Polish Football Season 2023/24

[Juliusz]

Polish Cup semi-finals - results

Wisła Kraków - Piast Gliwice 2:1
Szymon Sobczak 1', Jesús Alfaro 37' - Ariel Mosór 54'
Attendance: 33 000

Pogoń Szczecin - Jagiellonia Białystok 2:1 AET
Efthýmis Kouloúris 59', Fredrik Ulvestad 98' - Bartłomiej Wdowik 79'
Attendance: 19 739

After three years, we have a team outside of Ekstralasa in the cup final. Again it was a team that beat Piast in the semi-final (Arka Gdynia in 2021, now Wisła Kraków). Wisła played an excellent first half, and then was able to fight for defending the lead in the second period. But they were even close to score more goals. Wisła just lost vs Chrobry Głogów in I liga and is even further from advancing directly. It seems play-offs will be their fate again, but there many other teams interested, over half of the league have chances to finish on places 3-6.

This year's final will be a fantastic chance for Pogoń to win a trophy. It's now or never. Both them and Jagiellonia played on very high level for 120 minutes, but only one team could advance from this pairing. This result is bad news for teams interested in advancing to ECL qualifying from the 4th place in the league... Particularly Raków, Lech and Legia should be careful as at least one of them might miss Europe this summer.

The final will be played in Warsaw at National Stadium on 2 May at 16:00 CET.

[Juliusz]

Matchday 27

League table


Results

Cracovia - ŁKS 2:2
Benjamin Källman 19', Otar Kakabadze 77' - Dani Ramírez 73' (penalty), Stipe Jurić 86'
Attendance: 10 019

Radomiak Radom - Raków Częstochowa 2:1
Strátos Svárnas 25' (own goal), Jardel 44' - Giánnis Papanikoláou 49'
Attendance: 8564

Korona Kielce - Stal Mielec 1:0
Bartosz Kwiecień 43'
Attendance: 10 715

Ruch Chorzów - Puszcza Niepołomice 0:0
Attendance: 16 352

Śląsk Wrocław - Warta Poznań 2:1
Nahuel Leiva 26', Erik Expósito 90'+1 - Łukasz Bejger 56' (own goal)
Attendance: 14 564

Widzew Łódź - Piast Gliwice 1:0
Bartłomiej Pawłowski 75' (penalty)
Attendance: 17 243

Lech Poznań - Pogoń Szczecin 1:0
Mikael Ishak 77'
Attendance: 34 207

Legia Warszawa - Jagiellonia Białystok 1:1
Marc Gual 30' - Jesús Imaz 83'
Attendance: 27 354

Zagłębie Lubin - Górnik Zabrze 1:2
Dawid Kurminowski 28' - Szymon Czyż 37', Piotr Krawczyk 66'
Attendance: 4278

Top scorers:
16 - Erik Expósito (Śląsk Wrocław)
12 - Ilya Shkurin (Stal Mielec)
11 - Kamil Grosicki (Pogoń Szczecin)
9 - Jesús Imaz, Bartłomiej Wdowik (both Jagiellonia Białystok), Efthýmis Kouloúris (Pogoń Szczecin), Daniel Szczepan (Ruch Chorzów), Kristoffer Velde (Lech Poznań)
8 - Patryk Dziczek (Piast Gliwice), Alexander Gorgon (Pogoń Szczecin), Pedro Henrique (Radomiak Radom), Josué (Legia Warszawa), Benjamin Källman (Cracovia), Dawid Kurminowski (Zagłębie Lubin), Afimico Pululu (Jagiellonia Białystok)

We saw again that many things can change in Ekstraklasa quickly. That was the case with the match Lech vs Pogoń. I didn't see any progress in performance of Lech, Pogoń were the better team and missed many chances, but who cares? Lech has now just Legia and minnows in the schedule. Of course, even such games can be tricky. Almost all teams from the top experienced it. But Lech, with just that match won, is again in the race. Meanwhile, it's less likely that 4th place will gave ECL spot, so it's not good news for some teams in top 5.

Legia did the same what they did a month ago vs Pogoń. They played a team that was after 120 minutes in the cup game, they played nicely in the first half, but couldn't hold the lead. Actually, I would go for 2-0 to have level H2H with Jagiellonia, but they preferred to defend 1-0 and it turned out to be a bad idea. Jagiellonia has only slightly more difficult schedule than Lech, playing Pogoń and some mid-table teams until the rest of the season. They will really have a shot for championship and are quite close to secure European football, too.

