# 2020–21 Slovak First Football League

The 2020–21 Slovak First Football League (known as the Slovak Fortuna liga for sponsorship reasons) was the 28th season of first-tier football league in Slovakia since its establishment in 1993.
Slovan Bratislava were the defending champions for the second successive year, after picking up the domestic double in the previous season. Slovan successfully defended their title, winning their third consecutive title and record-extending 11th Slovak title overall.
In this season, teams were allowed to make five substitutions during matches in a maximum of three stoppages in play for one team.

## Teams

Twelve teams competed in the league – all sides from the previous season.

### Stadiums and locations

| AS Trenčín | FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda | FK Pohronie | MFK Zemplín Michalovce |
| Štadión Sihoť UEFA | MOL Aréna UEFA | Mestský štadión UEFA | Mestský futbalový štadión UEFA |
| Capacity: 4,200 (10,000 planned) | Capacity: 12,700 | Capacity: 2,309 | Capacity: 4,440 |
| FK Senica | MFK Ružomberok | MŠK Žilina | ŠK Slovan Bratislava |
| OMS Arena UEFA | Štadión pod Čebraťom | Štadión pod Dubňom UEFA | Tehelné pole UEFA |
| Capacity: 5,070 | Capacity: 4,817 | Capacity: 11,253 | Capacity: 22,500 |
| FC Spartak Trnava | ŠKF Sereď | FC ViOn Zlaté Moravce | FC Nitra |
| ŠAM - City Arena UEFA | Štadión FC ViOn UEFA | Štadión FC ViOn UEFA | Štadión pod Zoborom UEFA |
| Capacity: 19,200 | Capacity: 4,000 | Capacity: 4,000 | Capacity: 7,480 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | President | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| DAC Dunajská Streda | Oszkár Világi | Antal Németh (carateker) | Zsolt Kalmár | macron | Kukkonia |
| Nitra | Ladislav Palaky | Michal Ščasný | Erik Jendrišek | Adidas | |
| Pohronie | Jozef Urblík | Jan Kameník | Petr Pavlík | Erreà | REMESLO |
| Ružomberok | Milan Fiľo | Ján Haspra | Ján Maslo | Adidas | MAESTRO |
| Senica | Oldřich Duda | Karol Praženica | Juraj Piroska | hummel | KOMPLEXX GROUP SK |
| Sereď | Róbert Stareček | Gergely Geri | Ľubomír Michalík | Nike | |
| Slovan Bratislava | Ivan Kmotrík | Vladimír Weiss | Vasil Bozhikov | Adidas | Niké |
| Spartak Trnava | Milan Cuninka | Michal Gašparík | Dobrivoj Rusov | Adidas | |
| Trenčín | Jozef Liptovský | Juraj Ančic (carateker) | Aschraf El Mahdioui | macron | ORION Tip |
| Zemplín Michalovce | Ján Sabol | Anton Šoltis | Igor Žofčák | Adidas | ISDB, St. Nicolaus |
| Zlaté Moravce | Karol Škula | Ľuboš Benkovský | Tomáš Ďubek | Erreà | ViOn |
| Žilina | Jozef Antošík | Pavol Staňo | Jakub Paur | Nike | Preto |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Senica | Patrik Durkáč | End of a contract | 14 July 2020 | Pre-season | Anton Šoltis | 14 July 2020 |
| Trenčín | Juraj Ančic | End of interim spell | 17 July 2020 | Pre-season | Stijn Vreven | 17 July 2020 |
| Slovan Bratislava | Ján Kozák | Released | 4 September 2020 | 3 | Darko Milanič | 7 September 2020 |
| Spartak Trnava | Marián Šarmír | Released | 14 September 2020 | 6 | Norbert Hrnčár | 14 September 2020 |
| Pohronie | Mikuláš Radványi | Released | 9 October 2020 | 12 | Jan Kameník | 12 October 2020 |
| Nitra | Gergely Geri | Own request | 30 November 2020 | 7 | Ivan Galád (interim) | 1 December 2020 |
| Sereď | Peter Lérant | End of a contract | 15 December 2020 | 7 | František Šturma | 29 December 2020 |
| Spartak Trnava | Norbert Hrnčár | Released | 31 December 2020 | 5 | Michal Gašparík | 1 January 2021 |
| Nitra | Ivan Galád | End of interim spell | 3 January 2021 | 8 | Michal Ščasný | 3 January 2021 |
| Nitra | Michal Ščasný | Released | 22 January 2021 | 8 | Peter Lérant | 22 January 2021 |
| Senica | Anton Šoltis | Released | 20 February 2021 | 12 | Karol Praženica | 23 February 2021 |
| Sereď | František Šturma | Health and family reasons | 16 February 2021 | 9 | Ján Blaháč (interim) | 16 February 2021 |
| Sereď | Ján Blaháč | Interim | 8 March 2021 | 10 | Gergely Geri | 8 March 2021 |
| Nitra | Peter Lérant | Released | 25 March 2021 | 11 | Michal Ščasný | 26 March 2021 |
| Michalovce | Jozef Majoroš | Released | 13 April 2021 | 11 | Anton Šoltis | 13 April 2021 |
| Dunajská Streda | Bernd Storck | Released | 21 April 2021 | 2 | Antal Németh (interim) | 21 April 2021 |
| Trenčín | Stijn Vreven | Released | 27 April 2021 | 6 | Juraj Ančic (interim) | 27 April 2021 |
| Slovan Bratislava | Darko Milanič | Released | 10 May 2021 | 1 | Vladimír Weiss | 12 May 2021 |

