2008 A Lyga
The Lithuanian A Lyga 2008 was the 19th season of top-tier football in Lithuania. The season started on 29 March 2008 and ended on 16 November 2008.
The league had to reduce the number of its teams from ten to nine prior to this season due to lacking of team able to earn promotion (see below). Shortly before the start of the season, Vilnius withdrew from participating in the league because of unknown reasons, leaving the league with 8 competing teams.
Clubs
| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantas | Klaipėda | Žalgiris Stadium | 5,000 |
| Ekranas | Panevėžys | Aukštaitija Stadium | 9,940 |
| FBK Kaunas | Kaunas | S.Dariaus ir S.Girėno Stadium | 8,500 |
| Sūduva | Marijampolė | Sūduva Stadium | 4,000 |
| Šiauliai | Šiauliai | Savivaldybė Stadium | 2,430 |
| Šilutė | Šilutė | Šilutė Stadium | 3,000 |
| Vėtra | Vilnius | Vėtra Stadium | 5,900 |
| Žalgiris | Vilnius | Žalgiris Stadium | 15,030 |
Promotion and relegation
Interas-AE Visaginas were relegated to the Lithuanian First League after finishing the 2007 season in last place with only 8 points. Šilutė were originally scheduled to play the 2nd placed team of the First League, Rodiklis Kaunas, in a relegation play-off, but Rodiklis declined promotion due to lacking financial capabilities.
First League champions Alytis Alytus also had to forfeit their place in this year's league because their ground was not suitable for top-tier football, so no team was promoted.
Standings
| Pos |
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts | Qualification or relegation | Head-to-head |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ekranas (C) | 28 | 20 | 5 | 3 | 46 | 12 | +34 | 65 | 2009–10 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round | |
| 2 | FBK Kaunas | 28 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 51 | 17 | +34 | 55 | 2009–10 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round | |
| 3 | Vėtra | 28 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 33 | 24 | +9 | 48 | 2009–10 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round | VET: 7 pts, 5–3 SUD: 4 pts, 3–5 |
| 4 | Sūduva | 28 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 35 | 25 | +10 | 48 | 2009–10 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round 1 | |
| 5 | Žalgiris | 28 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 27 | 41 | −14 | 28 | ŽAL: 5 pts, 7–6 ATL: 5 pts, 6–7 | |
| 6 | Atlantas | 28 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 31 | 44 | −13 | 28 | ||
| 7 | Šiauliai | 28 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 24 | 41 | −17 | 24 | ||
| 8 | Šilutė (R) | 28 | 3 | 4 | 21 | 19 | 62 | −43 | 13 | Relegation to 2009 1 Lyga |
Source: www2.omnitel.net
Rules for classification:
1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored
1Sūduva won the Lithuanian Football Cup 2008–09 and thereby qualified for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Head-to-Head: used when head-to-head record is used to rank tied teams.
Results
Every team played each other four times, twice at home and twice on the road, for a total of 28 games.
First half of season
Source: www2.omnitel.net |
Second half of season
Source: www2.omnitel.net 2The game from Round 25 was awarded to Atlantas with a score of 3–0 because Žalgiris did not field a team for the match. |