Golden A League Battles: The accompanying curse of “Žalgiris” and the flawless “Sūduva” | sports

Sūduviai, aiming for the fourth title in a row, held an 8-point lead over fiercest rivals in the summer, but the unarmed Žalgiris have squandered points in just two games since mid-July and managed to catch up with Marijampolė’s side in the fight for The throphy.

Both teams have advantages before the last round.

The biggest advantage of “Sūduvai” is the difference of 1 point in the tournament table, which means that Saulius Širmelis’s team has enough draws in the last match.

photo alyga.lt/A league tournament table before the decisive match

But “Žalgiris” also has its arguments. Vilnius residents, although without spectators, will play at home. At the LFF stadium they know not only the walls, but also the artificial surface, on which the marijampol, who, stepping on natural grass in their hometown, are less used to playing.

Additionally, Sūduva was recently shocked by the COVID-19 outbreak, which prevented these teams from playing the golden battle on their originally scheduled day, October 31.

Up to 20 members of Suwalki’s team have contracted the virus, and virtually until match day it is unclear what their form will be after a few weeks of self-isolation.

However, the last game of the A league season promises a great intrigue, the kind that Lithuanian football fans have seen only four times since regaining independence.

15 minutes recalls all of the A League Golden Battles that have taken place so far, in which both Žalgiris and Sūduva clubs have already participated.

1993 Vilnius “Žalgiris” – Panevėžys “Ekranas” 1: 1

1992-1993 The A league season was extremely intriguing.

Žalgiris, who won two titles in a row, applied for the third, but for the first time in the history of an independent country, the people of Panevėžys were on the cards for the championship.

“Ekranas” had an advantage before the last round: Panevėžys’ team had 45 points and Vilnius, 42 points. However, “Žalgiris” played the last match at home and, after winning the victory, was able to start an additional match.

For a while, it seemed like it was going to happen, because Donatas Vencevičius brought Vilnius to the front at the beginning of the second quarter, but towards the end of the match, in the 80th minute, Vaidotas Šlekys tied the result and Ekranas achieved the most famous victory in the club history: Panevėžys became Lithuanian champions.

Later, Ekranas repeated this achievement six more times.

1995 Vilnius “Žalgiris” – Kaunas “Inkaras-Grifas” 0: 0 and 0: 2

At the time when the Lithuanian championship was still contested according to the beginning of autumn-spring, and not the other way around, as it is now, the teams from Vilnius and Kaunas fiercely fought for the title.

The people of Žalgiris already started the title in 1993 and 1994 in the dying moments, and this time they had two chances to become national champions.

Before the last game of the season, “Žalgiris” and “Inkaras-Grifas” each had 35 points, but the question of the winner of the season was not resolved, because the team played in a 0: 0 draw in the last round in Vilnius.

If the gold owner does not find out for 22 rounds, the Vilnius and Kaunas clubs must play an additional match by the name of the winner on the neutral field.

3,000 people watched the match in Panevėžys live. Inkaras-Grifas, who was proclaimed champion of the independent country for the first time, snatched the victory with two precise accents from Darius Maciulevičius.

Photo by FK Ekranas / Darius Maciulevičius

2004 Panevėžys “Ekranas” – “FBK Kaunas” 0: 2

It was a golden opportunity for the people of Panevėžys, who became Lithuanian champion for the last time in 1993, to end the rule of Kaunas: the team financed by Vladimir Romanov had won up to five titles in a row.

Before the last round, the teams had 62 points each, “Ekranas” played the deciding match against “FBK Kaunas” at home, and Panevėžys had enough draws to at least break additional matches for gold.

However, to the great sadness of the fans gathered at the Aukštaitija stadium in Panevėžys, the triumphal dance was once again danced by the residents of Kaunas, not their loved ones: the FBK Kaunas soccer players won 2-0 and were again Lithuanian champions.

Photo by J.Petronis / FBK “Kaunas” team

It is true that Panevėžys did not have long to wait for victory: already a year later, Ekranas finally defeated the people of Kaunas and regained the title of champion of the country.

2017 “Sūduva” from Marijampolė – Vilnius “Žalgiris” 3: 0

Last time, in the only match, no one but the Sūduva and Žalgiris clubs fought for gold.

In 2017, Vilnius residents were clear championship favorites, winning the title in the previous four seasons, but Sūduviai posed a serious challenge for the team led by Valdas Dambrauskas.

Over the course of the season, “Žalgiris” had a 10-point lead over the Marijampolė team, but “Sūduva” won seven times in a row and after a few clicks from Žalgiris they had a golden opportunity to snatch the gold; all they had to do was not lose in the last home game.

Jose Vladimir Cheburin’s team not only did not lose, but also achieved an impressive victory: precise strikes from Semir Kerla, Karolis Laukžemis and Andris Švrljuga led to the triumph of “Sūduva” 3: 0 and the title of champions of the country for the first time.

The Marijampolė team, which finished the season with eight wins in a row, scored a total of 71 points, and Žalgiris, 67 points.

This was the third time in the Vilnius club’s history, when “Žalgiris” failed to catch league A gold for the main rivals in the last round. On Saturday afternoon, the students of Aliakseja Baga will have the opportunity to end this nasty curse.