2019 A Lyga

The 2019 A Lyga was the 30th season of the A Lyga, the top-tier association football league of Lithuania. The season began on 2 March 2019 and ended on 27 November 2019.^[1]

A Lyga

Season	2019
Champions	Sūduva
Relegated	Atlantas Palanga Stumbras
Champions League	Sūduva
Europa League	Žalgiris Riteriai Kauno Žalgiris
Matches played	127
Goals scored	405 (3.19 per match)
Top goalscorer	Tomislav Kiš (27 goals)
Biggest home win	Sūduva 9–1 Atlantas (30 October 2019)
Biggest away win	Atlantas 0–5 Sūduva (10 March 2019) Panevėžys 2–7 Sūduva (24 September 2019)
Highest scoring	Sūduva 9–1 Atlantas (30 October 2019)
Longest winning run	16 games Sūduva
Longest unbeaten run	16 games Sūduva
Longest winless run	22 games Stumbras
Longest losing run	18 games Stumbras
Highest attendance	2,500 Žalgiris v Sūduva (20 October 2019)
Lowest attendance	50 Palanga v Sūduva (20 April 2019)
Total attendance	52,357
Average attendance	468
← 2018 2020 → All statistics correct as of 1 December.

Sūduva Marijampolė began the season as defending champions having won their second consecutive league title last year. They secured a third consecutive title in Aukštaitija Stadium on 3 November, after they beat Panevėžys 5–1.

Only five league clubs survived throughout the year – Stumbras folded in the summer, while Atlantas and Palanga were disqualified in the off-season.

Teams

Eight clubs competed – the top six of the 2018 season, the winner of the relegation play-offs and the champions of the 2018 LFF I Lyga. Palanga remained in the league having won the play-offs, while Panevėžys made their top-tier debut replacing relegated Jonava.

Trakai changed their name to Riteriai during the preseason, for a better identification with Vilnius, where the main team has been located since 2014.^[2]

Stumbras bankruptcy

In 2019 Stumbras started the season very well by winning against FK Sūduva Marijampolė and FK Žalgiris Vilnius, claiming the top position of the 2019 A Lyga table. However, after the first half of the season the club ran into financial problems. The players and staff started leaving the team. The club was stripped of the place in 2019–20 UEFA Europa League and it's A Lyga license revoked. The club became defunct shortly afterwards.

Match fixing scandal

On 5 December 2019, the Lithuanian Football Federation announce that two A Lyga clubs, FK Atlantas Klaipėda and FK Palanga have been excluded from the A Lyga due to manipulation of the match results, fined 42,000 euros and relegated to the II Lyga. Ten players and one staff were punished with fines and a ban from all football activity ranging from 6 to 12 months.

Clubs and locations

Atlantas

Kaunas

Palanga

Panevėžys

Sūduva

Vilnius

Vilnius teams
Riteriai
Žalgiris

Locations of the 2019 A Lyga teams

Stumbras

Kauno
Žalgiris

Kaunas teams

The following teams competed in the 2019 championship:

Club	Location	Stadium	Turf	Capacity	2018 position
Atlantas	Klaipėda	Central Stadium of Klaipėda	Natural	4,428	6th
		Klaipėda Artificial Football Pitch	Artificial	1,000
Kauno Žalgiris	Kaunas	SM Tauras Stadium	Natural	500	5th
		NFA Stadium	Artificial	500
Palanga	Palanga	Palanga Stadium	Natural	1,212	7th
	KlaipėdaSL	Klaipėda Artificial Football Pitch	Artificial	1,000
Panevėžys	Panevėžys	Aukštaitija Stadium	Natural	6,600	I Lyga, 1st
		Žemyna Progymnasium Stadium	Artificial	500
Riteriai	Vilnius	LFF Stadium	Artificial	5,067	3rd
		Sportima Arena	Artificial	3,157
Stumbras	Kaunas	NFA Stadium	Artificial	500	4th
Sūduva	Marijampolė	ARVI Football Arena	Natural	6,250	1st
		ARVI Football Indoor Arena	Artificial	2,660
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	Viktors Dobrecovs	Darvydas Šernas[3]	Nike[3]	—
Kauno Žalgiris	Mindaugas Čepas	Linas Pilibaitis[4]	Hummel	BC Žalgiris
Palanga	Artyom Gorlov	Gvidas Juška	Nike	011[5]
Panevėžys	Alexandru Curteian	Paulius Janušauskas	Hummel[6]	Kalnapilis
Riteriai	Aurelijus Skarbalius	Valdemaras Borovskis	Nike	Ecoil
Stumbras	João Luís Martins	Rimvydas Sadauskas	Joma	—
Sūduva	Vladimir Cheburin	Algis Jankauskas	Joma	Sumeda
Žalgiris	João Luís Martins	Saulius Mikoliūnas[7]	Nike	Top Sport

