2020 A Lyga Explained

Pixels:250
Competition:A Lyga
Season:2020
Winners:Žalgiris
Continentalcup1:Champions League
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers:Žalgiris
Continentalcup2:Europa Conference League
Continentalcup2 Qualifiers:Sūduva
Kauno Žalgiris
Panevėžys
Biggest Home Win:
Biggest Away Win:
Highest Scoring:
Matches:60
Total Goals:153
Longest Wins:3 matches
Sūduva
Longest Unbeaten:3 matches
Sūduva
Longest Winless:4 matches
Panevėžys
Longest Losses:4 matches
Panevėžys
League Topscorer:Hugo Vidémont
(13 goals)
Prevseason:2019
Nextseason:2021
Updated:13 June 2020

The 2020 A Lyga was the 31st season of the A Lyga, the top-tier football league of Lithuania. The season began on 6 March and was planned to end on 7 November 2020. On 12 March all sports events were postponed for two weeks in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

Teams

FK Sūduva Marijampolė begin the season as defending champions having won their third consecutive league title last year.

Three clubs dropped out of A Lyga last season - Stumbras folded in the summer, while Atlantas and Palanga were disqualified after the end of the season after investigation revealed numerous match-fixing incidents.

Licensing process

The top 5 previous season's teams - FK Sūduva Marijampolė, FK Žalgiris, FK Riteriai, FK Kauno Žalgiris and FK Panevėžys met licensing criteria and received a straight pass to their licenses. Disqualified FK Palanga and FK Atlantas appealed the disqualification decision and expressed interest in playing in A Lyga. Their appeals were rejected.

Five of the I Lyga teams applied for A Lyga licenses - FK Banga Gargždai, FC Džiugas, Vilniaus Vytis, DFK Dainava and FC Hegelmann Litauen. The previous year's I Lyga winners FC Džiugas failed to meet A Lyga licensing criteria, and their application was rejected. FC Džiugas will continue playing in I Lyga this season. FK Banga Gargždai won the play-off match against FK Palanga and earned the right to play in A Lyga. Their A Lyga license was granted upon appeal. Vilniaus Vytis and DFK Dainava did not earn promotion to A Lyga, however they were hoping for exceptions which are common in Lithuanian football. In this instance their applications were rejected on the grounds of failing to meet several critical criteria. FC Hegelmann Litauen withdrew their application prior to the licensing committee's meeting. This meant that only six teams will play in the 2020 A Lyga championship. The LFF announced that four I Lyga teams will qualify for promotion to A Lyga next season.[2]

2020 A Lyga competitors
ClubLocationStadiumSurfaceCapacitySeasons
in A Lyga
2019 position
GargždaiGargždai StadiumArtificial2,32372nd in LFF I lyga
KaunasSM Tauras StadiumNatural50064th
NFA StadiumArtificial500
PanevėžysAukštaitija StadiumNatural6,60025th
Žemyna Progymnasium StadiumArtificial500
VilniusLFF StadiumArtificial5,06773rd
Sportima ArenaArtificial3,157
MarijampolėSūduva Stadium
(Hikvision Arena)
Natural6,250181st
Marijampolė Football Indoor Arena
(Hikvision FIA)
Artificial2,660
VilniusLFF StadiumArtificial5,067192nd
Sportima ArenaArtificial3,157

Personnel and kits

TeamHead coachCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
Banga Tomas Tamošauskas[3] Deividas Padaigis Nike-
Kauno Žalgiris Rokas Garastas Linas Pilibaitis HummelBC Žalgiris
Panevėžys João Luís Martins Paulius Janušauskas Hummel[4] Kalnapilis
Riteriai Valdemaras Borovskis NikeEcoil
Sūduva Saulius Širmelis Algis Jankauskas JomaHikvision
Žalgiris Aleksey Baga Saulius Mikoliūnas NikeTop Sport

Managerial changes

TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyIncoming managerDate of appointment
Riteriai Albert Rybakend of caretaker spell3 January 2020 Mindaugas Čepas7 January 2020
Sūduva Vladimir Cheburincontract expiryat the end of the 2019 season Heimo Pfeifenberger8 January 2020
Žalgiris João Luís Martinsend of caretaker spell27 November 2019 Aleksey Baga19 January 2020
Kauno Žalgiris Mindaugas Čepascontract expiry [5] 2 December 2019 Rokas Garastas3 December 2019
Sūduva Heimo Pfeifenbergercontract termination[6] 14 April 2020 Saulius Širmelis23 May 2020
Panevėžys Alexandru Curteiancontract termination[7] 15 June 2020 João Luís Martins4 July 2020
Riteriai Mindaugas Čepasresigned[8] 28 June 2020 Vaidas Sabaliauskas (caretaker)28 June 2020
Riteriai Vaidas Sabaliauskasend of caretaker spell[9] 26 July 2020 Janusz Niedźwiedź26 July 2020
Riteriai Janusz Niedźwiedźcontract termination[10] 1 August 2020 Vaidas Sabaliauskas (caretaker)1 August 2020
Riteriai Vaidas Sabaliauskasend of caretaker spell[11] 11 August 2020 Tommi Pikkarainen11 August 2020

Regular season

On 12 March all sports events were postponed for two weeks in the light of the coronavirus pandemic.[12]

League table

Fixtures and results

Rounds 11–20

Season statistics

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Hugo VidémontŽalgiris13
2 Josip TadićSūduva11
3 Linas PilibaitisKauno Žalgiris8
4 Liviu AntalŽalgiris6
5 Mihret TopčagićSūduva5
Jorge EliasPanevėžys
6 Emmanuel DavidKauno Žalgiris4
Yuriy BushmanKauno Žalgiris
Semir KerlaSūduva
Valērijs ŠabalaSūduva
Richie EnninŽalgiris
Andrija KaluđerovićŽalgiris

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Svarbi informacija dėl LFF vykdomų varžybų ir renginių sustabdymo. LFF. 2020-03-12. 2020-03-12. lt.
  2. Web site: Vykdomojo komiteto posėdžio metu patvirtintas I ir A lygų komandų skaičius. LFF. 2020-02-26. 2020-02-26.
  3. Web site: Personalas – FK Banga.
  4. News: Brazdžionis . Gintaras . "Hummel" prizas žiūrovams . 24 March 2019 . FK Panevėžys . 5 August 2018 . lt.
  5. Web site: "Kauno Žalgirio" komandoje – trenerių kaita. 3 December 2019.
  6. Web site: Nutraukta sutartis su H. Pfeifenbergeriu – FK Sūduva.
  7. Web site: "Panevėžys" atleido A.Kurtijaną.
  8. Web site: Mindaugas Čepas traukiasi iš "Riterių".
  9. Web site: "Riteriams" vadovaus strategas iš Lenkijos.
  10. Web site: Išsiskyrė "Riterių" keliai su J. Niedzviedzu.
  11. Web site: Futbolo Klubas Riteriai » "Riterius" treniruos specialistas iš Suomijos.
  12. Web site: Svarbi informacija dėl LFF vykdomų varžybų ir renginių sustabdymo. LFF. 2020-03-12. 2020-03-12. lt.