Raków keeps disappointing. This time they scored an own goal and their reserve keeper failed to kick the ball 40 metres away from his goal. Although it's definitely very nervous there, coach Dawid Szwarga is still in charge. Personally, I don't believe in him anymore, but I don't know what the alternatives are. Last month, when Raków were heavily knocked out from the cup, they reacted well, beating Lech 4-0. Now, they face Legia at home

Korona did their best to get out of the relegation zone, while Puszcza was satisfied with a draw in Chorzów. They could have won it in the last minute, but didn't push for it earlier. Ruch is almost done, same as ŁKS. Cracovia and Piast are still in the battle, and the former sacked their coach. They just waited for the right moment to do it, and it was clear that Jacek Zieliński will leave the club at the end of the season at the latest. So far, they took the 2nd team coach, who is employed at the club, although the 2nd team itself no longer exists. Piast lost due to a non-existent penalty, but a draw wouldn't be much for them anyway.

Four teams are safe in the middle, Górnik is unsure until we learn their result next week vs Śląsk. This might be their last minute chance to come closer to the European places, although it still seems quite unlikely for them.

[Greyn]

Raków keeps disappointing. This time they scored an own goal and their reserve keeper failed to kick the ball 40 metres away from his goal. Although it's definitely very nervous there, coach Dawid Szwarga is still in charge. Personally, I don't believe in him anymore, but I don't know what the alternatives are. Last month, when Raków were heavily knocked out from the cup, they reacted well, beating Lech 4-0. Now, they face Legia at home

Shock in Warsaw. Kosta Runjaić is no longer the coach of Legia. He has been sacked this morning. Bad decision in my opinion. I don't consider him as a person to be responsible for poor results this spring (or at least not the only one). I consider Jacek Zieliński (sports director) a person who should be mainly blamed for the current situation. I mean last transfer window was a disaster for Legia, the team was significantly weakened with departures by Ślisz and Muci and no replacements were prepared for such a case. Hard to call Zyba as a replacement for Ślisz since he is a huge disappointment. I believe that Zieliński and Mioduski (club owner) should look at mirror first.

As for Szwarga, Świerczewski (club owner) posted info on twitter after last match that a decision regarding coach and his future will be made at the beginning of this week. We have Tuesday and still nothing, so I guess he will get one more chance, although I also think he got enough of "last chances" and his time at Raków should have run out. Keeping him is simply pointless in my opinion.

EDIT: I read that Goncalo Feio will be new coach of Legia and his presentation and press conference will be tomorrow. I can't believe it. Ok, he had good results with Motor Lublin, but his personality and temperament... there were so many complaints about him and his disrespectful behaviour toward people working in the club with Motor chairman spending some time in hospital because of him at the top. Terrible decision in my opinion.

[Juliusz]

I agree, Runjaić is not the first one to be blamed. Top players left with basically no replacements. For example, he is accused of wrong substitutions during the matches, but he has no choice on the bench. And after the international break, Legia improved a bit on the pitch and also with the results. Really odd decision.

But hiring Feio is not odd, it's shocking. When Feio and Josué will meet in the locker room, it might blow up soon. He is very competent, but scandals around him were much louder than his good work at Motor.

Szwarga seems to be safe now, but Aleksandar Vuković from Piast is in trouble and it can't be ruled out that he will have to leave soon.

[Greyn]

Simply unbelievable. Maybe at first it will work out for Legia with the results, but in a long run Feio will bring a total destruction to the club. Atmosphere inside the club will be ruined. Personally I would not like to work with such a guy in any role. As you wrote, his cooperation with Josue is a very risky big unknown. Josue's contract with Legia expires after the end of this season and let's wait and see what will happen. Anyway, it is a terrible decision in terms of future of Legia without any doubt.

[Juliusz]

Josue's contract with Legia expires after the end of this season and let's wait and see what will happen.

This one is interesting.

If Josué leaves Legia, it could be mainly due to his character, which is hard to stand for the management.

At the same time, they take Feio, who is even more crazy

[Greyn]

Josue's contract with Legia expires after the end of this season and let's wait and see what will happen.

This one is interesting.

If Josué leaves Legia, it could be mainly due to his character, which is hard to stand for the management.