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Atlantas	Vacys Lekevičius	End of caretaker spell	11 November 2018[8]	Pre-season	Viktors Dobrecovs	16 February 2019[9]
Riteriai	Albert Rybak		21 December 2018[10]		Aurelijus Skarbalius	21 December 2018[10]
Palanga	Valdas Trakys	Mutual consent	2 January 2019[11]		Artyom Gorlov	29 January 2019[12]
Stumbras	Mariano Barreto		31 January 2019[13]		João Luís Martins	22 February 2019[14]
Žalgiris	Valdas Urbonas	Signed by Lithuania national team	2 February 2019[15]		Marek Zub	13 February 2019[16]

Regular season

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Sūduva	28	25	0	3	74	15	+59	75	Qualification to Championship round
2	Žalgiris	28	21	2	5	67	22	+45	65
3	Riteriai	28	13	7	8	44	29	+15	46
4	Kauno Žalgiris	28	13	5	10	48	39	+9	44
5	Panevėžys	28	8	7	13	41	53	−12	31
6	Atlantas	28	7	5	16	26	53	−27	26
7	Palanga (D, R)	28	6	1	21	29	70	−41	19	Qualification to Relegation play-offs and disqualified after the season
8	Stumbras (D, R)	28	4	3	21	12	60	−48	15	Withdrew mid-season in 30 July 2019

Source: A Lyga (in Lithuanian), UEFA, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Head-to-head matches won; 6) Goal difference; 7) Goals scored; 8) Matches won.^[17]
(D) Disqualified; (R) Relegated

Results

First half of season Home \ Away ATL KŽA PAL PAN RIT STU SŪD ŽAL Atlantas — 2–0 2–1 2–1 2–3 0–0 0–5 0–3 Kauno Žalgiris 2–1 — 6–1 2–0 3–1 4–3 0–3 3–4 Palanga 2–1 0–3 — 1–1 1–3 2–1 0–2 1–4 Panevėžys 4–1 1–1 2–1 — 1–2 1–1 1–2 0–3 Riteriai 0–0 1–0 3–1 1–1 — 0–0 1–2 1–0 Stumbras 2–0 0–1 0–3 1–0 0–3 — 2–0 1–0 Sūduva 4–0 1–0 3–0 2–1 2–1 2–0 — 1–0 Žalgiris 3–0 3–1 5–1 2–1 1–1 2–1 1–0 — Source: A Lyga (in Lithuanian) Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season Home \ Away ATL KŽA PAL PAN RIT STU SŪD ŽAL Atlantas — 1–1 0–1 0–2 2–1 3–0 0–4 1–3 Kauno Žalgiris 1–0 — 4–0 2–2 1–0 3–0 0–2 1–2 Palanga 0–2 2–3 — 1–2 1–3 3–0 0–4 0–4 Panevėžys 1–1 3–3 3–1 — 4–2 3–0 2–7 0–2 Riteriai 1–1 0–0 1–0 4–0 — 3–0 1–2 1–1 Stumbras 0–3 0–3 0–3 0–3 0–3 — 0–3 0–3 Sūduva 4–1 3–0 6–0 3–1 1–2 3–0 — 1–0 Žalgiris 4–0 3–0 3–2 5–0 2–1 3–0 1–3 — Source: A Lyga (in Lithuanian) Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Championship round

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sūduva (C)	33	29	0	4	95	24	+71	87	Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round
2	Žalgiris	33	24	2	7	79	29	+50	74	Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
3	Riteriai	33	16	7	10	57	36	+21	55
4	Kauno Žalgiris	33	16	5	12	54	45	+9	53
5	Panevėžys	33	10	7	16	49	63	−14	37
6	Atlantas (D, R)	33	7	5	21	30	78	−48	26	Relegation to 2020 II Lyga

Source: soccerway.com
(C) Champions; (D) Disqualified; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	ATL	KŽA	PAN	RIT	SUD	ZAL
Atlantas	—	0–2	1–4
Kauno Žalgiris		—	1–0			1–2
Panevėžys			—	2–0	1–5
Riteriai	5–2	0–1		—	5–1
Sūduva	9–1	4–1			—	2–1
Žalgiris	5–0		3–1	1–3		—

Source: A Lyga (in Lithuanian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-offs

The 7th placed team will face the runners-up of the 2019 LFF I Lyga for a two-legged play-off. The winner on aggregate score after both matches will earn entry into the 2020 A Lyga.

