Selangor have closed the gap — the title race closed with it

Selangor beat Terengganu 2-1 on Monday and moved to within eleven points of the top of Liga Super. Both halves of that sentence are true and only one of them matters.

The form is real

Nine wins from fourteen is Selangor’s best return at this stage since the club’s restructuring. The recruitment has worked — the two winter signings have started every match since arriving, and the defensive record has improved by a goal a game on last season. On any reasonable measure this is a side moving in the right direction.

The gap is also real

Johor Darul Ta’zim have dropped two points all season. Not two matches — two points. A side can play very well indeed for fourteen matches and still be looking at the leaders from a distance that has nothing to do with their own performance.

This is the structural story of Liga Super and it is not new. The interesting question is not whether the title race is competitive; it plainly is not. The question is what second place is worth, and this season it is worth more than usual: continental qualification, a longer season, and the revenue that comes with both.

What second place buys

Selangor’s realistic ceiling this season is a qualification spot and a cup run. That is not a consolation prize. The clubs that have closed ground on JDT over the last decade have done it by building squads deep enough to survive Asian football, and you cannot build that squad without first playing in it.

The Klang Valley derby in three weeks will tell us more about the season than the table currently does.