Polish Football Season 2022/23

[Juliusz]

Matchday 25

League table


Results

Górnik Zabrze - Wisła Płock 3:2
Damian Rasak 57', Lukas Podolski 61', 87' - Mateusz Szwoch 17', Dawid Kocyła 45'+1
Attendance: 9012

Radomiak Radom - Legia Warszawa 0:2
Josué 45'+1 (penalty), Maciej Rosołek 73'
Attendance: 4390

Śląsk Wrocław - Stal Mielec 1:1
Erik Expósito 7' - Rauno Sappinen 10'
Attendance: 6130

Jagiellonia Białystok - Zagłębie Lubin 2:2
Marc Gual 54', Michał Pazdan 72' - Saša Živec 1', Kacper Chodyna 75'
Attendance: 6658

Pogoń Szczecin - Korona Kielce 0:0
Attendance: 13 961

Raków Częstochowa - Cracovia 4:1
Vladislavs Gutkovskis 38', Bartosz Nowak 59', Ivi López 65', Marcin Cebula 84' (penalty) - Michał Rakoczy 16'
Attendance: 5370

Warta Poznań - Lechia Gdańsk 2:0
Kajetan Szmyt 26', Stefan Savić 81'
Attendance: 1854

Miedź Legnica - Piast Gliwice 0:1
Jorge Félix 23'
Attendance: 3848

Widzew Łódź - Lech Poznań 1:2
Bartłomiej Pawłowski 71' - Filip Marchwiński 73', Kristoffer Velde 78'
Attendance: 17 489

Top scorers:
10 - Marc Gual, Jesús Imaz (both Jagiellonia Białystok), Mikael Ishak (Lech Poznań)
9 - Davo (Wisła Płock), Kamil Grosicki (Pogoń Szczecin), Saïd Hamulic (Stal Mielec), Jakub Łukowski (Korona Kielce), Bartosz Nowak (Górnik Zabrze, Raków Częstochowa), Łukasz Zwoliński (Lechia Gdańsk)
8 - Josué (Legia Warszawa), Ivi López (Raków Częstochowa), Bartłomiej Pawłowski (Widzew Łódź), Kamil Wilczek (Piast Gliwice), Szymon Włodarczyk (Górnik Zabrze)

Lech increased their chances of qualifying for ECL a lot. Not much happened for 70 minutes, and then, when Widzew scored, Lech somehow scored twice immediately, again by players who used to be heavily criticized. Taking into account that they played vs Djurgården in last two weeks, a draw vs Piast and a win vs Widzew are excellent results.

There is also no serious competition for 3rd or 4th place. Lech and Pogoń should make it, although the latter still waste many chances in an unbelievable way. It could have even cost them one point, as probably a regular goal by Korona wasn't given. Widzew are back to their expected level and collect few points this year. Warta are doing great, but it might be not enough. Cracovia or Wisła Płock could have potential, but at the moment they are rather mid-table teams and are already a couple of points behind.

Raków won vs Cracovia for the first time ever in the league, which means really no-one is able to stop them. Basically last event that can change anything in the race, is direct match Legia vs Raków in two weeks. The schedule is so exciting BTW. Everyone meets a team at their level, including Lech vs Pogoń, Cracovia vs Widzew, Piast vs Górnik, Korona vs Miedź, Lechia vs Śląsk and so on.

At the bottom, Górnik won but sacked the coach anyway. Bartosch Gaul was replaced by Jan Urban... who was replaced by Gaul last summer. Actually, it should help them, as Urban proved to be a better coach. But they couldn't even sack both in a normal way. There was a weird statement by Górnik last week, mentioning that the match vs Wisła is very important and Gaul needs to win it in a convincing way in order to stay. Ok, they had to overcome a 0-2 deficit, but were the dominating team and ultimately the score was totally deserved. It will be interesting to see how relations between Urban and Lukas Podolski will look like. The latter basically sacked the former last year, and is still the key person on the pitch. They have to cooperate if they want Górnik to stay in the league and there is still much work to be done.

[Greyn]

[Bulgarian]

So who would you reckon should be the 4th club who accompanies the obvious 3 for Europe?