## Regular stage
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Slovan Bratislava | 22 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 54 | 12 | +42 | 54 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 2 | DAC Dunajská Streda | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 48 | 28 | +20 | 44 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 3 | Žilina | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 49 | 33 | +16 | 37 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 4 | Spartak Trnava | 22 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 32 | 29 | +3 | 35 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 5 | Zlaté Moravce | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 38 | 29 | +9 | 33 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 6 | Trenčín | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 30 | 38 | −8 | 28 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 7 | Ružomberok | 22 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 31 | 37 | −6 | 23 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 8 | Nitra | 22 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 21 | 38 | −17 | 22 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 9 | Zemplín Michalovce | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 22 | 42 | −20 | 22 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 10 | Sereď | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 22 | 39 | −17 | 22 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 11 | Senica | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 23 | 40 | −17 | 21 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 12 | Pohronie | 22 | 3 | 11 | 8 | 27 | 32 | −5 | 20 | 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 each.
| Home \ Away | DAC | NIT | POH | RUŽ | SEN | SER | SLO | TRN | TRE | ZMI | ZLM | ŽIL |
| DAC Dunajská Streda | | 6–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 6–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 |
| Nitra | 0–1 | | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–5 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 |
| Pohronie | 1–2 | 3–1 | | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 |
| Ružomberok | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Senica | 2–4 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | | 2–2 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–4 |
| Sereď | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 4–0 | | 0–5 | 2–6 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 |
| Slovan Bratislava | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 |
| Spartak Trnava | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–3 | | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Trenčín | 3–3 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–4 |
| Zemplín Michalovce | 2–4 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 4–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Zlaté Moravce | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–4 | 5–0 | 0–0 | | 4–0 |
| Žilina | 4–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 6–2 | 4–1 | |

## Championship group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SLO | DAC | TRN | ŽIL | ZLM | TRE |
| 1 | Slovan Bratislava (C) | 32 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 78 | 28 | +50 | 71 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round | — | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 |
| 2 | DAC Dunajská Streda | 32 | 19 | 8 | 5 | 66 | 38 | +28 | 65 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round | 2–2 | — | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Spartak Trnava | 32 | 17 | 4 | 11 | 48 | 37 | +11 | 55 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round | 3–0 | 3–2 | — | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 |
| 4 | Žilina | 32 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 73 | 52 | +21 | 52 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs | 2–3 | 3–3 | 2–1 | — | 5–1 | 5–3 |
| 5 | Zlaté Moravce | 32 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 42 | 51 | −9 | 40 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 |
| 6 | Trenčín | 32 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 42 | 61 | −19 | 32 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs | 2–6 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 3–0 | — |

