2020 A Lyga

A Lyga

Season	2020
Dates	6 March – 7 November 2020
Champions	Žalgiris
Champions League	Žalgiris
Europa Conference League	Sūduva Kauno Žalgiris Panevėžys
Matches played	60
Goals scored	153 (2.55 per match)
Top goalscorer	Hugo Vidémont (13 goals)
Biggest home win	Žalgiris 4–0 Panevėžys (6 March 2020)
Biggest away win	Riteriai 0–3 Kauno Žalgiris (8 March 2020)
Highest scoring	Žalgiris 4–0 Panevėžys (6 March 2020)
Longest winning run	3 matches Sūduva
Longest unbeaten run	3 matches Sūduva
Longest winless run	4 matches Panevėžys
Longest losing run	4 matches Panevėžys
← 2019 2021 → All statistics correct as of 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]

Panevėžys

Sūduva

Kauno
Žalgiris

Banga

Vilnius

Vilnius teams
Riteriai
Žalgiris

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Home towns of the 2020 A Lyga teams

2020 A Lyga competitors

Club	Location	Stadium	Surface	Capacity	Seasons in A Lyga	2019 position
Banga	Gargždai	Gargždai Stadium	Artificial	2,323	7	2nd in LFF I lyga
		—	—	—
Kauno Žalgiris	Kaunas	SM Tauras Stadium	Natural	500	6	4th
		NFA Stadium	Artificial	500
Panevėžys	Panevėžys	Aukštaitija Stadium	Natural	6,600	2	5th
		Žemyna Progymnasium Stadium	Artificial	500
Riteriai	Vilnius	LFF Stadium	Artificial	5,067	7	3rd
		Sportima Arena	Artificial	3,157
Sūduva	Marijampolė	Sūduva Stadium (Hikvision Arena)	Natural	6,250	18	1st
		Marijampolė Football Indoor Arena (Hikvision FIA)	Artificial	2,660
Žalgiris	Vilnius	LFF Stadium	Artificial	5,067	19	2nd
		Sportima Arena	Artificial	3,157

Personnel and kits

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Banga	Tomas Tamošauskas [3]	Deividas Padaigis	Nike	-
Kauno Žalgiris	Rokas Garastas	Linas Pilibaitis	Hummel	BC Žalgiris
Panevėžys	João Luís Martins	Paulius Janušauskas	Hummel [4]	Kalnapilis
Riteriai	Tommi Pikkarainen	Valdemaras Borovskis	Nike	Ecoil
Sūduva	Saulius Širmelis	Algis Jankauskas	Joma	Hikvision
Žalgiris	Aleksey Baga	Saulius Mikoliūnas	Nike	Top Sport

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Riteriai	Albert Rybak	end of caretaker spell	3 January 2020	Mindaugas Čepas	7 January 2020
Sūduva	Vladimir Cheburin	contract expiry	at the end of the 2019 season	Heimo Pfeifenberger	8 January 2020
Žalgiris	João Luís Martins	end of caretaker spell	27 November 2019	Aleksey Baga	19 January 2020
Kauno Žalgiris	Mindaugas Čepas	contract expiry [5]	2 December 2019	Rokas Garastas	3 December 2019
Sūduva	Heimo Pfeifenberger	contract termination [6]	14 April 2020	Saulius Širmelis	23 May 2020
Panevėžys	Alexandru Curteian	contract termination [7]	15 June 2020	João Luís Martins	4 July 2020
Riteriai	Mindaugas Čepas	resigned [8]	28 June 2020	Vaidas Sabaliauskas (caretaker)	28 June 2020
Riteriai	Vaidas Sabaliauskas	end of caretaker spell [9]	26 July 2020	Janusz Niedźwiedź	26 July 2020
Riteriai	Janusz Niedźwiedź	contract termination [10]	1 August 2020	Vaidas Sabaliauskas (caretaker)	1 August 2020
Riteriai	Vaidas Sabaliauskas	end of caretaker spell [11]	11 August 2020	Tommi Pikkarainen	11 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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Žalgiris (C)	20	14	3	3	42	14	+28	45	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Sūduva	20	13	4	3	32	18	+14	43	Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round
3	Kauno Žalgiris	20	12	2	6	30	18	+12	38
4	Banga	20	3	7	10	16	30	−14	16
5	Panevėžys	20	2	6	12	19	38	−19	12	Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round [lower-alpha 1]
6	Riteriai	20	2	6	12	17	38	−21	12

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. ^[13]
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Panevėžys qualified for the Europa Conference League as the 2020 Lithuanian Football Cup winners.

Fixtures and results

Rounds 1–10 Home \ Away BAN KŽA PAN RIT SŪD ŽAL Banga — 1–1 2–0 1–1 0–2 0–1 Kauno Žalgiris 2–0 — 2–0 2–1 0–1 0–1 Panevėžys 2–1 0–2 — 2–1 1–3 1–2 Riteriai 0–1 0–3 1–1 — 1–3 0–7 Sūduva 1–0 1–0 3–0 1–0 — 1–1 Žalgiris 0–0 2–3 4–0 0–1 4–0 — Source: A Lyga (in Lithuanian) Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Rounds 11–20 Home \ Away BAN KŽA PAN RIT SŪD ŽAL Banga — 1–2 3–3 1–1 1–2 0–4 Kauno Žalgiris 2–3 — 3–2 1–0 3–0 0–1 Panevėžys 1–1 0–1 — 1–1 1–1 1–2 Riteriai 4–0 0–1 1–1 — 1–2 2–2 Sūduva 0–0 1–1 1–0 7–1 — 2–0 Žalgiris 1–0 3–1 3–2 1–0 3–0 — Source: A Lyga (in Lithuanian) Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Hugo Vidémont	Žalgiris	13
2	Josip Tadić	Sūduva	11
3	Linas Pilibaitis	Kauno Žalgiris	8
4	Liviu Antal	Žalgiris	6
5	Mihret Topčagić	Sūduva	5
	Jorge Elias	Panevėžys
6	Emmanuel David	Kauno Žalgiris	4
	Yuriy Bushman	Kauno Žalgiris
	Semir Kerla	Sūduva
	Valērijs Šabala	Sūduva
	Richie Ennin	Žalgiris
	Andrija Kaluđerović	Žalgiris

Updated to match(es) played on 1 September 2020.
Source: soccerway.com ^[14]

See also

• 2020 LFF I Lyga
• Football in Lithuania
• 2020 Lithuanian Football Cup

References

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

External links

• Official website (in Lithuanian and English)