At the same time, they take Feio, who is even more crazy

His character is hard to stand not only for the management, but also for his teammates (at least that is what Marek Jóźwiak said in an interview). It is not a mystery that he has a super-big ego.

Some "fresh" article about Goncalo Feio, if anyone is interested, translated by Google translator:

Fights, arguments, spitting, insults. Sending the club president to hospital. Fight with security. Contrary to appearances, this is not the record of the leader of a hooligan militia or a stadium thug. This is the CV of coach Goncalo Feio. A coach with huge ambitions that we couldn't wait to see come true until... someone started seriously considering him as Legia Warszawa's coach. According to Tomasz Włodarczyk, the Portuguese is to be candidate No. 1, after Kosta Runjaic was fired today.

The label of a moneymaker and a brawler with a big ego has accompanied Goncalo Feio almost always. His career was developing quite well. He played for Benfica Lisbon and was an internship at Arsenal. In Poland, he started with Legia Warszawa, then joined Wisła Kraków, and finally co-founded one of the best training staffs in the country - Marek Papszun's team in Raków Częstochowa.

He started working on his own account on an interesting project with great aspirations, as we should talk about Motor Lublin. At the same time, it was no secret that he was considered for employment in Arka Gdynia or Radomiak Radom. He appeared as a person with a fresh idea and great competences, which is not untrue.

The problem was that there was an imp sitting on Feio's left shoulder. A pest that at one point caused the Portuguese to be unable to stop himself from activating the self-destruct protocol. The community turned a blind eye to this for a long time because his coaching skills raised hopes. – Oh, maybe he'll finally get his act together, there's no point in bothering him – many people thought, which is why Goncalo's subsequent antics, even if they were an open secret, got away with him.

However, the events in Lublin changed the approach to Feio's explosive temperament. He may not have another chance to redeem himself.

“Goncalo Feio got into a scuffle with security, starting a brawl in the VIP area. After Wisła Kraków's home matches, it is customary for players and coaches to meet in the VIP box with fans and club sponsors. To enter the lodge, everyone receives an ID badge. Feio didn't take him with him, the security guard said he couldn't let him in. The Portuguese started behaving aggressively. Manuel Junco, Wisła's sports director, tried to calm down Feio, who pushed the woman away from security. A few minutes later, Feio started shouting at the security guard and ended up spitting on him.”

This is the report of "Gazeta Krakowska" from the match between Wisła Kraków and Piast Gliwice. Goncalo Feio's first jump that made it to the media. The Portuguese later apologized to the security staff, although he initially claimed that he had been provoked by them. The situation calmed down, also because Feio was just one of the staff members. His role was not significant enough for inappropriate behavior to come back to him at every turn. However, this was not the first warning signal sent by the coach. Even when he worked for Legia Warszawa, his behavior was questionable.

– It's not about any specific situation or crossing a border. We just sometimes felt like he had no control over his emotions. This intensified especially around the match, when he seemed to be in a sort of frenzy. He was nervous, he didn't remember some situations - we hear from the Warsaw club.

However, Goncalo Feio's problems seemed to grow along with his position in Polish football. From Wisła Kraków he went to AO Xanthi, where Kiko Ramirez worked. It was he who introduced Feio to the staff of the first White Star team. They both stayed in Greece for a short time, and then they ended up in Raków Częstochowa. The Portuguese formally: he was hired as the second coach, assistant to Marek Papszun. This was the beginning of the best period of Feio's career, which grew from month to month.

Goncalo Feio in Raków Częstochowa. Papszun's right hand and a knockout during the game
Goncalo Feio definitely didn't limit himself to setting up cones. Marek Papszun quickly established a rapport with him and appreciated his knowledge and skills. Feio, in partnership with Dawid Szwarga, became his two closest collaborators. – The person I had the opportunity to work with, who improved and updated many things, was Goncalo Feio. Coach Papszun's greatest strength is that he looks for people from whom he can get some knowledge - the aforementioned Szwarga admitted to us.

Dawid Szwarga: They said I watch too much League+ Ekstra

At some point, the Portuguese began to be mentioned as a natural candidate for Papszun's successor. Someone who will step into his shoes when Raków proves to be too tight for the first coach. In Częstochowa, not everyone shared this enthusiasm - behind the scenes it was said that Marek Śledź did not like him - but the atmosphere around Feio was positive for a long time. The first signals about the young coach's recalcitrant nature appeared when Papszun was linked with Legia Warszawa. Goncalo apparently took the claims of being the rightful heir to the throne for granted, because he was said to have sulked that the leadership had not designated him as the successor.

