# 2021–22 Slovak First Football League

The 2021–22 Slovak First Football League was the 29th season of the first-tier football league in Slovakia since its establishment in 1993.
Slovan Bratislava were the defending champions for the third successive year, after picking up the second consecutive domestic double in the previous season. Slovan successfully retained their league title, winning a record-breaking fourth title in a row and a record-extending 12th overall since the competition was established in 1993.

## Teams

Twelve teams competed in the league – the top ten teams from the previous season, the relegation play-offs winner, and the one team promoted from the 2. Liga, Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš, who were promoted to the top flight for the first time. Nitra (relegated after four years in the top flight) had been relegated to 3. Liga.

### Stadiums and locations

| FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda | FK Pohronie | MFK Ružomberok | FK Senica |
| MOL Aréna UEFA | Mestský futbalový štadión UEFA | Štadión pod Čebraťom | OMS Arena UEFA |
| Capacity: 12,700 | Capacity: 2,309 | Capacity: 4,817 | Capacity: 5,070 |
| ŠKF Sereď | ŠK Slovan Bratislava | FC Spartak Trnava | MFK Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš |
| ŠAM - City Arena UEFA | Tehelné pole UEFA | ŠAM - City Arena UEFA | NTC Poprad UEFA |
| Capacity: 19,200 | Capacity: 22,500 | Capacity: 19,200 | Capacity: 5,700 |
| AS Trenčín | MFK Zemplín Michalovce | FC ViOn Zlaté Moravce | MŠK Žilina |
| Štadión Sihoť UEFA | Mestský futbalový štadión UEFA | Štadión FC ViOn UEFA | Štadión pod Dubňom UEFA |
| Capacity: 4,200 (10,000 planned) | Capacity: 4,440 | Capacity: 4,006 | Capacity: 11,253 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | President | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| DAC Dunajská Streda | Oszkár Világi | João Janeiro | Zsolt Kalmár | Macron | Kukkonia |
| Pohronie | Igor Rozenberg | Peter Lérant | Patrik Blahút | Erreà | REMESLO |
| Ružomberok | Milan Fiľo | Peter Struhár | Ján Maslo | Adidas | TAURIS |
| Senica | Oldřich Duda | Libor Fašiang | Juraj Piroska | Adidas | KOMPLEXX GROUP SK |
| Sereď | Róbert Stareček | Juraj Jarábek | Ľubomír Michalík | Nike | ORION TIP |
| Slovan Bratislava | Ivan Kmotrík | Vladimír Weiss | Vasil Bozhikov | Adidas | Niké |
| Spartak Trnava | Peter Macho | Michal Gašparík | Martin Mikovič | Adidas | Tipsport |
| Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš | Milan Mikušiak | Marek Petruš | Richard Bartoš | Sportika | VEREX |
| Trenčín | Jozef Liptovský | Juraj Ančic (interim) | Jakub Kadák | Macron | Tipsport |
| Zemplín Michalovce | Ján Sabol | Norbert Hrnčár | Igor Žofčák | Adidas | ISDB, St. Nicolaus |
| Zlaté Moravce | Karol Škula | Ján Kocian | Tomáš Ďubek | Erreà | ViOn |
| Žilina | Jozef Antošík | Ivan Belák (interim) | Jakub Paur | Nike | Preto |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Pohronie | Jan Kameník | End of contract | 21 May 2021 | Pre-season | Gergely Geri | 2 June 2021 |
| Ružomberok | Ján Haspra | End of contract | 27 May 2021 | Pre-season | Peter Struhár | 30 May 2021 |
| Sereď | Gergely Geri | Signed with Pohronie | 2 June 2021 | Pre-season | Juraj Jarábek | 11 June 2021 |
| Trenčín | Juraj Ančic | End of interim spell | 2 June 2021 | Pre-season | Peter Hlinka | 2 June 2021 |
| Senica | Karol Praženica | Released | 2 June 2021 | Pre-season | Pavel Šustr | 2 June 2021 |
| Pohronie | Gergely Geri | Released | 29 August 2021 | 10 | Štefan Zaťko (interim) | 30 August 2021 |
| Pohronie | Štefan Zaťko | End of interim spell | 4 October 2021 | 12 | Pablo Villar | 4 October 2021 |
| Žilina | Pavol Staňo | Released | 4 October 2021 | 7 | Peter Černák | 4 October 2021 |
| DAC Dunajská Streda | Antal Németh | Released | 10 November 2021 | 5 | João Janeiro | 11 November 2021 |
| Trenčín | Peter Hlinka | Resigned | 5 December 2021 | 7 | Juraj Ančic | 5 December 2021 |
| Pohronie | Pablo Villar | Released | 21 December 2021 | 12 | Martin Bittengl | 4 January 2022 |
| Zemplín Michalovce | Anton Šoltis | Released | 15 March 2022 | 9 | Norbert Hrnčár | 15 March 2022 |
| Senica | Pavel Šustr | Resigned | 16 April 2022 | 8 | Libor Fašiang | 16 April 2022 |
| Pohronie | Martin Bittengl | Released | 19 April 2021 | 12 | Peter Lérant | 19 April 2022 |
| Žilina | Peter Černák | Released | 23 April 2022 | 6 | Ivan Belák (interim) | 23 April 2022 |
| Zlaté Moravce | Ľuboš Benkovský | Released | 5 May 2022 | 11 | Ján Kocian | 5 May 2022 |