## Relegation group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | SER | RUŽ | POH | ZMI | SEN | NIT |
| 7 | Sereď | 32 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 37 | 48 | −11 | 41 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs | — | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 |
| 8 | Ružomberok | 32 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 41 | 44 | −3 | 39 | | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| 9 | Pohronie | 32 | 8 | 14 | 10 | 38 | 38 | 0 | 38 | | 1–2 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 |
| 10 | Zemplín Michalovce | 32 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 34 | 53 | −19 | 35 | | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| 11 | Senica (O) | 32 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 31 | 51 | −20 | 33 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 |
| 12 | Nitra (R) | 32 | 7 | 6 | 19 | 26 | 55 | −29 | 27 | Relegation to the 2. Liga | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 0–4 | 0–3 | — |

## Europa Conference League play-offs

Should one of the top 3 teams win the 2020–21 Slovak Cup, Europa Conference League qualification playoffs will be held among the 4th, 5th, 6th team in the championship group and the top team of the relegation round. On 19 May 2021, Slovan Bratislava, who have won the league title, also won the cup, thus confirming the need of playoffs.
The 4th team play the top team of the relegation group and the 5th play the 6th in the semifinals. Winners of the semifinals play the final to determine the Europa Conference League qualification spot. Europa Conference League qualification playoff games are one-leg and played at the home pitch of the higher-ranked team. The winners qualify for the first qualifying round of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League.

### Final
## Relegation play-offs

The team which finished 11th faced the 2nd team from 2. Liga 2020–21 for one spot in the top flight the next season.
All times are CEST (UTC+2).

### Second leg
## Position by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological progress, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for matchday 13, but then postponed and played between days 16 and 17, it will be added to the standings for day 16.
* Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
* Qualification for the Europa Conference League
* Qualification for the relegation play-offs
* Relegation to the 2. liga
| Team \ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 |
| Slovan Bratislava | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| DAC Dunajská Streda | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Spartak Trnava | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Žilina | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Zlaté Moravce | 7 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Trenčín | 6 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Sereď | 12 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
| Ružomberok | 5 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| Pohronie | 8 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Zemplín Michalovce | 9 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 |
| Senica | 10 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 |
| Nitra | 11 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
Source: Fortunaliga.sk

## Season statistics

    As of 23 May 2021

### Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Dawid Kurminowski$^1$ | Žilina | 19 |
| 2 | Eric Ramirez | DAC Dunajská Streda | 16 |
| 3 | Filip Balaj$^2$ | Zlaté Moravce | 14 |
| 3 | Rafael Ratão | Slovan Bratislava | 14 |
| 5 | Zsolt Kalmár | DAC Dunajská Streda | 13 |
| 6 | Hamza Čataković | Trenčín | 12 |
| 7 | Marko Divković | DAC Dunajská Streda | 11 |
| 7 | Martin Regáli | Ružomberok | 11 |
| 9 | Dávid Holman | Slovan Bratislava | 10 |
| 10 | Vahan Bichakhchyan$^1$ | Žilina | 9 |
| 10 | David Strelec | Slovan Bratislava | 9 |
| 10 | Bamidele Yusuf | Trnava | 9 |
$^1$ plus 1 play-off goal
$^2$ plus 2 play-off goals

