs? If so, it is certainly a much needed one if the Maltese Premier League is to ever reach the quality of the top European Leagues. What's certain is that no talent whatsoever is coming up through the youth academy, a real disappointment.


Last year's Maltese Premier League drop in the rankings proved to be a minor blip, as this year saw it rise 18 places, up to 55th. Mdina Knights are now ranked the 44th best club in Europe, a 12 place improvement on last year.

2024-25: Group of Death Champions

A couple of poor seasons in the Champions League were avenged for this season with a stunning run which saw us topple some huge teams in the process.

It all started way back in mid-July, with a 4-1 aggregate victory over Albania's KF Tirana, shortly followed by a hard-fought 1-0 win over Swiss champions FC Basel. The playoff proved to be a bit easier, where we booked our place in the group stage with a 6-1 aggregate victory over Cypriot side Anorthosi Famagusta.

So far so good, but what was to follow was out of this world. Being drawn against English Champions Manchester United, Italian Champions Inter Milan, and Scottish Champions Celtic would be a daunting task for many a top side in Europe, let alone a Maltese side. However, a trip to San Siro to face Inter Milan in our first group match turned out to be a walk in the park, easily beating the Seria A champions 0-2. This was then followed by another 2-0 victory, this time at home to Celtic.

A double header against Manchester United followed, and after we were brought down to earth with a massive crash after losing 4-1 at the Theatre of Dreams, we fought back at the Mdina Knights stadium to emerge 3-0 winners on the night. When Inter then came seeking revenge, they found out we were no pushovers, and we emerged 2-1 victors in what was a tough match.

A Manchester United loss to Inter in the final round of matches meant that we would top the group no matter the outcome of our match against Celtic, since we had a better head-to-head record against United. The final match was a bit of a disappointment, losing 4-1 in a snowy Celtic Park, but it did not dampen spirits at all, having proved our worth by finishing top in the toughest group of them all - the Group of Death.

Hopes were high after we avoided the big names in the Last of 16 draw, and they were even more so after we defeated our opponents Sampdoria 0-1 in their own back yard. But perhaps in the end lack of experience and a touch of overconfidence proved to be our downfall, succumbing to a Sampdoria onslaught and losing 0-3 to end our magnificent run against Europe's big boys.

No need to mention, domestic tradition was respected, as we bagged a sixth consecutive Premier League and FA Trophy double, reaching 100 unbeaten league games in the process, although a 45 match winning streak was ended in mid-november with a 1-1 draw at home to Msida SJ.

Despite all these recent successes, Mdina Knights is still considered a small club, and thus, we are still not attracting big names to our club, having to resort to scouting the globe for young talent, and then waiting for them to develop, only for them to leave for want of greater glory. Such was the case when, following this season, we lost three of our four best players; two of them on a free transfer, not wanting to sign a new contract, and the third had just one year left on his contract, so I decided to cash in on him since he also did not want to renew.

In the rankings, the Maltese Premier League dropped 11 places to 73rd, while Mdina Knights bore the fruits of the successful European campaign, soaring up 105 places to 56th. Malta also rose in the Nation Rankings, up 9 places to 19th.