A Lyga
Season2023
Dates3 March – 12 November 2023
ChampionsPanevėžys
RelegatedRiteriai
Champions LeaguePanevėžys
Conference LeagueŽalgiris
Šiauliai
Kauno Žalgiris
Matches played171
Goals scored403 (2.36 per match)
← 2022

The 2023 A Lyga, for sponsorship reasons also called Optibet A lyga was the 34th season of the A Lyga, the top-tier football league of Lithuania. The season began on 3 March 2023 and concluded on 12 November 2023.[1]

The winners (Panevėžys) qualified for the 2024–25 Champions League first qualifying round. The runners-up (Žalgiris) qualified for the 2024–25 Conference League second qualifying round, with the third and fourth-placed teams (Šiauliai and Kauno Žalgiris) qualifying for the first qualifying round. The ninth-placed team (Džiugas) qualified for the A Lyga play-off, winning to retain their place in the league. The bottom-placed team (Riteriai) were relegated to the 2024 LFF I Lyga.

Teams

The league consisted of ten teams, nine of which remained from the previous season. Žalgiris entered the season as defending champions. Jonava were relegated and replaced by Dainava, returning after one year's absence.[2][3] Ninth-placed Džiugas remained in A Lyga after winning the playoff against I Lyga's Neptūnas.[4]

Home towns of the 2023 A Lyga teams
2023 A Lyga competitors
Club Location Stadium Surface Capacity Seasons
in A Lyga		 Position
in 2022
Banga Gargždai Gargždai Stadium Artificial 2,323 10 8th
DFK Dainava Alytus Alytus Stadium Natural 3,726 12 1st in I lyga
Marijampolė Marijampolė Football Indoor Arena Artificial 2,660
Džiugas Telšiai Telšiai Central Stadium Natural 2,320 3 9th
Ateitis Progymnasium Stadium Artificial 300
Hegelmann Kaunas LFF Kaunas Training Center Stadium Artificial 500 3 4th
Kauno Žalgiris Kaunas Darius and Girėnas Stadium Hybrid 15,315 9 2nd
Akademija VDU Stadium Artificial 1,000
Panevėžys Panevėžys Aukštaitija Stadium Natural 6,600 5 3rd
Žemyna Progymnasium Stadium Artificial 620
Riteriai Vilnius LFF Stadium Artificial 5,067 10 5th
Sportima Arena Artificial 3,157
Sūduva Marijampolė Marijampolė Football Arena Natural 6,250 21 6th
Marijampolė Football Indoor Arena Artificial 2,660
FA Šiauliai Šiauliai Savivaldybė Stadium Natural 4,000 2 7th
Gytariai Stadium Artificial 500
Žalgiris Vilnius LFF Stadium Artificial 5,067 22 1st
Sportima Arena Artificial 3,157

Managers

Current Managers

Team Coach Appointed Licence
FK Banga Portugal David Afonso 31 months ago UEFA Pro
DFK Dainava Belarus Syarhey Kuznyatsow 20 months ago UEFA A
FC Džiugas Portugal João Prates 30 months ago UEFA Pro
FC Hegelmann Lithuania Andrius Skerla 36 months ago UEFA Pro
FK Kauno Žalgiris Lithuania Nerijus Mačiulis (caretaker) 3 months ago
FK Panevėžys Italy Gino Lettieri 15 months ago UEFA Pro
FK Riteriai Portugal Matthew Silva 5 months ago UEFA Pro
FK Sūduva Lithuania Dovydas Lastauskas 11 months ago
FA Šiauliai Lithuania Mindaugas Čepas 37 months ago UEFA Pro
FK Žalgiris Kazakhstan Vladimir Cheburin 36 months ago UEFA Pro

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming manager Date of appointment
FK Sūduva Portugal Matthew Silva End of caretaker spell 30 November 2022 Lithuania Dovydas Lastauskas 1 February 2023
FK Riteriai Spain Pablo Villar Sacked 24 March 2023 Serbia Vladimir Janković 1 April 2023
FK Kauno Žalgiris Lithuania Rokas Garastas 1 May 2023 Lithuania Marius Stankevičius 1 May 2023
FK Riteriai Serbia Vladimir Janković 22 July 2023 Portugal Matthew Silva 26 July 2023
FK Kauno Žalgiris Lithuania Marius Stankevičius 5 October 2023 Lithuania Nerijus Mačiulis (caretaker) 5 October 2023

Regular season

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Panevėžys (C) 36 26 9 1 64 14 +50 87 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Žalgiris 36 23 6 7 67 28 +39 75 Qualification for the Conference League second qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
3 Šiauliai 36 16 14 6 51 35 +16 62 Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round
4 Kauno Žalgiris 36 15 14 7 61 40 +21 59
5 Hegelmann 36 18 5 13 62 43 +19 59
6 Banga 36 10 6 20 22 52 −30 36
7 Sūduva 36 10 5 21 28 60 −32 35
8 Dainava 36 7 10 19 25 40 −15 31
9 Džiugas (O) 36 4 13 19 25 57 −32 25 Qualification for the A Lyga play-off
10 Riteriai (R) 36 5 10 21 26 62 −36 25 Relegation to I Lyga
Source: A Lyga
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Play-off (for champion only) 3) Head-to-head points; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Head-to-head goals scored; 6) Head-to-head matches won; 7) Goal difference; 8) Goals scored; 9) Matches won; 10) Fairplay ranking; 11) Draw.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ↑ The 2023 Lithuanian Football Cup winners qualified for the Conference League second qualifying round. Since the cup winners (TransINVEST of I Lyga) were ineligible for a UEFA license, the Conference League spot was passed to the second-placed team of the A Lyga, and the second Conference League first qualifying round spot was passed to the fourth-placed team.

