# 2018–19 Slovak First Football League

The 2018–19 Slovak First Football League (known as the Fortuna Liga for sponsorship reasons) was the 26th season of first-tier football league in Slovakia since its establishment in 1993.
Spartak Trnava were the defending champions after winning their first Slovak title in the previous season. Slovan Bratislava won their first title since 2014 and their record-extending ninth Slovak league title overall.

## Teams

12 teams competed in the league – the top 11 sides from the 2017–18 season and one promoted team from the 2. liga. The promoted team was Sereď. They replaced Tatran Prešov.
* FC Spartak Trnava
* ŠK Slovan Bratislava
* FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda
* MŠK Žilina
* AS Trenčín
* MFK Ružomberok
* FC Nitra
* MFK Zemplín Michalovce
* ŽP Šport Podbrezová
* FC ViOn Zlaté Moravce
* FK Senica
* ŠKF iClinic Sereď

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Home city | Stadium | Capacity | 2017–18 season |
| AS Trenčín | Trenčín | Stadium Myjava | 2,709 | 5th in Fortuna Liga |
| DAC Dunajská Streda | Dunajská Streda | MOL Aréna | 12,700 | 3rd in Fortuna Liga |
| FK Železiarne Podbrezová | Podbrezová | ZELPO Aréna | 4,061 | 9th in Fortuna Liga |
| FK Senica | Senica | OMS Arena | 5,070 | 11th in Fortuna Liga |
| Michalovce | Michalovce | Mestský futbalový štadión | 4,440 | 8th in Fortuna Liga |
| MFK Ružomberok | Ružomberok | Štadión pod Čebraťom | 4,817 | 6th in Fortuna Liga |
| FC Nitra | Nitra | Štadión pod Zoborom | 7,480 | 7th in Fortuna Liga |
| ŠKF Sereď | Sereď | Štadión pod Zoborom | 7,480 | 2. Liga Champion |
| MŠK Žilina | Žilina | Štadión pod Dubňom | 11,258 | 4th in Fortuna Liga |
| Slovan Bratislava | Bratislava | Tehelné pole | 22,500 | 2nd in Fortuna Liga |
| Spartak Trnava | Trnava | Anton Malatinský Stadium | 19,200 | Champions |
| ViOn Zlaté Moravce | Zlaté Moravce | FC ViOn Stadium | 4,000 | 10th in Fortuna Liga |
| AS Trenčín | Dunajská Streda | Podbrezová | Michalovce |
| Stadium Myjava | MOL Aréna UEFA | ZELPO Aréna | Mestský futbalový štadión |
| Capacity: 2,709 | Capacity: 12,700 | Capacity: 4,061 | Capacity: 4,440 |
| FK Senica | MFK Ružomberok | MŠK Žilina | Slovan Bratislava |
| OMS Arena UEFA | Štadión pod Čebraťom | Štadión pod Dubňom UEFA | Tehelné pole UEFA |
| Capacity: 4,500 | Capacity: 4,817 | Capacity: 11,258 | Capacity: 22,500 |
| Spartak Trnava | ŠKF Sereď | ViOn Zlaté Moravce | FC Nitra |
| Anton Malatinský Stadium UEFA | Štadión pod Zoborom UEFA | Štadión FC ViOn | Štadión pod Zoborom UEFA |
| Capacity: 19,200 | Capacity: 7,480 | Capacity: 4,000 | Capacity: 7,480 |