[Greyn]

So who would you reckon should be the 4th club who accompanies the obvious 3 for Europe?

Practically 4 clubs are involved in the battle - Pogoń, Warta, Widzew and Cracovia. No doubt Pogoń is the strongest from this group, but they lack efficiency recently. They create a lot of chances, but can't convert them to goals. Warta is already the biggest overachiever this season, they have an excellent season, but their potential is limited. Widzew lacks regularity in collecting points and Cracovia has the worst offensive potential imo.

I agree with @Juliusz that in the end Pogoń should finish 4th, but in football you never know...

[Juliusz]

So who would you reckon should be the 4th club who accompanies the obvious 3 for Europe?

Adding to what @Greyn mentioned above, I agree that Pogoń are the strongest team, but I don't trust them in Europe. I don't trust their coach either.

But there is no better option to be honest. Cracovia are even worse in Europe, no matter the circumstances. For Widzew or Warta (or a surprising cup winner) it would be a great adventure, but none of these clubs is ready for Europe.

I guess the expectations will be close to none when it comes to our 4th club. Just collect as many coefficient points as possible but probably without real chances to reach GS.

[Greyn]

I don't count on Pogoń in Europe either. I expect them to pass some amateur or semi-amateur clubs in early rounds, but when they meet first serious opponent, like Broendby last season, most likely they will go out. If Raków avoid a real disaster, they should qualify for the GS football, but personally I hope for at least 2 Polish clubs reaching groups next season. How Legia will look like after the end of this season is a big unknown, but I trust in Kosta Runjaić. Lech has a stronger squad in general and more coefficients on their account. With the money they earned in Europe this season, they should avoid weakening this Summer, and, perhaps, there is a chance they will even strengthen their squad. Time will tell, still too early to make more precise predictions.

[Bulgarian]

With 17.000 Lech may be seeded in all ECLqrs which is always helpful.

[Juliusz]

Matchday 26

League table


Results

Zagłębie Lubin - Warta Poznań 0:0
Attendance: 4271

Piast Gliwice - Górnik Zabrze 1:0
Grzegorz Tomasiewicz 12'
Attendance: 6888

Korona Kielce - Miedź Legnica 1:0
Ronaldo Deaconu 12'
Attendance: 8090

Legia Warszawa - Raków Częstochowa 3:1
Tomáš Pekhart 15', Rafał Augustyniak 30', Paweł Wszołek 63' - Bartosz Nowak 32'
Attendance: 28 034

Lechia Gdańsk - Śląsk Wrocław 0:0
Attendance: 7706

Wisła Płock - Radomiak Radom 1:1
Łukasz Sekulski 69' - Leonardo Rocha 53'
Attendance: 4026

Cracovia - Widzew Łódź 1:1
Takuto Oshima 81' - Martin Kreuzriegler 90'+4 (penalty)
Attendance: 9621

Lech Poznań - Pogoń Szczecin 2:2
Jesper Karlström 26', Mikael Ishak 65' - Kamil Grosicki 45'+10 (penalty), Alexander Gorgon 63'
Attendance: 32 119

Stal Mielec - Jagiellonia Białystok 1:1
Mateusz Mak 50' - Jesús Imaz 3'
Attendance: 3542

Top scorers:
11 - Jesús Imaz (Jagiellonia Białystok), Mikael Ishak (Lech Poznań)
10 - Kamil Grosicki (Pogoń Szczecin), Marc Gual (Jagiellonia Białystok), Bartosz Nowak (Górnik Zabrze, Raków Częstochowa)
9 - Davo (Wisła Płock), Saïd Hamulic (Stal Mielec), Jakub Łukowski (Korona Kielce), Łukasz Zwoliński (Lechia Gdańsk)
8 - Josué (Legia Warszawa), Ivi López (Raków Częstochowa), Bartłomiej Pawłowski (Widzew Łódź), Kamil Wilczek (Piast Gliwice), Szymon Włodarczyk (Górnik Zabrze)

Not as exciting weekend as it could be, with many draws, including 5 in last 5 matches. The battles at the top were excellent though. Legia played brilliantly for 30 minutes, it was their best display in this season, but after some trouble they ended the game with third goal. Raków still have in their own hands though and maintain positive H2H record vs Legia. So they would have to drop points at least three times, provided Legia won everything. Not likely, but at least the battle won't be mathematically over too soon.

