# 2011 A Lyga

The 2011 A Lyga was the 22nd season of the A Lyga, the top-tier football league of Lithuania. The season began on 12 March 2011 and ended on 6 November 2011. Ekranas were the defending champions, having won their third consecutive title at the end of the 2010 season.

## Teams

The league will see a change in the number of teams once again as twelve teams were granted a licence for 2011, one more than in the 2010 season.
FK Vėtra were expelled over financial troubles after 16 matches of the 2010 season; their records were annulled and the team was subsequently disbanded. From the remaining ten clubs, Atletas Kaunas, who finished in last place at the end of the season, were the only team not to apply for a 2011 top-level licence. Atletas therefore played at the second level in 2011.
Three new teams were admitted to the league, unbeaten 2010 I Lyga champions FBK Kaunas, seventh-placed team Atlantas Klaipėda and Dainava Alytus, a merger between I Lyga runners-up Alytis Alytus and third-placed city rivals Vidzgiris. FBK Kaunas and Atlantas made their return after two seasons in the lower divisions of the Lithuanian league system, while Dainava had their debut in the A Lyga, as neither of its predecessor clubs played at the Lithuanian top level in its history.
| Club | Location | Stadium | 2010 season |
| Atlantas | Klaipėda | Žalgiris Stadium (Klaipėda) | I Lyga, 7th |
| Banga | Gargždai | Gargždai Stadium | A Lyga, 6th |
| Dainava | Alytus | | I Lyga, 2nd/3rd |
| Ekranas | Panevėžys | Aukštaitija Stadium | A Lyga, 1st |
| FBK Kaunas | Kaunas | S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium | I Lyga, 1st |
| FC Klaipėda | Klaipėda | Žalgiris Stadium (Klaipėda) | A Lyga, 8th |
| Kruoja | Pakruojis | Pakruojis Stadium | A Lyga, 7th |
| Mažeikiai | Mažeikiai | Sports Centre Stadium | A Lyga, 9th |
| Sūduva | Marijampolė | Sūduva Stadium | A Lyga, 2nd |
| Šiauliai | Šiauliai | Savivaldybė Stadium | A Lyga, 5th |
| Tauras | Tauragė | Vytauto Stadium | A Lyga, 4th |
| Žalgiris | Vilnius | Žalgiris Stadium | A Lyga, 3rd |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Ekranas (C) | 33 | 24 | 8 | 1 | 68 | 14 | +54 | 80 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Žalgiris | 33 | 22 | 6 | 5 | 56 | 17 | +39 | 72 | Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Sūduva | 33 | 19 | 8 | 6 | 70 | 19 | +51 | 65 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Šiauliai | 33 | 16 | 11 | 6 | 45 | 30 | +15 | 59 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Kruoja | 33 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 43 | 34 | +9 | 49 | |
| 6 | Banga | 33 | 13 | 7 | 13 | 51 | 37 | +14 | 46 | |
| 7 | Tauras | 33 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 50 | 38 | +12 | 45 | |
| 8 | Dainava | 33 | 13 | 6 | 14 | 53 | 54 | −1 | 45 | |
| 9 | Mažeikiai (R) | 33 | 9 | 9 | 15 | 36 | 54 | −18 | 36 | Relegation to Lower leagues |
| 10 | FBK Kaunas (R) | 33 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 41 | 53 | −12 | 26 | Relegation to I Lyga |
| 11 | Atlantas | 33 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 28 | 121 | −93 | 11 | |
| 12 | Klaipėda (R) | 33 | 2 | 3 | 28 | 19 | 89 | −70 | 9 | Relegation to Lower leagues |
* 1 2 The winners of the 2011–12 Lithuanian Football Cup competition, Žalgiris Vilnius, qualified for the second qualifying round of UEFA Europa League. As they finished second, the fourth-placed team of the league also qualified for the Europa League.
* 1 2 TAU: 7 pts; DAI: 1 pt
* 1 2 3 FK Mažeikiai, FBK Kaunas and FC Klaipėda were not granted a 2012 A Lyga licence; Kaunas will compete in the second-level I Lyga, while Mažeikiai and Klaipėda will not play in any of the two highest leagues in 2012.
* ↑ FBK Kaunas were deducted six points before the start of the season because of outstanding debts to a former player.

## Results

Teams played each other three times, either twice at home and once away or vice versa, for a total of 33 matches per team.

### Matches 1–22

| Home \ Away | ATL | BAN | DAI | EKR | FBK | KLA | KRU | MAŽ | SŪD | ŠIA | TAU | ŽAL |
| Atlantas | | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–5 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–4 | 0–3 |
| Banga | 3–0 | | 1–2 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Dainava | 7–0 | 2–4 | | 0–3 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–6 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 |
| Ekranas | 7–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 3–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| FBK Kaunas | 4–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Klaipėda | 0–4 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | | 1–2 | 2–4 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Kruoja | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 2–0 | 2–0 | | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Mažeikiai | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Sūduva | 5–2 | 0–1 | 6–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Šiauliai | 3–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Tauras | 6–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | | 1–1 |
| Žalgiris | 8–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | |
* ↑ This match was played in Panevėžys. It is shown here as a Tauras home match for organizational purposes.
* ↑ This match was played in Pakruojis. It is shown here as a Žalgiris home match for organizational purposes.

### Matches 23–33

| Home \ Away | ATL | BAN | DAI | EKR | FBK | KLA | KRU | MAŽ | SŪD | ŠIA | TAU | ŽAL |
| Atlantas | | | 2–5 | | 3–4 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 2–3 | | | | |
| Banga | 5–0 | | 3–1 | | | | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | | | |
| Dainava | | | | 1–5 | | | 2–2 | 3–0 | | 0–1 | | 1–3 |
| Ekranas | 2–1 | 1–0 | | | 3–1 | 5–0 | | | 2–2 | | | |
| FBK Kaunas | | 2–0 | 0–2 | | | 5–1 | | | 2–1 | | | |
| Klaipėda | | 0–5 | 0–3 | | | | | 0–2 | 0–1 | | 0–2 | |
| Kruoja | | | | 0–2 | 0–4 | 6–0 | | | | 1–1 | | |
| Mažeikiai | | | | 1–2 | 3–2 | | 1–4 | | | 1–5 | | 0–1 |
| Sūduva | 13–0 | | 1–1 | | | | 0–0 | 4–0 | | 0–0 | | 2–0 |
| Šiauliai | 3–1 | 2–0 | | 0–0 | 2–2 | 5–0 | | | | | | 1–0 |
| Tauras | 6–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 4–2 | | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 6–2 | | |
| Žalgiris | 3–0 | 0–0 | | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | | | | 1–0 | |

## Top goalscorers

Including matches played on 6 November 2011; Source: Lietuvos futbolo statistika
| Pos. | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Deivydas Matulevičius | Žalgiris | 19 |
| 2 | Goran Jerković | Tauras | 17 |
| 2 | Arsenij Buinickij | Dainava | 17 |
| 4 | Tadas Eliošius | Sūduva | 13 |
| 5 | Povilas Lukšys | Sūduva | 12 |
| 5 | Sergej Zhygalov | Mažeikiai/Sūduva | 12 |
| 7 | Regilio Seedorf | Tauras | 11 |
| 7 | Evaldas Razulis | Kaunas | 11 |
| 9 | Marko Anđelković | Ekranas | 9 |
| 9 | Andrius Velička | Ekranas | 9 |
| 9 | Ričardas Beniušis | Sūduva | 9 |
| 9 | Artūras Rimkevičius | Šiauliai | 9 |