## Personnel and kits

| Team | President | Manager | Captain | Kitmaker | Shirt sponsor |
| AS Trenčín | Jozef Liptovský | Ivan Galád | Peter Kleščík | Adidas | ORION Tip |
| DAC Dunajská Streda | Oszkár Világi | Peter Hyballa | Tomáš Huk | macron | Kukkonia |
| FK Železiarne Podbrezová | Július Kriváň | Vladimír Veselý | Miroslav Viazanko | Adidas | Železiarne Podbrezová |
| FK Senica | Vladimír Levársky | Ricardo Chéu | Erik Otrísal | hummel | - |
| MFK Ružomberok | Milan Fiľo | David Holoubek | Dominik Kružliak | Adidas | MAESTRO |
| MŠK Žilina | Jozef Antošík | Jaroslav Kentoš | Michal Škvarka | Nike | Preto |
| Slovan Bratislava | Ivan Kmotrík | Martin Ševela | Vasil Bozhikov | Adidas | grafobal |
| FC Nitra | Jozef Petráni | Michal Kuruc | Miloš Šimončič | Jako | - |
| Spartak Trnava | Dušan Keketi | Michal Ščasný | Erik Grendel | Adidas | PN Invest |
| ViOn Zlaté Moravce | Karol Škula | Karol Praženica | Martin Chren | Erreà | ViOn |
| MFK Michalovce | Ján Sabol | Anton Šoltis | Igor Žofčák | Adidas | ISDB, St. Nicolaus |
| ŠKF Sereď | Róbert Stareček | Karel Stromšík | Martin Mečiar | Nike | iClinic |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Spartak Trnava | Nestor El Maestro | End of contract | 21 May 2018 | Pre-season | Radoslav Látal | 8 June 2018 |
| MŠK Žilina | Adrián Guľa | Signed with Slovakia U21 | 28 May 2018 | Pre-season | Jaroslav Kentoš | 28 May 2018 |
| MFK Ružomberok | Norbert Hrnčár | End of contract | 28 May 2018 | Pre-season | David Holoubek | 4 June 2018 |
| AS Trenčín | Vladimír Cifranič | Become assistant | 2 June 2018 | Pre-season | Ricardo Moniz | 2 June 2018 |
| Dunajská Streda | Marco Rossi | Signed with Hungary | 20 June 2018 | Pre-season | Peter Hyballa | 16 July 2018 |
| FK Senica | Ton Caanen | Become general manager | 3 August 2018 | 10 | Frederico Ricardo | 3 August 2018 |
| ŠKF Sereď | Michal Gašparík | Sacked | 4 September 2018 | 8 | Karel Stromšík | 4 September 2018 |
| AS Trenčín | Ricardo Moniz | Resigned | 28 October 2018 | 6 | Vladimír Cifranič (carateker) | 28 October 2018 |
| FC ViOn Zlaté Moravce | Juraj Jarábek | Resigned | 5 November 2018 | 12 | Branislav Mráz (carateker) | 5 November 2018 |
| FK Železiarne Podbrezová | Marek Fabuľa | Sacked | 27 November 2018 | 11 | Gergely Geri (carateker) | 27 November 2018 |
| FC Spartak Trnava | Radoslav Látal | Resigned | 13 December 2018 | 8 | Michal Ščasný | 22 December 2018 |
| FC ViOn Zlaté Moravce | Branislav Mráz | End of interim spell | 13 December 2018 | 12 | Karol Praženica | 13 December 2018 |
| FK Železiarne Podbrezová | Gergely Geri | End of interim spell | 4 January 2019 | 10 | Vladimír Veselý | 4 January 2019 |
| FK Senica | Frederico Ricardo | Released | 9 January 2019 | 11 | Ricardo Chéu | 9 January 2019 |
| FC Nitra | Ivan Galád | Released | 13 March 2019 | 8 | Michal Kuruc | 13 March 2019 |
| AS Trenčín | Vladimír Cifranič | End by own request | 20 March 2019 | 9 | Matthias Kohler | 20 March 2019 |
| AS Trenčín | Matthias Kohler | Released | 7 May 2019 | 11 | Ivan Galád | 7 May 2019 |

## Regular stage
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Slovan Bratislava | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 53 | 18 | +35 | 58 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 2 | Žilina | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 39 | 23 | +16 | 44 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 3 | DAC Dunajská Streda | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 42 | 27 | +15 | 44 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 4 | Ružomberok | 22 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 34 | 20 | +14 | 36 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 5 | Zemplín Michalovce | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 29 | 33 | −4 | 32 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 6 | Sereď | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 27 | 29 | −2 | 31 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 7 | Nitra | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 27 | 30 | −3 | 26 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 8 | Spartak Trnava | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 25 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 9 | Trenčín | 22 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 30 | 40 | −10 | 22 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 10 | Železiarne Podbrezová | 22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 22 | 35 | −13 | 21 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 11 | Senica | 22 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 20 | 43 | −23 | 15 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 12 | ViOn Zlaté Moravce | 22 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 19 | 44 | −25 | 14 | Qualification for the relegation group |

