2019–20 Ekstraklasa
The 2019–20 Ekstraklasa (also known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski) was the 94th season of the Polish Football Championship, the 86th season of the highest tier domestic division in the Polish football league system since its establishment in 1927 and the 12th season of the Ekstraklasa under its current title. The league was operated by the Ekstraklasa SA.
| Season | 2019–20 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 19 July 2019 – 19 July 2020 |
| Champions | Legia Warsaw (14th title) |
| Relegated | Arka Gdynia Korona Kielce ŁKS Łódź |
| Champions League | Legia Warsaw |
| Europa League | Lech Poznań Piast Gliwice |
| Matches played | 296 |
| Goals scored | 767 (2.59 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Christian Gytkjær (24 goals) |
| Best goalkeeper | František Plach (15 clean sheets) |
| Biggest home win | Legia 7–0 Wisła K. (27 October 2019) |
| Biggest away win | Arka 0–3 Jagiellonia (19 July 2019) Zagłębie 0–3 Piast (25 August 2019) ŁKS 1–4 Arka (21 September 2019) Piast 0–3 Śląsk (30 November 2019) Śląsk 0–3 Legia (8 December 2019) Lechia 0–3 Raków (21 December 2019) Pogoń 0–3 Zagłębie (29 May 2020) Wisła P. 1–4 Korona (31 May 2020) ŁKS 0–3 Jagiellonia (10 June 2020) Korona 0–3 Lech (14 June 2020) Lechia 0–3 Cracovia (4 July 2020) |
| Highest scoring | Śląsk 4–4 Zagłębie (21 September 2019) Zagłębie 4–4 Lechia (7 March 2020) |
| Longest winning run | 6 matches Wisła Płock |
| Longest unbeaten run | 10 matches Lech Poznań |
| Longest winless run | 11 matches Górnik Zabrze Wisła Kraków |
| Longest losing run | 10 matches Wisła Kraków |
| Highest attendance | 33,000 Wisła K. 0–1 Cracovia (29 September 2019) |
| Lowest attendance | 0 Śląsk 1–1 Lech (14 December 2019) and 32 matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic |
| Total attendance | 2,014,904 |
| Average attendance | Before COVID-19 pandemic: 8,987 2,0% Season average attendance: 6,807 22,7% |
← 2018–19 2020–21 → | |
The regular season was played as a round-robin tournament. A total of 16 teams participated, 14 of which competed in the league during the previous season, while the remaining two were promoted from the 2018–19 I liga. It is the third Ekstraklasa season to use VAR. The season started on 19 July 2019 and concluded on 19 July 2020 (the fixtures were announced on 3 June 2019 and revised on 13 May 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic). After the 20th matchday the league went on a winter break between 23 December 2019 and 8 February 2020. On 13 March 2020, the Ekstraklasa SA suspended the league due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. After consultation with the Polish government, the league resumed behind closed doors without any spectators on 29 May 2020. All matches of 31–37 round have been played with "no more than 25 percent of the number of seats allocated to the public".
Each team played a total of 30 matches in the regular season, half at home and half away. After the 30th round, the league split into two groups: championship round (top eight teams) and relegation round (bottom eight teams). Each team played 7 more games (teams ranked 1 to 4 and 9 to 12 played four times at home). Therefore, each team played a total of 37 matches. The team at the top of the Championship round won the league title. However, the rules for promotion and relegation from the league have changed: starting from the 2019–20 season, three teams were relegated from Ekstraklasa to I liga, while from the I liga to Ekstraklasa two teams advanced directly, while teams from 3-6 places fought in a play-off where the winner was awarded with a promotion to Ekstraklasa.
The defending champions were Piast Gliwice, who won their 1st Polish title the previous season. The two clubs promoted were Raków Częstochowa, returning to Ekstraklasa after 21 years, as well as ŁKS Łódź, who make a return to Ekstraklasa after 7 years. Legia Warsaw clinched their fourteenth Ekstraklasa title on the twenty eight matchday of the season, after a 2–0 win against Cracovia.