## Regular stage
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Slovan Bratislava | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 52 | 16 | +36 | 53 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 2 | Spartak Trnava | 22 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 29 | 12 | +17 | 45 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 3 | Ružomberok | 22 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 39 | 17 | +22 | 41 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 4 | DAC Dunajská Streda | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 28 | 23 | +5 | 36 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 5 | Sereď | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 32 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 6 | Žilina | 22 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 34 | 33 | +1 | 30 | Qualification for the championship group |
| 7 | Senica | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 21 | 32 | −11 | 27 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 8 | Trenčín | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 32 | 33 | −1 | 25 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 9 | Zemplín Michalovce | 22 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 20 | 31 | −11 | 23 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 10 | Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 27 | 43 | −16 | 21 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 11 | Zlaté Moravce | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 22 | 36 | −14 | 19 | Qualification for the relegation group |
| 12 | Pohronie | 22 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 19 | 47 | −28 | 10 | 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 | POH | RUŽ | SEN | SER | SLO | TRN | TLM | TRE | ZMI | ZLM | ŽIL |
| DAC Dunajská Streda | | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 3–1 |
| Pohronie | 0–3 | | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–4 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| Ružomberok | 1–2 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 |
| Senica | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| Sereď | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Slovan Bratislava | 0–0 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 2–2 |
| Spartak Trnava | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 | | 4–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš | 1–0 | 5–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 0–2 | | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Trenčín | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 2–2 | | 4–2 | 4–0 | 1–3 |
| Zemplín Michalovce | 4–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Zlaté Moravce | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | | 0–1 |
| Žilina | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 4–1 | |
* ↑ The match was suspended after 15 minutes of play due to the riots of the spectators, who entered the pitch. Subsequently, the match was abandoned by the referee. On 20 October, Slovan were awarded a technical 3–0 victory by the Presidium of the Union of League Clubs, which is the governing organization for the Slovak top level football competition.

## Championship group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SLO | RUŽ | TRN | DAC | SER | ŽIL |
| 1 | Slovan Bratislava (C) | 32 | 22 | 8 | 2 | 71 | 25 | +46 | 74 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 2–2 |
| 2 | Ružomberok | 32 | 17 | 12 | 3 | 58 | 23 | +35 | 63 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 |
| 3 | Spartak Trnava | 32 | 17 | 9 | 6 | 36 | 17 | +19 | 60 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round | 0–1 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| 4 | DAC Dunajská Streda (O) | 32 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 39 | 37 | +2 | 46 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs | 2–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | — | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| 5 | Sereď (R) | 32 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 34 | 46 | −12 | 39 | Relegation | 0–3 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 |
| 6 | Žilina | 32 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 43 | 52 | −9 | 34 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs | 2–3 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | — |
* ↑ Spartak Trnava qualified for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round as the 2021–22 Slovak Cup winners.
* ↑ Sereď did not obtain a license for the next season and were automatically relegated.

## Relegation group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | TRE | TLM | ZMI | SEN | ZLM | POH |
| 7 | Trenčín | 32 | 13 | 9 | 10 | 58 | 43 | +15 | 48 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs | — | 5–2 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 4–3 | 2–0 |
| 8 | Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš | 32 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 42 | 57 | −15 | 40 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs | 0–3 | — | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| 9 | Zemplín Michalovce | 32 | 12 | 4 | 16 | 32 | 42 | −10 | 40 | | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| 10 | Senica (R) | 32 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 29 | 51 | −22 | 34 | Relegation | 0–3 | 0–3 | 2–1 | — | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| 11 | Zlaté Moravce | 32 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 33 | 50 | −17 | 30 | | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | — | 1–3 |
| 12 | Pohronie (R) | 32 | 4 | 6 | 22 | 27 | 59 | −32 | 18 | Relegation to the 2. Liga | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | — |
* ↑ Senica did not obtain a license for the next season and were automatically relegated.