Ultimately, however, there was no change in the position of the first coach, so there were no reasons for tensions. Well, except with rivals. During the Polish Cup final, in which Raków Częstochowa played against Lech Poznań, Feio harassed Kolejorz employees. Rumor has it that the Portuguese started a fight with Maciej Palczewski, the goalkeeping coach of the Polish champion. This information (confirmed in several sources) seems to clearly suggest that Goncalo loses his cool head and common sense in stressful situations. After all, Palczewski is a nearly two-meter tall guy who - to put it mildly - is in a slightly different weight class.

Feio lacked a cool head in another altercation with a member of the coaching staff. This time, however, it was about his co-worker, and this time the matter could not be nipped in the bud. During Raków's training game, members of the staff played a short sparring match with each other. At one point, the Portuguese got angry with the team manager and jumped into a fight with him. He chose the wrong rival, because not only did he end up on the boards, but he was also forced to look for a new job.

Feio was not saved by coach Papszun's competence and respect. The medallions made a nod towards him anyway, presenting his departure as a desire to develop, to go on his own, not to mention an internal problem.

Goncalo Feio: Life is too short not to play in European cups

Goncalo Feio at Motor Lublin. Reconstruction and enchantment
The environment was already abuzz with gossip. Łukasz Olkowicz from "Przegląd Sportowy" asked the Portuguese directly whether it was really necessary to sacrifice one of the people involved in that clash. Feio denied it, people knew better. Another row caused question marks to be placed next to his name. He pulls a security guard, spits on a security guard, and fights with his co-workers. Difficult character. However, there was still a BUT at the end, which pushed the trainer's problematic temperament into the background.

He was still a damn talented, promising young coach.

Goncalo Feio is great at talking about football. He is a grateful interlocutor and a sought-after expert, because he can sell great analyzes in such a way that even a layman quickly understands what he means. He comes from Portugal, a land that breeds many talents and is able to diagnose what we lack to follow in their footsteps. He talked to the owners of clubs, including those in the top league, and was able to convince them of his vision and sell them his view of football. He was uncompromising and honest in all this.

His arrival at Motor Lublin, a club plagued by problems and unable to use its potential, was a very interesting move. For both sides.

– Lublin is a city that feels the ball. As long as I was outside, I wasn't fully aware of it. If I have the right support, Motor can be the project of my life. I'm convinced of this, that's why I came here. Before I made the decision, me and President Tomczyk talked with Mr. Jakubas for a total of several hours - also about things that need to be changed immediately and which need to be changed in the long run. We agreed all this in advance, that's why I decided - explained the interested person himself.

Goncalo Feio: Motor Lublin could be the project of my life

It quickly turned out that words follow actions. Goncalo Feio turned Motor Lublin into a team that can play good football and score well. He helped the team out of the bottom of the table and charmed the players with his approach. The conditions in the club have also improved. Out of the considerable chaos, a place emerged with conditions for training and regeneration that were comparable to those available to teams from higher leagues. The engine finally started to look like a team with a big budget should look like. In the winter, when the second league player talked to potential new acquisitions, they didn't even want to hear about other offers.

Paweł Tomczyk vs. Goncalo Feio. What is the conflict at Motor Lublin about?
– This is a person I trust and who showed me that he is always on my side. We have a similar vision for the development of the club, the team and the people we want to surround ourselves with. I know that he is a man of his word who, if he declares something, then follows through. He can expect the same from me. President Tomczyk is from here, he is a student of Motor and he will do everything to make us successful, because it is "his" club - Feio told us in the conversation mentioned earlier.

It was Paweł Tomczyk who introduced him to the club from Lublin, so his warm words were not surprising. It was surprising how this relationship fell apart over the course of a few months. Tomczyk was not a favorite of the fans, who were particularly disliked when Motor increased ticket prices for the Polish Cup match with Raków Częstochowa. He bravely defended this decision in interviews, but it is hard to disagree with the fans who criticized him for his excessive desire to cash in on his historic success and warned that it would have the opposite effect. Goncalo quite unexpectedly used this case to attack the president. Suddenly he sided with the fans and began publicly attacking Tomczyk at press conferences.