First leg

Banga	2–0	Palanga
Renato Matos da Silva 14' Algimantas Bačanskis 57'	Report

3 November 2019 (2019-11-03)

13:00 EEST

Gargždų stadionas, Gargždai

Attendance: 300

Referee: Gediminas Mažeika

Second leg

Palanga	2–2	Banga
Sergei Mošnikov 66' Josip Jurjević 75'	Report	45' Jonas Bičkus 90+3' Jonas Bičkus

9 November 2019 (2019-11-09)

13:00 EEST

Klaipėdos DDA, Klaipėda

Attendance: 200

Referee: Manfredas Lukjančukas

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological progress, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for matchday 13, but then postponed and played between days 16 and 17, it will be added to the standings for day 16.

	Leader – Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round
	Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round
	Qualification to relegation play-offs
	Relegation to 2020 I Lyga

Team \ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33
Sūduva	3	2	1	3	3	3	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Žalgiris	1	1	2	1	1	2	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Riteriai	5	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	4	3	3	3	3
Kauno Žalgiris	7	5	5	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	4
Panevėžys	6	7	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
Atlantas	2	4	4	6	7	6	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
Palanga	8	8	8	8	6	7	6	6	6	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7
Stumbras	4	3	3	2	2	1	3	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	8	8	8

Updated to games played on 9 November 2019

Season statistics

Top scorers Rank Pos. Player Club Goals[18] MP APG 1 FW Tomislav Kiš Žalgiris 27 2712 100 2 Mihret Topčagić Sūduva 20 1482 74 Terem Moffi Riteriai 2590 129 4 MF Liviu Antal Žalgiris 15 2135 142 5 Donatas Kazlauskas Riteriai 12 2450 204 6 FW João Figueiredo Kauno Žalgiris 10 1484 149 Josip Tadić Sūduva 1224 122 8 Eligijus Jankauskas 9 1134 126 9 Tosaint Ricketts 8 913 115 MF Paulius Golubickas 2054 257 Updated at the end of the season

Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Ref João Figueiredo Kauno Žalgiris Palanga 6–1 (H) 9 March 2019 [19] Edvinas Kloniūnas Riteriai 3–1 (H) 13 April 2019 [20] Mihret Topčagić Sūduva Kauno Žalgiris 3–0 (H) 3 July 2019 [21] Tomislav Kiš Žalgiris Palanga 4–0 (A) 31 August 2019 [22] Terem Moffi Riteriai 3–1 (A) 25 September 2019 [23] Mihret Topčagić5 Sūduva Atlantas 9–1 (H) 30 October 2019 [24] Notes 5 Player scored 5 goals

Attendance

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Sūduva	16,325	2,100	500	1,089	+10.6%†
2	Žalgiris	10,115	2,500	165	675	+8.9%†
3	Panevėžys	8,800	1,100	250	629	+19.6%1
4	Stumbras	1,857	500	100	310	+63.2%†
5	Kauno Žalgiris	4,095	500	150	293	+63.7%†
6	Atlantas	3,845	500	75	275	+6.6%†
7	Riteriai	3,720	400	70	248	−20.0%†
8	Palanga	2,415	400	50	186	−12.7%†
	League total	51,172	2,500	50	483	+21.1%†

Updated to games played on 9 November 2019
Source: A Lyga, Lietuvos Futbolas
Notes:
1: Team played last season in the I Lyga

Awards

Monthly awards

Individual

Player of the Month Month Player Stats Rf March Tomislav Kiš (Žalgiris) 4GP, 5G, 1A [25] April Pau Morer (Žalgiris) 4GP, 3G, 1A [26] May Ivan Kardum (Sūduva) 4GP, 4CS, 0GA [27] June & July Mihret Topčagić (Sūduva) 5GP, 6G, 1A [28] August Tomislav Kiš (Žalgiris) 3GP, 5G, 3A [29] September 3GP, 5G, 2A [30] October Mihret Topčagić (Sūduva) 7GP, 8G, 2A [31] November Terem Moffi (Riteriai) 4GP, 6G, 3A [32]