Fixtures and results

Home \ Away BAN DAI DZI HEG KAU PAN RIT SIA SUD ZAL BAN DAI DZI HEG KAU PAN RIT SIA SUD ZAL
Banga 2–1 2–0 0–5 0–2 0–4 1–1 0–1 1–0 0–2 1–0 0–1 0–3 1–1 0–1 1–2 1–1 1–0 1–4
Dainava 2–1 2–2 1–0 0–0 0–1 5–0 0–0 2–1 0–2 0–1 1–0 1–2 1–1 1–2 0–1 1–2 1–2 0–2
Džiugas 1–2 0–1 2–0 0–0 0–3 1–1 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–1 2–1 1–2 0–2 0–3 2–2 3–3 1–1 1–2
Hegelmann 5–0 3–0 2–0 3–2 2–4 0–1 2–3 6–0 0–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 1–1 0–0 1–0 3–1 2–0 2–0
Kauno Žalgiris 0–0 1–0 3–1 4–0 0–1 3–1 0–0 3–0 1–1 3–1 1–1 0–0 4–2 1–1 3–2 3–2 1–1 2–5
Panevėžys 2–0 0–0 4–0 1–0 2–1 3–1 3–1 0–0 0–0 2–0 2–0 0–0 2–2 3–0 1–0 2–0 2–1 2–0
Riteriai 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–4 1–1 0–4 0–1 1–0 0–2 0–1 1–3 0–0 2–3 1–3 0–2 0–1 1–2 2–6
Šiauliai 1–1 2–0 2–0 3–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 3–0 1–0 3–0 0–0 3–0[lower-alpha 1] 1–3 1–1 1–1 2–0 3–2 0–0
Sūduva 0–2 2–0 1–0 2–0 2–4 0–2 0–0 0–2 2–1 1–0 2–0 0–0 0–1 2–6 0–1 0–3 2–0 0–2
Žalgiris 1–0 0–0 2–3 1–0 2–1 2–1 1–0 2–2 4–0 1–0 1–0 4–1 4–0 0–2 1–2 3–0 2–2 4–0
Source: A Lyga
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. ↑ Originally a 0–1 win for Džiugas; later overturned to a 3–0 win for Siauliai.

A Lyga play-off

The ninth-placed club (Džiugas) faced the second-placed club from the 2023 LFF I Lyga (Be1 NFA) for the final place in the following season's A Lyga.

First leg

18 November 2023 Be1 NFA 1–1 Džiugas Kaunas
11:00 BST Wouter 19' Jezdimirović 73' Stadium: NFA Stadium

Second leg

25 November 2023 Džiugas 1–0
(2–1 agg.)		Be1 NFAGargždai
11:00 BST Nuno Pereira 69' (pen) Stadium: Gargždai Central Stadium[5]

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of match played 12 November 2023
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Nigeria Mathias Oyewusi Žalgiris 19
2 Croatia Filip Dangubić Hegelmann 18
3 Lithuania Eligijus Jankauskas FA Šiauliai 14
Nicaragua Ariagner Smith Panevėžys
5 Lithuania Edvinas Girdvainis Kauno Žalgiris 10
6 Lithuania Daniel Romanovskij FA Šiauliai 9
Lithuania Gratas Sirgėdas Kauno Žalgiris
8 Romania Patrick Popescu Hegelmann 8
9 Spain Xabi Auzmendi Kauno Žalgiris 7
Guadeloupe Florian David Kauno Žalgiris
Ukraine Oleksiy Shchebetun FA Šiauliai
Lithuania Pijus Širvys Panevėžys

Hat-tricks

PlayerForAgainstResultDateRef.
Brazil Cesinha HegelmannBanga Gargždai5–0 (H)31 March 2023[6]
Croatia Filip DangubićHegelmannSūduva6–0 (H)28 April 2023[7]
Nigeria Mathias OyewusiŽalgirisKauno Žalgiris2–5 (A)27 June 2023[8]
Lithuania Gratas SirgėdasKauno ŽalgirisBanga Gargždai3–1 (H)7 October 2023[9]

Discipline

Red cards

As of match played 12 November 2023

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Optibet A lyga 2023". lietuvosfutbolas.lt (in Lithuanian). 2023-02-19. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  2. ↑ "Licencijavimo komitetas A lygos licencijas išdavė 8 klubams". sportas.lt (in Lithuanian). 2023-02-06. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  3. ↑ "Apeliacinis licencijavimo komitetas priėmė sprendimus dėl A lygos licencijos pareiškėjų apeliacijų". LFF.lt (in Lithuanian). 2023-02-13. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  4. ↑ "Pereinamosiose rungtynėse "Džiugas" buvo solidesnis". alyga.lt (in Lithuanian). A Lyga. 30 November 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  5. ↑ https://alyga.lt/naujiena/atsakomaji-susitikima-dziugas-ir-be1-nfa-zais-gargzduose/8413
  6. ↑ "Hegelmann 0-5 Banga Gargždai". lietuvosfutbolas.lt. Lietuvos Futbolas. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  7. ↑ "Hegelmann 6-0 Sūduva". lietuvosfutbolas.lt. Lietuvos Futbolas. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  8. ↑ "Žalgiris 2-5 Kauno Žalgiris". lietuvosfutbolas.lt. Lietuvos Futbolas. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  9. ↑ "Kauno Žalgiris 3-1 Banga Gargždai". lietuvosfutbolas.lt. Lietuvos Futbolas. 7 October 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
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