### Results

Each team plays home-and-away against every other team in the league, for a total of 22 matches played each.
| Home \ Away | DAC | NIT | POD | RUŽ | SEN | SER | SLO | TRV | TRČ | ZTM | ZPM | ŽIL |
| DAC Dunajská Streda | — | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 0–0 |
| Nitra | 2–3 | — | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 |
| Podbrezová | 1–2 | 3–2 | — | 0–1 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| Ružomberok | 0–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | — | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 |
| Senica | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–4 | 0–1 |
| Sereď | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Slovan Bratislava | 3–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | — | 2–0 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 6–0 | 5–2 |
| Spartak Trnava | 3–1 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | — | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 |
| Trenčín | 3–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 3–0 | 5–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 |
| ViOn Zlaté Moravce | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 3–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Zemplín Michalovce | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 3–0 | — | 0–1 |
| Žilina | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 2–2 | — |

## Championship group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SLO | DAC | RUŽ | ŽIL | ZMI | SER |
| 1 | Slovan Bratislava (C) | 32 | 25 | 5 | 2 | 84 | 33 | +51 | 80 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round | — | 3–1 | 3–2 | 6–2 | 4–1 | 3–1 |
| 2 | DAC Dunajská Streda | 32 | 19 | 6 | 7 | 63 | 37 | +26 | 63 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 3–4 |
| 3 | Ružomberok | 32 | 15 | 11 | 6 | 50 | 31 | +19 | 56 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round | 3–2 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| 4 | Žilina | 32 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 56 | 44 | +12 | 54 | | 0–3 | 1–2 | 4–2 | — | 4–0 | 1–2 |
| 5 | Zemplín Michalovce | 32 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 39 | 58 | −19 | 40 | | 3–3 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | — | 2–0 |
| 6 | Sereď | 32 | 11 | 5 | 16 | 39 | 54 | −15 | 38 | | 1–4 | 0–5 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | — |

## Relegation group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | TRN | SEN | NIT | ZLM | TRE | POD |
| 7 | Spartak Trnava (Q) | 32 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 38 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 |
| 8 | Senica | 32 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 42 | 53 | −11 | 37 | | 2–0 | — | 4–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 |
| 9 | Nitra | 32 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 42 | 48 | −6 | 34 | | 0–1 | 2–3 | — | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 |
| 10 | ViOn Zlaté Moravce | 32 | 10 | 4 | 18 | 33 | 55 | −22 | 34 | | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| 11 | Trenčín (O) | 32 | 8 | 7 | 17 | 41 | 56 | −15 | 31 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–4 | 1–0 | — | 4–0 |
| 12 | Železiarne Podbrezová (R) | 32 | 7 | 8 | 17 | 28 | 48 | −20 | 29 | Relegation to the 2. Liga | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | — |
* ↑ Spartak Trnava qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2018-19 Slovak Cup

## Europa League play-offs

Should one of the top 3 teams have won the 2018–19 Slovak Cup, Europa League qualification playoffs would have been held among the 4th, 5th, 6th team in the championship group and the top team of the relegation round. The 4th team played the top team of the relegation group and the 5th played the 6th in the semifinals. Winners of the semifinals would play the final to determine the Europa League qualification spot. Europa League qualification playoff games would be one-leg and played at the home pitch of the higher-ranked team. The winners would qualify for the first qualifying round of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League. On 1 May 2019, Spartak Trnava, who didn't qualify for the championship group, won the cup, thus eliminating the need of playoffs.

## Relegation play-offs

Team placed 11th in the relegation match faced 2nd team from 2. Liga 2018–19 for one spot in the next season.
All times are CEST (UTC+2).

### Second leg

4–3 on aggregate.

