Poland - Ekstraklasa

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The Polish First Division, known as Ekstraklasa or PKO BP Ekstraklasa for sponsorship reasons, is the top-tier football category in Poland. This league was founded in 1926, and it was only brought to a halt from 1939 to 1945 due to the German occupation during World War II. This championship stops from December to March in one of the longest winter breaks in the world.

This league is played yearly by 16 teams, which are required to play 37 games every season. The first thirty games of the year are part of the regular season, while the final matches are held in two postseason groups, one to determine the champion and the other to determine the two teams that will be relegated. This league holds the 25th spot in UEFA’s coefficient ranking.

The first eight teams after the regular season make it to the championship round, while the remaining eight clubs fight to avoid relegation. Added to the title, the Ekstraklasa grants four spots to play European competitions, all of them in the preliminary stages of each tournament. The champions make it to the preliminary rounds of the UEFA Champions League, while the other three make it to the preliminary stages of the UEFA Europa League.

The 2018-19 season ended with Piast Gliwice as the champions. This was the first-ever title for The Custodians, who also earned the right to play the preliminary rounds of the UEFA Champions League. Legia Warsaw, Lechia Gdansk, and Krakow made it to the preliminary rounds of the UEFA Europa League, while Miedz Legnica and Zaglebie Sosnowiec were relegated to the I Liga, the second most relevant league in Poland.

The 2019-20 Ekstraklasa season is programmed to begin on July 19, 2019, while the last clash of the campaign is scheduled to be played on May 23, 2020. This edition will see the return of two teams to the Ekstraklasa, as Rakow Czestochowa and LKS Lodz will go back to the Polish top-flight.

Did you know? Wisla Krakow, Ruch Chorzow and Gornik Zabrze are the most successful teams in this league’s history, but only two of these clubs are still members of the Ekstraklasa, since Ruch Chorzow is currently playing in the Polish Third Division.