## Europa Conference League play-offs

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| 4 | DAC Dunajská Streda | 4 | | | |
| 8 | Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš | 2 | | | |
| 8 | Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš | 2 | 4 | DAC Dunajská Streda | 2 |
| | | | 7 | Trenčín | 1 |
| 6 | Žilina | 0 | 7 | Trenčín | 1 |
| 7 | Trenčín | 2 | | | |

### Final
## Season statistics

    As of 27 May 2022

### Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Jakub Kadák | Trenčín | 13 |
| 2 | Philip Azango$^1$ | Trenčín | 10 |
| 2 | Martin Regáli | Ružomberok | 10 |
| 4 | Ezekiel Henty | Slovan Bratislava | 9 |
| 5 | Milan Ristovski | Spartak Trnava | 8 |
| 5 | Jaromír Zmrhal | Slovan Bratislava | 8 |
| 5 | Miloš Lačný | Pohronie | 8 |
| 8 | Elvis Mashike Sukisa | Senica | 7 |
| 8 | Vladimír Weiss | Slovan Bratislava |
| 8 | Samuel Mráz | Slovan Bratislava |
| 8 | Njegoš Kupusović$^1$ | Trenčín |
| 8 | Martin Boďa | Ružomberok |
| 8 | Nikola Krstović$^2$ | DAC Dunajská Streda |
| 8 | Tomáš Ďubek | Zlaté Moravce |
| 8 | Dragan Andrić | Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš |
$^1$ plus 1 play-off goal
$^2$ plus 2 play-off goals

### Hat-tricks

| Round | Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| 6 | Ezekiel Henty | Slovan Bratislava | Zlaté Moravce | 4–1 (H) | 29 August 2021 |
| 22 | Nikola Krstović | DAC Dunajská Streda | Žilina | 3–1 (H) | 26 February 2022 |
| 8.R | Njegoš Kupusović | Trenčín | Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš | 5–2 (H) | 30 April 2022 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Dominik Takáč | Spartak Trnava | 18 |
| 2 | Ivan Krajčírik | Ružomberok | 16 |
| 3 | Martin Jedlička | DAC Dunajská Streda | 8 |
| 3 | Adrián Chovan | Slovan Bratislava | 8 |
| 5 | Michal Kukučka | Trenčín | 7 |
| 6 | Henrich Ravas | Senica | 6 |
| 7 | Benjamín Száraz | Zemplín Michalovce | 5 |
| 8 | Michal Šulla | Slovan Bratislava | 4 |
| 8 | Dejan Iliev | Sereď (3)/Trenčín (1) |
| 8 | Matúš Kira | Zlaté Moravce |
| 8 | Andriy Kozhukhar | Zemplín Michalovce |
| 8 | Martin Chudý | Sereď |
| 8 | Dániel Veszelinov | DAC Dunajská Streda |
| 8 | Patrik Lukáč | Zlaté Moravce |

### Discipline
#### Player

* Most yellow cards: 10
** Marin Ljubičić (Sereď)
* Most red cards: 2
** Dominik Špiriak (Pohronie)

#### Club

* Most yellow cards: 71
** Sereď
* Most red cards: 4
** Senica
** Pohronie
** Sereď

## 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 |
| July/August | Jakub Kadák | Trenčín | András Schäfer | DAC Dunajská Streda | |
| September | Erik Jendrišek | Trenčín | Ľuboslav Laura | Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš | |
| October | Ján Maslo | Ružomberok | Kyriakos Savvidis | Spartak Trnava | |
| November | Martin Regáli | Ružomberok | Egy Maulana Vikri | Senica | |
| December | Lukáš Fabiš | Ružomberok | Matej Trusa | Zemplín Michalovce | |
| February | Roko Jureškin | Sereď | Roko Jureškin | Sereď | |
| March | Vladimír Weiss Jr. | Slovan Bratislava | Brahim Moumou | DAC Dunajská Streda | |
| April | Tomáš Ďubek | Zlaté Moravce | Andrejs Cigaņiks | DAC Dunajská Streda | |
| May | Nikola Krstović | DAC Dunajská Streda | Nikola Krstović | DAC Dunajská Streda | |

### Annual awards
#### Team of the Season

Team of the Season was:
* Goalkeeper: Dominik Takáč (Spartak Trnava)
* Defenders: Matej Madleňák (Ružomberok), Martin Škrtel (Spartak Trnava), Guram Kashia (Slovan Bratislava), Lukáš Fabiš (Ružomberok)
* Midfielders: Philip Azango (Trenčín), Ibrahim Rabiu (Slovan Bratislava), Jakub Kadák (Trenčín), Jaba Kankava (Slovan Bratislava), Vladimír Weiss Jr. (Slovan Bratislava)
* Forward: Martin Regáli (Ružomberok)

#### Under-21 Team of the Season

Source:
* Goalkeeper: Ivan Krajčírik (Ružomberok)
* Defenders: Alex Méndez (Zemplín Michalovce), Sebastian Kóša (Spartak Trnava), Roko Jureškin (Sereď)
* Midfielders: Alexandros Kyziridis (Zlaté Moravce), Filip Lichý (Slovan Bratislava/Ružomberok), Matúš Begala (Zemplín Michalovce), Samuel Lavrinčík (Trenčín), Jakub Kadák (Trenčín), Bamidele Yusuf (Spartak Trnava)
* Forward: Tomáš Bobček (Ružomberok)

#### Individual awards

Manager of the Season
Vladimír Weiss (Slovan Bratislava)
Player of the Season
Vladimír Weiss Jr. (Slovan Bratislava)
Young Player of the Season
Jakub Kadák (Trenčín)