– I am on an equal footing with the president, he cannot fire me.

– We are the only club in Poland where the president is smiling after defeats.

This is just a small sample of the Portuguese coach's taunts. He stopped being outspoken only when the owner and the president announced a joint press conference. Then Goncalo Feio said that he would not appear because the pitch spoke for him and he did not have to add anything.

However, when these words were uttered, the conflict was already in full swing. The bomb exploded when Goncalo Feio posted his statement on a private channel after one of the sparring matches. The coach took a tour of the city's companies and, not for the first time, put forward the thesis that a lot of people in Lublin are making things difficult for Motor and are not helping the club get back on its feet. It's not that the Portuguese was completely wrong, but the club said that the coach had exaggerated and releasing such words through the official channel at a time when Motor is negotiating a new contract with the city and MOSiR would be a shot in the foot.

Feio became furious.

There was a strange atmosphere in the club corridors, the coach did not greet the president, and the players began to wonder what it was all about. While they appreciated the coach and believed that he had won better working conditions for them, they felt that Feio was starting to fight at windmills and create unnecessary conflicts. There were also rumors in Lublin that the origin of the dispute with Paweł Tomczyk was not the president's unprofessional approach. Goncalo himself said that, together with Tomczyk, he won many cases with the club's owner, Zbigniew Jakubas. The coach couldn't complain about the lack of reinforcements either: he got basically everything he wanted.

Everything except one. Feio was supposed to be trying to get a better job for his partner, who also joined Motor from Raków. Tomczyk allegedly stated that employing her in the Lublin club was a sufficient favor. Especially since the potential promotion was not supported by the competences of the person we are talking about. It was then that the relationship between the coach and the president would finally break down.

Motor Lublin. Coach Goncalo Feio sent president Paweł Tomczyk to the hospital
Goncalo Feio went to war with Paweł Tomczyk. He took advantage of the fact that the president is not the fans' favorite, so every time he sided with them and attacked the alleged dilettantism of the helmsmen, he fell on fertile ground. For years, the problem in Motor Lublin has been activists who dragged the club down by making a number of disastrous decisions. The Portuguese has actually brought professionalism to many areas of the everyday functioning of the second league, so why not believe him when - seemingly - he is fighting for further changes? The problem is that such actions were effective externally. There, it was possible to spread lies that Feio's partner is being tormented and that he himself is becoming a victim of too much involvement in the affairs of the Motor.

When the Portuguese started looking for allies in the club, he found less fertile ground. Calls to the owner did not help, and it was not possible to convince the employees that Tomczyk was evil incarnate. The failure of this mission caused tension on subsequent fronts.

– It all started because of misunderstandings between the president and the coach. I was between them, I had to cooperate with both of them, that's logical. The coach thought I should be 100% on his side. I replied that if the president tells me not to do something, I don't do it. The trainer has behaviors in which he cannot control himself. He's nice and smiling for five minutes, and then suddenly he starts attacking you, explains Paulina Maciążek, spokeswoman for Motor Lublin.

This brings us to the return of league games and the home match against GKS Jastrzębie. Goncalo Feio was attacked by people from the press office from the beginning of the day. He didn't respond to "good morning." He didn't want to send the squad, which wasn't a problem before. Finally, before the press conference, he insulted the club's spokeswoman, who ultimately - to the journalists' surprise - did not appear in the conference room.

– This was not the first action of this type by the coach. Aggressive behavior, threatening, insulting... After a certain expression was said to me, I went to the president and said that I was no longer able to put on a mask and pretend that everything was fine. Every person has their own emotions and a threshold beyond which it becomes difficult. The president and the owner heard this and told me to explain the situation to journalists, Maciążek tells us.

The sequel resembles an action movie. Paweł Tomczyk decided to defend the press spokeswoman, and there was a dispute with Feio, who threw something like a tray or a document folder at him. He hit the temple, the president of Motor Lublin was covered in blood. The entire incident took place in front of several witnesses. Tomczyk was taken to hospital and had to have stitches. The Portuguese, however, packed up and left, and the club's lawyers got to work, which clearly means that this matter will not be swept under the carpet. Feio will definitely lose his job, but this is not the end of his problems. If the case goes to court, he will also lose the opportunity to practice as a coach for some time.