### Hat-tricks

| Round | Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| 7 | Ladislav Almási | Ružomberok | Zemplín Michalovce | 4–0 (H) | 19 September 2020 |
| 10 | Filip Balaj | Zlaté Moravce | Nitra | 3–1 (H) | 17 October 2020 |
| 13 | Filip Balaj | Zlaté Moravce | Trenčín | 5–0 (H) | 7 November 2020 |
| 18 | Martin Regáli | Ružomberok | Zemplín Michalovce | 3–4 (A) | 16 December 2020 |
| CH.10 | Dawid Kurminowski | Žilina | Zlaté Moravce | 5–1 (H) | 22 May 2021 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Dominik Greif | Slovan Bratislava | 12 |
| 2 | Mathew Yakubu | Sereď | 10 |
| 2 | Martin Jedlička | DAC Dunajská Streda | 10 |
| 4 | Adrián Chovan | Zlaté Moravce | 8 |
| 5 | Dobrivoj Rusov | Spartak Trnava | 7 |
| 5 | Libor Hrdlička | Pohronie | 7 |
| 7 | Matej Marković | Zemplín Michalovce | 6 |
| 7 | Dávid Šípoš | Nitra | 6 |
| 9 | Matúš Macík | Ružomberok | 5 |
| 10 | Tomáš Fryšták | Senica | 4 |
| 10 | Olivier Vliegen | Senica | 4 |
| 10 | Samuel Petráš | Žilina | 4 |
| 10 | Ivan Krajčírik | MFK Ružomberok | 4 |
| 10 | Dominik Takáč | Trnava | 4 |

### Discipline
#### Player

* Most yellow cards: 10
** Joeri de Kamps (Slovan Bratislava)
** Martin Mikovič (Spartak Trnava)
* Most red cards: 2
** Tomáš Hučko (Sereď)
** Abdul Zubairu (Trenčín)
** Aschraf El Mahdioui (Trenčín)

#### Club

* Most yellow cards: 84
** Sereď
* Most red cards: 6
** Spartak Trnava

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month | Goal of the Month | Goal of the Month | References |
| Month | Player | Club | Player | Club | References |
| August | Zsolt Kalmár | DAC Dunajská Streda | Eric Ramírez | DAC Dunajská Streda | |
| September | Ladislav Almási | Ružomberok | Eric Ramírez | DAC Dunajská Streda | |
| October | Filip Balaj | Zlaté Moravce | Andrija Balić | DAC Dunajská Streda | |
| November | David Hrnčár | Zlaté Moravce | Kyriakos Savvidis | Spartak Trnava | |
| December | David Hrnčár | Zlaté Moravce | Erik Daniel | Slovan Bratislava | |
| February/March | Eric Ramírez | DAC Dunajská Streda | Zsolt Kalmár | DAC Dunajská Streda | |
| April | not announced | not announced | Andrija Balić | DAC Dunajska Streda | |
| May | not announced | not announced | Alex Iván | Sereď | |
    $^1$ Vote of the player of the month was united for November and December.

### Team of the Season

Team of the Season was:
* Goalkeeper: Dominik Greif (Slovan Bratislava)
* Defence: Vernon De Marco (Slovan Bratislava), Jakub Piotr Kiwior (Žilina), Vasil Bozhikov (Slovan Bratislava), César Blackman (DAC Dunajská Streda)
* Midfield: David Hrnčár (Zlaté Moravce), Joeri de Kamps (Slovan Bratislava), Zsolt Kalmár (DAC Dunajská Streda), Rafael Ratão (Slovan Bratislava)
* Attack: David Strelec (Slovan Bratislava), Eric Ramírez (DAC Dunajská Streda)

### Top Eleven U-21

Source:
* Goalkeeper: Samuel Petráš (Žilina)
* Defence: César Blackman (DAC Dunajská Streda), Jakub Piotr Kiwior (Žilina), Branislav Sluka (Žilina)
* Midfield: David Strelec (Slovan Bratislava), Saymon Cabral (Spartak Trnava), András Schäfer (DAC Dunajská Streda), Dávid Ďuriš (Žilina), Marko Divković (DAC Dunajská Streda)
* Attack: Dawid Kurminowski (Žilina), Eric Ramírez (DAC Dunajská Streda)

### Individual awards

Manager of the season
Pavol Staňo (Žilina)
Player of the Year
Zsolt Kalmár (DAC Dunajská Streda)
Young player of the Year
David Hrnčár (Zlaté Moravce)