The 2021 A Lyga, for sponsorship reasons also called Optibet A lyga is the 32nd season of the A Lyga, the top-tier football league of Lithuania. The season began on 5 March and concluded on 28 November 2021.

Teams FK Žalgiris started the season as defending champions. None of the 6 last year's teams were relegated, and 4 teams were promoted to A lyga.

Licensing process In addition to sporting principles of promotion and relegation, the teams and clubs need to pass rigorous licensing process. Because of this, promotion and relegation does not always follow the rights achieved by sporting principle. A total of 12 teams applied for A lyga license:

The 6 previous season's teams: FK Žalgiris, FK Sūduva Marijampolė, FK Kauno Žalgiris, FK Panevėžys, FK Banga Gargždai and FK Riteriai met licensing criteria and received a straight pass to their licenses.

Top 4 2020 LFF I Lyga teams: FK „Nevėžis“ (Kėdainiai), FC „Hegelmann Litauen“ (Kaunas), FK „Jonava“ (Jonava), FC „Džiugas“ (Telšiai) have all applied. FK Nevėžis and FC Hegelmann Litauen got their licenses straight away. FC Džiugas has been granted a license after an appeal. FK Jonava failed to meet all licensing criteria and were not issued a license. The club appealed, the appeal was rejected, then the club requested participation by exception — a method used by Lithuanian Football Federation to make up numbers in the league after licensing fails. The request was also rejected by LFF council's vote in favour to 6th placed DFK Dainava.

Other 2020 LFF I Lyga teams: FA „Šiauliai“ (Šiauliai), DFK „Dainava“ (Alytus). FA Šiauliai later withdrew from licensing process, claiming that the team is not yet ready for top division football. DFK Dainava failed licensing criteria, however after FK Jonava's failure to meet licensing criteria, DFK Dainava were invited to request participation by exception, and were ultimately promoted to the A lyga.

The controversial decision to drop FK Jonava and promote DFK Dainava was justified by the fact that FK Jonava have pending investigation to allegations of match fixing in the 2020 season. The LFF have issued sanctions and fines against three players and the club, however FK Jonava deny allegations of involvement in match fixing in the three matches that are being investigated and have appealed. The LFF have also revealed that a warning letter has been issued to FK Jonava in relation to the team's coach, who has been reportedly involved in match fixing in his previous career.

Changes FK Nevėžis (Kėdainiai), FC Hegelmann Litauen (Kaunas), FC Džiugas (Telšiai) and DFK Dainava (Alytus), the latter three teams promoted to the top-flight for the first time in their history, were promoted from the 2020 LFF I Lyga.

+2021 A Lyga competitors Club Location Stadium Surface Capacity Seasons in A Lyga 2020 position Gargždai Gargždai Stadium Artificial 2,323 8 4th — — — Alytus Alytus Stadium Natural 3,790 1 6th in LFF I lyga Dainava Progymnasium Stadium Artificial — Marijampolė Football Indoor Arena(Hikvision FIA) Artificial 2,660 Telšiai Telšiai Central Stadium Natural 2,400 1 4th in LFF I lyga Ateitis Progymnasium Stadium — — Kaunas LFF Kaunas training center stadium Artificial 500 1 2nd in LFF I lyga — — — Kaunas SM Tauras Stadium Natural 500 7 3rd NFA Stadium Artificial 500 Kėdainiai Kėdainiai Stadium Artificial 3,000 6 1st in LFF I lyga Central Stadium of Jonava Natural 2,000 Panevėžys Aukštaitija Stadium Natural 6,600 3 5th Žemyna Progymnasium Stadium Artificial 500 Vilnius LFF Stadium Artificial 5,067 8 6th Sportima Arena Artificial 3,157 Marijampolė Sūduva Stadium (Hikvision Arena) Natural 6,250 19 2nd Marijampolė Football Indoor Arena (Hikvision FIA) Artificial 2,660 Vilnius LFF Stadium Artificial 5,067 20 1st Sportima Arena Artificial 3,157

2021 competitors Personnel

Team Coach License FK Banga David Afonso DFK Dainava Tomas Ražanauskas UEFA A FC Džiugas Telšiai Marius Šluta UEFA B FC Hegelmann Litauen Andrius Skerla FK Kauno Žalgiris Rokas Garastas UEFA Pro FK Nevėžis Darius Gvildys (on temporary basis) UEFA A FK Panevėžys João Luís Martins UEFA A FK Riteriai Miguel Moreira UEFA Pro FK Sūduva Víctor Basadre UEFA Pro FK Žalgiris Vladimir Cheburin UEFA Pro

Managerial changes TeamOutgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming manager Date of appointmentFK Panevėžys — addition to coaching team — Luís Olim 22 December 2020FC Hegelmann Litauen Artūras Ramoška reassigned as goalkeeping coach 2 January 2021 Andrius Skerla 2 January 2021FK Sūduva Saulius Širmelis end of contract November 2020 Víctor Basadre 3 January 2021FK Žalgiris Aleksey Baga resigned December 2020 Vladimir Cheburin 11 January 2021FK Riteriai Tommi Pikkarainen new manager appointed 8 February 2021 Sergei Gurenko 8 February 2021DFK Dainava Fabio Mazzone resigned 12 April 2021 Tomas Ražanauskas 21 April 2021FK Nevėžis Vitalijus Stankevičius by mutual consent 17 May 2021 Darius Gvildys (on temporary basis) 18 May 2021FK Riteriai Sergei Gurenko end of probationary contract 31 May 2021 Valdas Trakys (on temporary basis) 9 June 2021FK Banga Tomas Tamošauskas sacked 3 June 2021 David Afonso 3 June 2021FK Riteriai Valdas Trakys permanent manager appointed 3 August 2021 Miguel Moreira 3 August 2021

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic As soon as 2020 A Lyga season has completed, on 7 November 2020 COVID-19 quarantine was reintroduced in Lithuania,Vadovaudamasi Lietuvos Respublikos and extended several times. At the beginning of February, at the time LFF were building fixtures calendar, the quarantine was set to last until 28 February.

It is expected that at the beginning of the championship the matches will take place without spectators. Under the government's proposal, the matches can be attended by 100 spectators when the rate of COVID-19 infections per 100,000 inhabitants in 14 day period will drop below 50. The matches can be attended by 200 spectators when COVID-19 cases will drop below 25. On 4 February infection rate was 395.3.

Approaching the start date of the championship, scheduled for 5 March 2021, the clubs performed mandatory COVID-19 testing. Three clubs have reported infections among the players and their fixtures have been postponed. FK Žalgiris reported 7 positive cases of COVID-19, FK Panevėžys - 6, FK Riteriai initially did not reveal the number, but it was later revealed that 19 players and staff were tested positive.

Regular season The season has kicked off as scheduled on 5 March. Each team will play four matches with all other teams this season.

League table

Fixtures and results Rounds 1–18

Rounds 19–36

Statistics Top goalscorers Goals Assists Player Club1712 Hugo Videmont FK Žalgiris165 Nauris Petkevičius FC Hegelmann Litauen162 Saïd Hamulic DFK Dainava121 Mindaugas Grigaravičius FK Riteriai112 Nasko Milev FC Džiugas112 Simonas Urbys FK Banga Gargždai105 Josip Tadić FK Žalgiris102 Jorge Elias FK Panevėžys102 Linas Pilibaitis FK Kauno Žalgiris

See also 2021 LFF I Lyga Football in Lithuania 2021 Lithuanian Football Cup

References

External links