2018 A Lyga

The 2018 A Lyga was the 29th season of the A Lyga, the top-tier association football league of Lithuania. The season began on 25 February 2018 and ended on 11 November 2018.^[1]

A Lyga

Season	2018
Champions	Sūduva
Relegated	Jonava
Champions League	Sūduva
Europa League	Žalgiris Trakai Stumbras
Matches played	127
Goals scored	331 (2.61 per match)
Top goalscorer	Liviu Antal (23 goals)
Biggest home win	Stumbras 6–0 Atlantas (28 October 2018) Sūduva 6–0 Atlantas (7 November 2018)
Biggest away win	Jonava 0–6 Žalgiris (26 September 2018)
Highest scoring	Atlantas 2–5 Žalgiris (11 April 2018) Atlantas 2–5 Sūduva (4 October 2018) Žalgiris 5–2 Kauno Žalgiris (7 November 2018)
Longest winning run	7 games Žalgiris
Longest unbeaten run	16 games Sūduva
Longest winless run	18 games Atlantas
Longest losing run	5 games Atlantas
Highest attendance	2,400 Sūduva v Žalgiris (27 June 2018)
Lowest attendance	50 Stumbras v Palanga (3 July 2018) Trakai v Kauno Žalgiris (23 August 2018) Jonava v Žalgiris (26 September 2018) Palanga v Stumbras (24 October 2018)
Total attendance	50,557
Average attendance	399
← 2017 2019 → All statistics correct as of 11 November 2018.

Sūduva Marijampolė began the season as defending champions having won their first league title last year. They secured a second consecutive title in ARVI Football Arena on 7 November, after they beaten Atlantas 6–0.^[2][3]

Teams

Clubs and locations

Atlantas

Jonava

Kaunas

Palanga

Sūduva

Vilnius

Kaunas teams
Stumbras
Kauno Žalgiris

Vilnius teams
Žalgiris
Trakai

Locations of the 2018 A Lyga teams

The following teams are competing in the 2018 championship:

Club	Location	Stadium	Turf	Capacity	2017 position
Atlantas	Klaipėda	Central Stadium of Klaipėda	Natural	4,428	5th
		Klaipėda Artificial Football Pitch	Artificial	1,000
Jonava	Jonava	Central Stadium of Jonava	Natural	1,008	4th
		Jonava Artificial Football Pitch	Artificial	558
Kauno Žalgiris	Kaunas	Darius and Girėnas Stadium	Natural	9,180	8th
		NFA Stadium	Artificial	500
Palanga	Palanga	Palanga Stadium	Natural	1,212	I Lyga, 1st
	KlaipėdaSL	Klaipėda Artificial Football Pitch	Artificial	1,000
Stumbras	Kaunas	Darius and Girėnas Stadium	Natural	9,180	7th
		NFA Stadium	Artificial	500
Sūduva	Marijampolė	ARVI Football Arena	Natural	6,250	1st
		ARVI Football Indoor Arena	Artificial	2,660
Trakai	Vilnius	LFF Stadium	Artificial	5,067	3rd
		Sportima Arena	Artificial	3,157
Žalgiris	Vilnius	LFF Stadium	Artificial	5,067	2nd
		Sportima Arena	Artificial	3,157

^ Stadium location

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Atlantas	Vacys Lekevičius (caretaker)	Andrius Bartkus	Adidas[4]	Marijampolės pieno konservai[5]
Jonava	Artūras Ramoška	Tadas Eliošius[6][note 1] Laurynas Stonkus	Erreà[7]	—
Kauno Žalgiris	Mindaugas Čepas	Aurimas Raginis	Hummel	BC Žalgiris
Palanga	Valdas Trakys	Gvidas Juška	Nike[8]	—
Stumbras	Mariano Barreto	Rimvydas Sadauskas[9]	Joma[10]	—
Sūduva	Vladimir Cheburin	Algis Jankauskas	Joma	Sumeda
Trakai	Albert Rybak (caretaker)	Valdemaras Borovskis[11]	Nike	Ecoil
Žalgiris	Valdas Urbonas	Georgas Freidgeimas[12]	Nike	Top Sport

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Žalgiris	Aleksandr Brazevich	End of contract	24 November 2017[13]	Pre-season	Aurelijus Skarbalius	27 November 2017[14]
Jonava	Mindaugas Čepas		21 December 2017[15]		Darius Gvildys (caretaker)	21 December 2017[16]
Atlantas	Igoris Pankratjevas	Mutual consent	5 January 2018[17]		Algimantas Briaunys (caretaker)	5 January 2018[17]
Kauno Žalgiris	Johnny McKinstry		5 January 2018[18]		Mindaugas Čepas	5 January 2018[19]
Jonava	Darius Gvildys	End of caretaker spell	12 January 2018[20]		Filipe Ribeiro	12 January 2018[20]
	Filipe Ribeiro	Sacked	15 May 2018[21]	8th	Darius Gvildys	15 May 2018[21]
Trakai	Oleg Vasilenko		18 May 2018[22]	3rd	Virmantas Lemežis (caretaker)	18 May 2018[22]
Atlantas	Algimantas Briaunys	End of caretaker spell	1 June 2018[23]	4th	Anatoli Shelest	1 June 2018[23]
Trakai	Virmantas Lemežis		18 June 2018[24]	3rd	Kibu Vicuña	18 June 2018[24]
Atlantas	Anatoli Shelest	Sacked	21 June 2018[25][26]	5th	Algimantas Briaunys (caretaker)	3 August 2018[27]
Žalgiris	Aurelijus Skarbalius		21 June 2018[28]	2nd	Valdas Urbonas	23 June 2018[29]
Jonava	Darius Gvildys	Mutual consent	12 July 2018[30]	8th	Artūras Ramoška	12 January 2018[30]
Atlantas	Algimantas Briaunys	Resigned	30 August 2018[31]	6th	Tadas Labukas (caretaker)	6 September 2018[32]
	Tadas Labukas	End of caretaker spell	13 September 2018[33]		Anatoli Shelest	13 September 2018[33]
Trakai	Kibu Vicuña	Signed by Wisła Płock	11 October 2018[34]	4th	Albert Rybak (caretaker)	11 October 2018[34][35]
Atlantas	Anatoli Shelest	Mutual consent	24 October 2018[36]	6th	Vacys Lekevičius (caretaker)	24 October 2018[36][37][38]

Regular season