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"After the victory in Pakruojis, which secured Ekranas' fifth consecutive championship title, the head coach and players of the Panevezys team shared their thoughts and emotions with Futbolo.TV.
Ekranas' head coach Valdas Urbonas:
"Today Kruoja resisted, and in the first half we didn't play as well as we could. There was tension, but we talked, calmed down. We made corrections and in the second half the pressure and created opportunities yielded results. This season the advantage over Žalgiris was at eight points at one point. But it's hard to maintain such a pace, we had many European Cup matches. The other thing is that Žalgiris won all the games at the end of the season, even though I thought they would drop points. The year was particularly difficult in every aspect. We had difficulties, but we knew we had to win regardless of changes in the lineup or financial situation. That's why this victory is more valuable. We maintained patience, dedication to football. I'm glad the players are infused with the spirit of victories. Throughout the season we had no major setbacks and maintained the pace we chose."
Ekranas forward Vitalijus Kavaliauskas:
"Unbelievable joy. It's important that we won, everything is great. Someone had to become a hero. It doesn't matter who scored, what matters is the final result, the victory. We've been wanting to become champions for years and we achieved the goal we set. It's the merit of the whole team."
Ekranas defender Aurimas Vertelis:
"We had a long season with many matches. We put in a lot of effort. I'm glad that after losing to Žalgiris, we won four tough matches and became champions. I had no doubt that we could, we just needed to concentrate and finish the job like champions."
Ekranas defender Aurimas Kučys:
"The title was determined by stability throughout the season. We fought for each other and didn't give up even when it was very tough. There was a difficult period, we lost a few players. But we maintained a winner's mindset and rightfully became champions. It's never easy to do this, but this season was particularly tough."
Ekranas goalkeeper Emilijus Zubas:
"I can't describe this feeling. I believed we would win and secure the fifth consecutive title. Kruoja created few chances, but had the opportunity to equalize the result and change everything, but we were lucky."
