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After a week and a half break, during which Lithuanian clubs registered new players and participated in European cup competitions, the battles in the A League championship are continuing. With 180 matches played so far, the 2005 season is now at the midway point, so the matches taking place on Saturday will mark the beginning of the second part of the competition.
Although usually five matches are played in one A League round, this time there will be two - as "Kaunas," preparing for the historic match against "Liverpool," and "Vilnius" have already played their match, "Žalgiris" is still participating in the Intertoto Cup tournament, and "Nevėžis" cannot play due to the occupied stadium, so only the matches between "Sūduva" - "Ekranas" and "Šilutė" - "Atlantas" will be played.
"Kaunas" focusing on Champions League
In the first half of the championship, Panevėžys's "Ekranas" performed the best, losing 9 points in 20 matches and leading by twelve more points than the six-time Lithuanian champion FBK "Kaunas," who is currently second and is not considered a favorite to win the gold medals again.
During the break, they started UEFA Cup tournament poorly, losing at home with a two-goal margin to "Cork City," and now have little hope of advancing to the next stage. The team was joined during this break by defender Tomas Kavolis, who recently left the team from Šiauliai by mutual agreement.
There were more changes - defender A. Gedgaudas left the club due to a new contract dispute, defender A. Kšanavičius and forward A. Puotkalis moved to "Atlantas," defender G. Kvaratskhelia from Georgia was released from the team, and defender D. Sanajevas will most likely not play this season due to injury.
They will be replaced by defenders M. Žaliūkas and M. Bagužis returning from "Šilutė," defender N. Mačiulis, new legionnaires defender N. Manchkava from Georgia, and forward A. Klimekas from Poland. Additionally, more reinforcements may arrive before the upcoming match against "Liverpool."
"Sūduva" and "Vėtra" quietly spent the break
Having finished the first half of the championship particularly successfully and rising to third place, Marijampolė is currently one point ahead of Vilnius's "Vėtra," but the capital's team has played fewer matches.
Despite the embarrassing defeat to "Ekranas," the club president R. Stašauskas did not make any player changes during the break, spending it quite calmly. A. Orisakwe, a 25-year-old forward from Nigeria, participated in the club's trial, but his physical condition did not meet the coaches' satisfaction, and no contract was signed with the player, so the team remains unchanged.
"Atlantas" will try to break the losing streak
Failing to achieve victory in eight consecutive matches, Klaipėda dropped to fifth place in the championship table, and has played 2-3 more matches than its table neighbors. The team is just two points behind, and six fewer than.
Recently replacing the head coach, "Atlantas" still has hopes of revenge in the return match at home after an unsuccessful first UEFA Cup match, and the team has been strengthened with two players from "Kaunas" - forward A. Puotkalis, loaned until the end of the season, and defender A. Kšanavičius. A. Veseljevas and legionnaires B. Hamdouchi and M.Piochas left Klaipėda earlier.
"Šiauliai" and "Vilnius" also chose not to make any changes to their lineups during the break. T. Kavolis left "Šiauliai" due to disagreements with the club's management and moved to "Ekranas," while "Vilnius" seems to be preparing to maintain team spirit.
Football returns to Šilutė
Occupying the eighth place in the championship with the same number of points as "Šiauliai," Vilnius has had a somewhat unstable season so far, while Kėdainiai's "Nevėžis" finds itself in a hopeless position as the absolute outsider with only three points from 18 matches.
In the second half of the A League season, "Šilutė" is in a somewhat optimistic mood - after renovating the Šilutė city stadium, "Šilutė" will be able to play matches there after a year and a half break. However, defenders M. Bagužis, M. Žaliūkas, and N. Mačiulis, who returned to Kaunas, will not be with the team anymore, but they will be replaced by K. Ivaškevičius on loan from "Kauno Jėgėriai," and young players G. Vičius, G. Podelis, and T. Jegelavičius.
"Žalgiris" has been busy with participating in the Intertoto Cup for the past couple of months, reaching the third stage, and, if rumors about possible conspiracies don't come true, they have a chance to achieve a historic result for Lithuanian football by reaching the fourth stage. There are only two players left from the ones loaned from Kaunas before the season, V. Petrenkos and M. Bezykornovo, who left the club under unclear circumstances.
Almost having no hopes of achieving anything in the A League this season, seems to have accepted their situation and does not try to strengthen in any way. Perhaps the only optimism for the fans of the Kėdainiai team is that the team's game has improved, and they are no longer losing so hopelessly. However, if a miracle does not happen, Nevėžis is likely to remain the absolute outsider in the second half of the season.
