The 2023 A Lyga, for sponsorship reasons also called Optibet A lyga was the 34th season of the A Lyga, the top-tier football league of Lithuania. The season began on 3 March 2023 and concluded on 12 November 2023.
The winners (Panevėžys) qualified for the 2024–25 Champions League first qualifying round. The runners-up (Žalgiris) and third-placed team (Šiauliai) qualified for the 2024–25 Conference League first qualifying round. The ninth-placed team (Džiugas) qualified for the A Lyga play-off, winning to retain their place in the league. The bottom-placed team (Riteriai) were relegated to the 2024 LFF I Lyga.
Teams The league consisted of ten teams, nine of which remained from the previous season. Žalgiris entered the season as defending champions. Jonava were relegated and replaced by Dainava, returning after one year's absence. Ninth-placed Džiugas remained in A Lyga after winning the playoff against I Lyga's Neptūnas.
+2023 A Lyga competitors Club Location Stadium Surface Seasons in A Lyga Position in 2022 Gargždai Gargždai Stadium Artificial 2,323 10 Alytus Alytus Stadium Natural 3,726 12 Marijampolė Marijampolė Football Indoor Arena Artificial 2,660 Telšiai Telšiai Central Stadium Natural 2,320 3 Ateitis Progymnasium Stadium Artificial 300 Kaunas LFF Kaunas Training Center Stadium Artificial 500 3 Kaunas Darius and Girėnas Stadium Hybrid 15,315 9 Akademija VDU Stadium Artificial 1,000 Panevėžys Aukštaitija Stadium Natural 6,600 5 Žemyna Progymnasium Stadium Artificial 620 Vilnius LFF Stadium Artificial 5,067 10 Sportima Arena Artificial 3,157 Marijampolė Marijampolė Football Arena Natural 6,250 21 Marijampolė Football Indoor Arena Artificial 2,660 Šiauliai Savivaldybė Stadium Natural 4,000 2 Gytariai Stadium Artificial 500 Vilnius LFF Stadium Artificial 5,067 22 Sportima Arena Artificial 3,157
Managers Current Managers Team Coach Appointed Licence FK Banga David Afonso UEFA Pro DFK Dainava Syarhey Kuznyatsow UEFA A FC Džiugas João Prates UEFA Pro FC Hegelmann Andrius Skerla UEFA Pro FK Kauno Žalgiris Nerijus Mačiulis (caretaker) FK Panevėžys Gino Lettieri UEFA Pro FK Riteriai Matthew Silva UEFA Pro FK Sūduva Dovydas Lastauskas FA Šiauliai Mindaugas Čepas UEFA Pro FK Žalgiris Vladimir Cheburin UEFA Pro
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming manager Date of appointment Matthew Silva End of caretaker spell 30 November 2022 Dovydas Lastauskas 1 February 2023 Pablo Villar Sacked 24 March 2023 Vladimir Janković 1 April 2023 Rokas Garastas 1 May 2023 Marius Stankevičius 1 May 2023 Vladimir Janković 22 July 2023 Matthew Silva 26 July 2023 Marius Stankevičius 5 October 2023 Nerijus Mačiulis (caretaker) 5 October 2023
Regular season
League table
Fixtures and results
A Lyga play-off The ninth-placed club (Džiugas) faced the second-placed club from the 2023 LFF I Lyga (Be1 NFA) for the final place in the following season's A Lyga.
First leg
Second leg
Season statistics Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Mathias OyewusiŽalgiris192 Filip DangubićHegelmann183 Eligijus JankauskasFA Šiauliai14 Ariagner SmithPanevėžys5 Edvinas GirdvainisKauno Žalgiris106 Daniel RomanovskijFA Šiauliai9 Gratas SirgėdasKauno Žalgiris8 Patrick PopescuHegelmann89 Xabi AuzmendiKauno Žalgiris7 Florian DavidKauno Žalgiris Oleksiy ShchebetunFA Šiauliai Pijus ŠirvysPanevėžys
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Ref. HegelmannBanga Gargždai5–0 (H) HegelmannSūduva6–0 (H) ŽalgirisKauno Žalgiris2–5 (A) Kauno ŽalgirisBanga Gargždai3–1 (H)
Discipline
Red cards
Attendances
See also Football in Lithuania
References
External links