It was also interesting in Poznań and there were correct complains by Lech about Triantafyllopoulos (Pogoń), who wasn't sent off in the first half. The ref gave advantage instead of stopping play and giving him second yellow card. So Lech can be unhappy, but they also screwed it up themselves. They had an open goal and didn't score, got a penalty instead, but missed it too, despite Stipica (Pogoń GK) being confused after a crash with his defender. Then a stupid penalty conceded without any danger and an error by the keeper, who passed the ball to Pogoń which lead to their second goal. But let's highlight unusually high pace and skills shown in both of these matches. Lech is one step closer to finish in top 3 or 4, which should be the minimum in their situation.

Not much happened at the bottom. Two clubs changed their coaches: Lechia took David Badia, who replaced Marcin Kaczmarek, and Stal have hired Kamil Kiereś instead of Adam Majewski. We have to praise Piast and Korona again, while Lechia failed to beat severely weakened Śląsk. If not now, they have basically the last chance next week vs Jagiellonia. Then their schedule is extremely tough. They are slowly becoming the second team which eventually will be relegated.

A reminder: Polish Cup semi-finals will be played this week. Then, on Thursday, matchday 27 will start.

[Greyn]

Not much happened at the bottom. Two clubs changed their coaches: Lechia took David Badia, who replaced Marcin Kaczmarek, and Stal have hired Kamil Kiereś instead of Adam Majewski. We have to praise Piast and Korona again, while Lechia failed to beat severely weakened Śląsk. If not now, they have basically the last chance next week vs Jagiellonia. Then their schedule is extremely tough. They are slowly becoming the second team which eventually will be relegated.

A reminder: Polish Cup semi-finals will be played this week. Then, on Thursday, matchday 27 will start.

Still long way to go, but it is quite likely that Lechia Gdańsk will be relegated this season. If that happens, this stadium:



...might be the greatest stadium in the world for a domestic 2nd tier.

[Lorric]

Not much happened at the bottom. Two clubs changed their coaches: Lechia took David Badia, who replaced Marcin Kaczmarek, and Stal have hired Kamil Kiereś instead of Adam Majewski. We have to praise Piast and Korona again, while Lechia failed to beat severely weakened Śląsk. If not now, they have basically the last chance next week vs Jagiellonia. Then their schedule is extremely tough. They are slowly becoming the second team which eventually will be relegated.

A reminder: Polish Cup semi-finals will be played this week. Then, on Thursday, matchday 27 will start.

Still long way to go, but it is quite likely that Lechia Gdańsk will be relegated this season. If that happens, this stadium:



...might be the greatest stadium in the world for a domestic 2nd tier.

Sunderland's beats it for size, 49,000 capacity at the Stadium of Light.

https://www.google.com/search?q=stadium ... AXoECAEQAw

And to think, that stadium was recently in the third tier!

[Greyn]

They can beat it by size, but surely not by 'beauty'.

In my opinion, the stadium in Gdańsk is the best looking stadium in Poland.

[jayjay]

If Lechia gets relegated they will probably go bankrupt and play in 4th tier, so they will have the most beautiful stadium there:)

[Juliusz]

Polish Cup semi-finals - results

KKS Kalisz - Legia Warszawa 0:1
Górnik Łęczna - Raków Częstochowa 0:1

Two identical results, but totally different matches. Legia scored in the second minute and had control only in the first half. Then they were extremely lucky not to concede a couple of goals. KKS Kalisz was as offensive as vs Śląsk (3-0), Górnik (3-3) or Widzew (5-5). Match of Raków was kind of calm, they had to wait for the winning goal until the second half, but in the end they got what they wanted.

Final Legia vs Raków will be played on 2 May.