In the background there is also the PZPN Trainers' School, where the 33-year-old continues his UEFA PRO course. In the past, coaching candidates were kicked off the course for minor offenses. – We are waiting for official information and letters on this matter. When we receive them, the Disciplinary Committee will meet and, as a School of Trainers, we will make a decision. If the media reports are confirmed, we will act, says Paweł Grycmann.

Troubles, troubles for Najman Feio? Understatement. With such an entry on his CV, the ambitious Portuguese's career in Polish football is in serious doubt. A question mark should also be placed on the topic of the future of Motor Lublin. We are receiving more and more serious signals from the Lublin region that Zbigniew Jakubas, who has recently become involved in the club, is starting to have enough of the chaos and problems he has encountered. If the billionaire's patience runs out, the second-tier player may lose its owner.

***

We tried to contact Goncalo Feio and hear his side of the story. However, the coach does not answer the phone, does not respond to messages or any attempts to obtain his position. Paweł Tomczyk also did not comment on this matter.

https://weszlo.com/2023/03/05/goncalo-f ... a-historia

[Juliusz]

Just to follow up, Raków owner announced that Szwarga will stay at the position of the 1st team coach.

[Juliusz]

Matchday 28

League table


Results

Warta Poznań - Korona Kielce 1:0
Adam Zreľák 10'
Attendance: 2341

Pogoń Szczecin - Ruch Chorzów 5:0
Mateusz Bartolewski 2' (own goal), Adrian Przyborek 35', Efthýmis Kouloúris 47', 54', 59'
Attendance: 18 931

Stal Mielec - Widzew Łódź 0:0
Attendance: 6343

Puszcza Niepołomice - Lech Poznań 2:1
Jordan Majchrzak 7', Artur Crăciun 23' - Mikael Ishak 87'
Attendance: 3410

Raków Częstochowa - Legia Warszawa 1:1
Ante Crnac 82' - Tomáš Pekhart 17'
Attendance: 5500

ŁKS - Radomiak Radom 3:2
Kay Tejan 19', 55', Engjëll Hoti 71' - Jardel 49', Guilherme Zimovski 90'+1
Attendance: 8828

Jagiellonia Białystok - Cracovia 1:3
Bartłomiej Wdowik 10' - Michał Rakoczy 22', Arttu Hoskonen 25', Jani Atanasov 49'
Attendance: 18 184

Górnik Zabrze - Śląsk Wrocław 2:0
Kamil Lukoszek 40', 85'
Attendance: 19 371

Piast Gliwice - Zagłębie Lubin 2:0
Jakub Czerwiński 17', Fabian Piasecki 27'
Attendance: 3217

Top scorers:
16 - Erik Expósito (Śląsk Wrocław)
12 - Efthýmis Kouloúris (Pogoń Szczecin), Ilya Shkurin (Stal Mielec)
11 - Kamil Grosicki (Pogoń Szczecin)
10 - Bartłomiej Wdowik (Jagiellonia Białystok)
9 - Jesús Imaz (Jagiellonia Białystok), Daniel Szczepan (Ruch Chorzów), Kristoffer Velde (Lech Poznań)
8 - Patryk Dziczek (Piast Gliwice), Alexander Gorgon (Pogoń Szczecin), Pedro Henrique (Radomiak Radom), Mikael Ishak (Lech Poznań), Josué, Tomáš Pekhart (both Legia Warszawa), Benjamin Källman (Cracovia), Dawid Kurminowski (Zagłębie Lubin), Afimico Pululu (Jagiellonia Białystok)

Top 3 all lost, while two out of bottom 3 teams won.

It's hard to choose the biggest upset, but I would go for Jagiellonia losing at home to Cracovia. When 1-0 up, Jagiellonia defender was sent off, and when it was 1-2, they missed a penalty and a rebound. So it looks like bad luck, but probably they just should have done better. For Cracovia it was first win since the first spring match (6-0 vs Radomiak). Looking at other results this week, it was particularly valuable for them.

Lech lost vs Puszcza, but not the scoreline is most surprising. It's their performance as they scored a lucky late goal and Puszcza was totally better all the time. Lech had xG of 0.03 in the first half and it wasn't much better after the break. Before the match, Lech's coach underestimated set pieces of Puszcza and of course they were punished for that on the pitch. He will stay for the match vs ŁKS, but if they don't handle it again, he might be out soon. Meanwhile Puszcza are on a safe place now since Korona lost vs Warta, having even less and less players available due to injuries.