## Season statistics
### Top goalscorers

    As of 25 May 2019
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Andraž Šporar | ŠK Slovan | 29 |
| 2 | Róbert Boženík | Žilina | 13 |
| 3 | Moha | Slovan | 12 |
| 3 | Hamza Čataković | AS Trenčín | 12 |
| 5 | Kristopher Vida | DAC D.Streda | 11 |
| 6 | Vakoun Issouf Bayo | DAC D.Streda | 10 |
| 6 | Tomáš Vestenický | Nitra | 10 |
| 8 | Izzy Tandir | Ružomberok | 9 |
| 8 | Michal Škvarka | Žilina | 9 |
| 8 | Kubilay Yilmaz | Trnava | 9 |
| 8 | Tomáš Ďubek | Z.Moravce | 9 |
| 8 | Kristi Qose | Ružomberok | 9 |
| 8 | Joey Sleegers $^a$ | Trenčín | 9 |
$^a$ Included 1 play-off goal

### Hat-tricks

| Round | Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| 7 | Tomáš Vestenický | FC Nitra | ViOn Zlaté Moravce | 4–1 | 1 September 2018 |
| 18 | Andrej Fábry | FC Nitra | ViOn Zlaté Moravce | 0–3 | 8 December 2018 |
| 8.CH | Andraž Šporar | Slovan | Žilina | 6–2 | 11 May 2019 |

### Clean sheets

    As of 25 May 2019
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Matúš Macík | Ružomberok | 13 |
| 2 | Martin Jedlička | D.Streda | 12 |
| 3 | Dominik Holec | Žilina | 9 |
| 3 | Dominik Greif | Slovan | 9 |
| 5 | Matúš Kira | Michalovce | 8 |
| 6 | Federico Taborda | Senica | 7 |
| 7 | Igor Šemrinec | Trenčín | 5 |
| 8 | Lukáš Hroššo | Nitra | 4 |
| 8 | Pavol Penksa | Sereď | 4 |
| 8 | Dobrivoj Rusov | Trnava | 4 |
| 8 | Martin Vantruba | Podbrezová | 4 |
| 8 | Adrián Chovan | Z.Moravce | 4 |

### Discipline

    As of 25 May 2019

#### Player

* Most yellow cards: 13
** Ľubomír Michalík (Sereď)
* Most red cards: 2
** Macdonald Ngwa Niba (Nitra)
** Yani Urdinov (Ruzomberok)
** Ivan Diaz (Žilina)
** Erik Grendel (Trnava)

#### Club

* Most yellow cards: 87
** ŠKF Sereď
* Most red cards: 5
** AS Trenčín

## Awards
### Player of the Month

| Month | Player | Club |
| July/August | Erik Pačinda | Dunajská Streda |
| September | Tomáš Vestenický | FC Nitra |
| October | Róbert Boženík | MŠK Žilina |
| November/December | Andraž Šporar | Slovan Bratislava |
| February/March | Matúš Kira | Michalovce |
| April | Martin Jedlička | Dunajská Streda |
| May | Andraž Šporar | Slovan Bratislava |

### Top Eleven

Source:
* Goalkeeper: Dominik Greif (ŠK Slovan)
* Defence: Erick Davis (DAC D.Streda), Kristián Koštrna (DAC D.Streda), Dominik Kružliak (Ružomberok), Vasil Bozhikov (ŠK Slovan)
* Midfield: Miroslav Káčer (Žilina), Marin Ljubičić (DAC D.Streda/Slovan), Zsolt Kalmár (DAC D.Streda), Aleksandar Čavrić (ŠK Slovan), Moha (ŠK Slovan)
* Attack: Andraž Šporar (ŠK Slovan)

### Top Eleven U-21

Source:
* Goalkeeper: Dominik Greif (ŠK Slovan)
* Defence: Lazarus Rota (Michalovce), Dominik Kružliak (Ružomberok), Matej Oravec (Trnava/Podbrezová), Branislav Sluka (MŠK Žilina)
* Midfield: Tihomir Kostadinov (Ružomberok), Miroslav Káčer (MŠK Žilina), Máté Vida (DAC D.Streda), Christián Herc (DAC D.Streda)
* Attack: Tomáš Vestenický (Nitra), Róbert Boženík (MŠK Žilina)

### Individual awards

Manager of the season
Martin Ševela (ŠK Slovan)
Player of the Year
Andraž Šporar (ŠK Slovan)
Young player of the Year
Róbert Boženík (MŠK Žilina)