If Lechia gets relegated they will probably go bankrupt and play in 4th tier, so they will have the most beautiful stadium there:)

Agreed. Allegedly Lechia owes money even to the security company, so they are on edge of not being able to organize mass events. Without tv income from Ekstraklasa, their existence is very doubtful in I liga.

[Juliusz]

Matchday 27

League table


Results

Śląsk Wrocław - Piast Gliwice 0:1
Jorge Félix 82'
Attendance: 5993

Górnik Zabrze - Korona Kielce 1:1
Piotr Krawczyk 66' - Jakub Łukowski 17'
Attendance: 11 119

Wisła Płock - Zagłębie Lubin 2:0
Łukasz Sekulski 54', Damian Warchoł 71'
Attendance: 4222

Widzew Łódź - Stal Mielec 0:2
Bartłomiej Ciepiela 10', Mateusz Mak 52'
Attendance: 16 342

Pogoń Szczecin - Cracovia 3:2
Leonárdo Koútris 15', Vahan Bichakhchyan 17,' Alexander Gorgon 88' - Mateusz Bochnak 3', Jani Atanasov 54'
Attendance: 17 125

Lech Poznań - Warta Poznań 2:0
Michał Skóraś 34', 88'
Attendance: 20 622

Jagiellonia Białystok - Lechia Gdańsk 1:0
Taras Romanczuk 84'
Attendance: 8985

Radomiak Radom - Raków Częstochowa 0:0
Attendance: 3917

Miedź Legnica - Legia Warszawa 2:2
Maxime Dominguez 27', Chuca 50' - Josué 41', 90'+5 (penalty)
Attendance: 5575

Top scorers:
11 - Jesús Imaz (Jagiellonia Białystok), Mikael Ishak (Lech Poznań)
10 - Kamil Grosicki (Pogoń Szczecin), Marc Gual (Jagiellonia Białystok), Josué (Legia Warszawa), Jakub Łukowski (Korona Kielce), Bartosz Nowak (Górnik Zabrze, Raków Częstochowa)
9 - Davo (Wisła Płock), Saïd Hamulic (Stal Mielec), Łukasz Zwoliński (Lechia Gdańsk)

We are closer to know very much about key decisions of this season. Raków qualified for European football on Saturday. Legia can follow next weekend. Lech and Pogoń will need some more points, but the gap is getting wider. Currently the only team from these lower ranked, that is able to compete with these two is... Piast. They collected 16 points in their last 6 matches, mainly because Kvekveskiri scored from distance in the added time for Lech, which took two points from Piast.

Mathematically no team is relegated yet, but Miedź failing to win and Lechia losing are basically done. It's hard to pick the third one. My feeling is that Śląsk can be in trouble, but first Górnik would have to start collecting points. They play each other on matchday 29, but there will be more direct clashes among the teams involved.

The top scorer race is ridiculous... Imaz and Ishak seemed they didn't want to win the prize, as both wasted penalties. Ishak hit the bar and wasn't allowed to score on rebound. Imaz had even two attempts. The first was repeated, because the goalkeeper didn't stay on the line, and the second was a failed Panenka. Apart from them, there are Gual and Zwoliński and four midfielders - Grosicki, Josué, Łukowski and Nowak. Davo and Hamulic are absent since January and are still among the top scorers.

[Greyn]

Raków is getting worse and worse with every week. They should consider themselves very lucky after a draw in Radom. Radomiak were the better side and should have won. Ivi Lopez is out of form completely. This is quite worrying in terms of incoming European campaign and Marek Papszun (coach) must react quickly if they want to finally qualify for a group stage football.

Legia drawing away to Miedź Legnica is not surprising to me at all. Legia has struggled against minnows in the Polish league since I remember. I remember miserable fails vs clubs like Odra Wodzisław Śląski, GKS Bełchatów, Górnik Łęczna, etc. Last autumn Miedź were even 2-0 up in Warsaw, but Legia managed to reverse the score and won 3-2 in the end. I am still worried how this team will look like after likely departures of Josue and Mladenović, given the fact that both will become free agents after the end of this season and Legia has no money in the pocket for quality replacements.