Śląsk losing vs Górnik is not that surprising and now we have to talk about top 7 instead of 6. On Friday, Górnik plays vs Raków which might be another match to create some more mess. Raków are still unbeaten at home though. Legia was close again, nothing changed despite the new coach. They decided to defend the lead too soon and finally conceded. There were three controversial penalty calls for Raków, but none was given. At least one should have been though IMO.

Only Pogoń were good enough this week, and Ruch are even last placed now, since ŁKS finally shows some quality. Piast is in the very same situation as Cracovia. Stal and Widzew, as you could expect, played as teams who are basically safe and nothing can be said about their match.

[Greyn]

ŁKS nickname in Poland is "Spring Knights" because their club tradition is playing better after the winter break.

Before winter break: 10 points in 19 matches
After winter break: 11 points in 9 matches

So they continue the tradition, unfortunately for them it is too little too late because most probably they will be relegated anyway.

[Firnen]

It would be the most Poland thing to end up with Jagellonia, Slask, Gornik and Pogon (or even 2nd division Wisla) in Europe and inevitably stop their rise in the ranking because all the teams would be unseeded everywhere, and pay for how competitive their league is.

[Greyn]

It would be the most Poland thing to end up with Jagellonia, Slask, Gornik and Pogon (or even 2nd division Wisla) in Europe and inevitably stop their rise in the ranking because all the teams would be unseeded everywhere, and pay for how competitive their league is.

I noticed same thing one month ago:

From Polish perspective this ranking https://kassiesa.net/uefa/data/method5/crank2025.html looks quite promising. Unfortunately there is a very decent chance that Poland will send weak "squad" to Europe next season. Still many matches to play in the Polish league, but our main point collectors - Legia, Lech and Raków are simply weak and each of them are in danger to not qualify for Europe at all. I don't trust teams like Jagiellonia, Śląsk or Pogoń and their chances to achieve anything in Europe, particularly with their low number of coefficients. As I wrote, still long way to the end of domestic season, but, in my opinion, there is a very high risk that Poland will collect very few coefficient points next season.

Polish league is indeed very competitive since I remember, but in this particular case, it is clearly a weakness of Legia, Raków and Lech. Jagiellonia, Śląsk or Pogoń did not improve to reach a level of our "Big 3", it is a "Big 3" who declined significantly.

Call me biased, but I think that Legia not qualifying for Europe would be most harmful for Poland in terms of coefficients. I expect significant strengthening of the team in upcoming transfer window and Feio (coach), whatever you like him or not as a person, should be able to achieve better results with Legia. Nobody question his coaching skills, the only problem with him is his personality and temperament.

I think it is very likely that Lech and Raków will not qualify for Europe with their coaches, Rumak and Szwarga respectively. Lech starts every season with guaranteed 6 points from both matches vs Warta Poznań, so I will not miss them if they fail to qualify, since it is very unfair towards the rest of the clubs.

[Juliusz]

Matchday 29

League table


Results

Korona Kielce - Radomiak Radom 4:0
Luka Vušković 19' (own goal), Danny Trejo 28', Yevgeniy Shikavka 54', 88'
Attendance: 10 495

Raków Częstochowa - Górnik Zabrze 0:1
Sebastian Musiolik 90'+2
Attendance: 5200

Pogoń Szczecin - Piast Gliwice 0:2
Tomáš Huk 11', Jorge Félix 21'
Attendance: 18 985

Ruch Chorzów - Widzew Łódź 2:3
Miłosz Kozak 76', 90'+13 - Luís Silva 2', Jordi Sánchez 49', Bartłomiej Pawłowski 90'+10 (penalty)
Attendance: 50 087

Zagłębie Lubin - Jagiellonia Białystok 1:2
Juan Muñoz 90' - Kristoffer Hansen 15', 74'
Attendance: 4619

Cracovia - Puszcza Niepołomice 0:1
Wojciech Hajda 19'
Attendance: 11 156

ŁKS - Lech Poznań 2:3
Kay Tejan 60' (penalty), Stipe Jurić 86' - Mikael Ishak 36', Filip Marchwiński 56', 90'+1
Attendance: 15 132