Young Player of the Month Month Player Stats Rf March Paulius Golubickas (Sūduva) 4GP, 2G, 2A [33] April Idris Umayev (Palanga) 5GP, 3G, 1A [34] May Paulius Golubickas (Sūduva) 4GP, 1G, 2A [35] June & July Terem Moffi (Riteriai) 4GP, 3G [36] August Karolis Uzėla (Žalgiris) 3GP, 3G, 1A [37] September Paulius Golubickas (Sūduva) 3GP, 2G, 1A [38] October Eligijus Jankauskas (Sūduva) 4GP, 3G, 1A [39] November Terem Moffi (Riteriai) 4GP, 6G, 3A [40]

Coach of the Month Month Manager Win % Rf March João Luís Martins (Stumbras) 4GP, 75% [41] April Mindaugas Čepas (Kauno Žalgiris) [42] May Vladimir Cheburin (Sūduva) 4GP, 100% [43] June & July Marek Zub (Žalgiris) [44] August Alexandru Curteian (Panevėžys) 5GP, 80% [45] September Vladimir Cheburin (Sūduva) 4GP, 100% [46] October 7GP, 100% [47] November Albert Rybak (Riteriai) 4GP, 75% [48]

Team of the Month

Team of the Month Month Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards March [49] Josviaki (Stumbras) Alonso (Stumbras) Živanović (Sūduva) Sadauskas (Stumbras) Baravykas (Žalgiris) Morer (Žalgiris) Golubickas (Sūduva) Pérez (Žalgiris) Macharashvili (Stumbras) Umayev (Palanga) Kiš (Žalgiris) April [50] Vitkauskas (Žalgiris) Bushman (Kauno Žalgiris) Živanović (Sūduva) Mikuckis (Kauno Žalgiris) Šešplaukis (Kauno Žalgiris) Morer (Žalgiris) Vorobjovas (Žalgiris) Kiš (Žalgiris) Umayev (Palanga) Figueiredo (Kauno Žalgiris) Jankauskas (Sūduva) May [51] Kardum (Sūduva) Bushman (Kauno Žalgiris) Kruk (Panevėžys) Kerla (Sūduva) Borovskis (Riteriai) Kazlauskas (Riteriai) Jeriomenka (Riteriai) Golubickas (Sūduva) Švrljuga (Sūduva) Moffi (Riteriai) Kiš (Žalgiris) June & July [52] Švedkauskas (Riteriai) Slijngard (Žalgiris) Kerla (Sūduva) Švrljuga (Sūduva) Kazlauskas (Riteriai) Čađenović (Sūduva) Vorobjovas (Žalgiris) Antal (Žalgiris) Ledesma (Panevėžys) Topčagić (Sūduva) Moffi (Riteriai) August [53] Broetto (Panevėžys) Bushman (Kauno Žalgiris) Bolha (Žalgiris) Gašpuitis (Panevėžys) Uzėla (Žalgiris) Šernas (Atlantas) Eliošius (Panevėžys) Kiš (Žalgiris) Romanovskij (Kauno Žalgiris) Vásquez (Panevėžys) Antal (Žalgiris) September & October [54] Kardum (Sūduva) Bushman (Kauno Žalgiris) Živanović (Sūduva) Kerla (Sūduva) Švrljuga (Sūduva) Kazlauskas (Riteriai) Pilibaitis (Kauno Žalgiris) Golubickas (Sūduva) Jankauskas (Sūduva) Topčagić (Sūduva) Kiš (Žalgiris) November [55] Kardum (Sūduva) Živanović (Sūduva) Januševskij (Riteriai) Rudinilson (Kauno Žalgiris) Kazlauskas (Riteriai) Janušauskas (Panevėžys) Oliveira (Sūduva) Grigaravičius (Riteriai) Bordon (Panevėžys) Tadić (Sūduva) Moffi (Riteriai)

Multiple appearances Player Club App Tomislav Kiš Žalgiris 5 Yuriy Bushman Kauno Žalgiris 4 Aleksandar Živanović Sūduva Donatas Kazlauskas Riteriai Paulius Golubickas Sūduva 3 Semir Kerla Andro Švrljuga Ivan Kardum Terem Moffi Riteriai Pau Morer Žalgiris 2 Idris Umayev Palanga Modestas Vorobjovas Žalgiris Liviu Antal Eligijus Jankauskas Sūduva Mihret Topčagić