Vilnius team “Žalgiris” will no longer have forward Andrius Velička, defender Rytis Leliūga, and goalkeeper Aivaras Bražinskas in the new season.
Among the Lithuanian champions, goalkeeper A. Bražinskas played the longest. The resident of Alytus arrived in the capital in 2011 from the Kaunas club “Atletas”. The 24-year-old footballer played the role of a reserve goalkeeper in the “Žalgiris” team, and in the 2012 season, he spent most of the season on loan at his hometown club “Dainava”.
R. Leliūga moved to “Žalgiris” before the start of the 2013 season, after attracting attention with a successful performance in the Latvian championship, representing the Liepaja club “Metalurgs”. The 27-year-old defender constantly competed for a place in the main lineup of “Žalgiris”, but never found a solid place in the team.
Having played 55 matches in two years, R. Leliūga scored 14 goals, the most memorable of which was in the third round of the Europa League qualification match in Poznan. The defender's accurate shot into the goal of the “Lech” club helped “Žalgiris” eliminate a strong opponent and advance to the "Play-off" stage of the tournament.
A. Velička joined “Žalgiris” in the summer of 2013, returning to his homeland from Baku AZAL club in Azerbaijan. The 35-year-old forward spent a season and a half in the national capital team, playing 48 matches and scoring 11 goals.
This year, A. Velička, who won his second championship title with “Žalgiris”, became the player with the most A Lyga gold medals in his trophy collection. With his 11th gold medal, A. Velička surpassed the previous record holder Tomas Kančelskis.
Vilnius team “Žalgiris” thanks the players who represented the club for their contributions to the victories and wishes them success in the future.
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