Legia Warszawa - Śląsk Wrocław 0:0
Attendance: 25 573

Warta Poznań - Stal Mielec 5:2
Konrad Matuszewski 7', Adam Zreľák 38', 46', 71', Dawid Szymonowicz 49' - Alvis Jaunzems 17', Ilya Shkurin 45'+1
Attendance: 1356

Top scorers:
16 - Erik Expósito (Śląsk Wrocław)
13 - Ilya Shkurin (Stal Mielec)
12 - Efthýmis Kouloúris (Pogoń Szczecin)
11 - Kamil Grosicki (Pogoń Szczecin)
10 - Bartłomiej Wdowik (Jagiellonia Białystok)
9 - Jesús Imaz (Jagiellonia Białystok), Mikael Ishak, Kristoffer Velde (both Lech Poznań), Daniel Szczepan (Ruch Chorzów)
8 - Patryk Dziczek (Piast Gliwice), Alexander Gorgon (Pogoń Szczecin), Kristoffer Hansen, Afimico Pululu (both Jagiellonia Białystok), Pedro Henrique (Radomiak Radom), Josué, Tomáš Pekhart (both Legia Warszawa), Benjamin Källman (Cracovia), Dawid Kurminowski (Zagłębie Lubin), Filip Marchwiński (Lech Poznań), Bartłomiej Pawłowski (Widzew Łódź)

Well, I have to agree that it would be typical for us to send Jagiellonia, Śląsk, Górnik and Wisła to Europe and erase our two successful seasons. This is still possible as Raków was another team to give fuel to Górnik. Ante Crnac missed many chances, Giannis Papanikolaou was sent off and Raków conceded after a corner. They fielded their fifth keeper this season - they signed Dušan Kuciak from Lechia, because Vladan Kovačević and Muhamed Šahinović are injured and they don't believe Kacper Bieszczad anymore. Raków failed to win any of their last 5 matches, while Górnik, after having lost to Legia, won 3 consecutive games.

Jagiellonia and Lech were the other teams at the top to win this week. It was not comfortable, Jagiellonia after taking the lead was dominated by poor Zagłębie and Lech lost their 2 goals advantage against 10-men ŁKS. Still, Jagiellonia and Lech have the best schedule and if there only was any logic in Ekstraklasa, they should be quite comfortable.

Legia finished their series of matches against the top. The outcome is three draws, being basically defeats for them. Jagiellonia and Śląsk came to Warsaw to take a point and they got it, maybe Raków last week was not satisfied. But Legia is in awful state and can only count on other teams being even weaker. Śląsk actually was weaker yesterday, but Legia hit the bar and missed some other 'half-chances'.

Meanwhile, Pogoń disgraced themselves against Piast. They could improve the result, but missed a penalty and had a goal disallowed, both very late in the second half. They will now probably concentrate on the cup, but earlier, on Friday, they will play Jagiellonia.

It's crazy also at the bottom, where 4 teams won. Puszcza beat Cracovia at their stadium and collected there more points than the actual hosts. Cracovia new president doesn't want to host Puszcza anymore and made some impolite comments about this club before the match. Probably he couldn't have motivated them better. Many teams are not safe yet, and next week Puszcza will face Korona.

Ruch and ŁKS are drowning, and the former recorded a huge attendance, together with their friends from Widzew. According to them, it was 7th highest attendance in Europe last weekend.

[bugylibicska]

Over 50 thousand spectators in Chorzow? For a team that dead last against a mid table team playing for nothing? Amazing.

[Greyn]

Over 50 thousand spectators in Chorzow? For a team that dead last against a mid table team playing for nothing? Amazing.

As Juliusz mentioned, there is a friendship between Ruch and Widzew fans, so buffer zone was not necessary at the stadium. There were about 11 500 Widzew fans attending this game according to the commentators (if I remember correctly). Widzew have really many "active" fans, their stadium is usually fully packed and they have the highest number of seasonal tickets sold in Ekstraklasa. The capacity of their stadium is 18 018 and it is clear to everyone that city council in Łódź made a huge mistake with building a stadium which is simply too small. As for Ruch, there was always a good football climate in Silesia and Ruch along with Górnik Zabrze have the highest number of fans in the Silesian agglomeration. Before the match vs Widzew there was a big campaign made by Ruch fans to invite people to attend this match live at the stadium in order to break an all-time attendance record for Ekstraklasa match.

Those were just some theoretical arguments above, but I agree that this amazing.