The 2017 Lithuanian Football Cup final was the 72nd Lithuanian Football Cup final and took place on 24 September 2017 between Žalgiris and Stumbras. Stumbras qualified for the final for the first time in its history, while Žalgiris were the defending champions, having won the last six finals in the row. Stumbras won the final 1–0 after a late goal by Nasro Bouchareb, who was selected player of the match. Kaunas' side became first club to win the final from their first try after Neris Vilnius did it in 1992 and also managed to break Žalgiris domestic dominance of 14 straight titles in the last 5 years.
Stumbras also qualified for the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round and earned the right to play in the 2018 Lithuanian Supercup.
Route to the final
ŽalgirisStumbrasOpponentResultLegScorersRoundOpponentResultLegScorersBanga (II)1–1 (3–1 p)awayLjujićRound of 32Šilutė (II)1–0awayLopesAtlantas1–0homeEliveltoRound of 16Prelegentai (Vet)8–0awayKonikas (3), Kalvaitis , Artimavičius (2), Armalas, SekgotaPanerys (III)8–0awayOyarzún, Uzėla (2), Lukša (2), Stočkūnas (2), ŠernasQuarter-finalsJonava5–3 awayClifford, Villela (3), SekgotaSūduva2–2 (4–2 p)awayVaitkūnas, AntalSemi-finalsVilniaus Vytis (II)1–1 (4–2 p)awayNazaré
Pre-match
Awareness Match attracted a lot of attention from the local press, as well as some from the international sources, mostly from Portugal.
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa event came to visit and wish luck to Stumbras during his international trip to Lithuania.
On the other hand, most A Lyga clubs will support Žalgiris, mainly due to rules related with UEFA Europa League qualification.
Transport Before the final Lithuanian Football Federation organized special buses for the local fans of both clubs that will allow to comfortably reach the final venue from Vilnius and Kaunas.
Trophy On 19 September 2017, interim Lithuanian Football Federation president Vidmantas Butkevičius transferred LFF Cup trophy to Panevėžys city municipality and its mayor Rytis Mykolas Račkauskas. It'll be displayed there until the game.
Match
GK 1 Armantas VitkauskasRB 8 Egidijus Vaitkūnas (c) CB 6 Mamadou MbodjCB 2 Linas Klimavičius LB 5 Donovan SlijngardCM 88 Mantas KuklysCM 7 Slavko BlagojevićRW 21 Liviu Antal AM 27 Matija Ljujić LW 80 Elivelto CF 10 Darvydas ŠernasSubstitutes:GK 29 Džiugas BartkusDF 4 Diego OyarzúnDF 23 Rolandas BaravykasMF 16 Mahamane TraoréMF 19 Daniel RomanovskijMF 21 Vytautas Lukša FW 9 Bahrudin Atajić Manager: Valdas Dambrauskas GK 1 Rodrigo JosviakiRB 31 Marcos JuniorCB 3 André Almeida CB 20 Tomas Snapkauskas (c)LB 5 Jardel NazaréRM 8 Vilius Armanavičius CM 23 Dominykas BarauskasLM 80 Fábio LopesRF 9 Levan Macharashvili CF 70 Alexandre Kore LF 7 Lucas Villela Substitutes:GK 12 Nemanja BjelanMF 10 Klaidas Janonis MF 26 Kgaogelo SekgotaMF 30 Dominykas GalkevičiusMF 35 Joao VictorFW 25 Jaisen Clifford FW 55 Nasro Bouchareb Manager: Mariano Barreto
Man of the Match: Nasro Bouchareb (Stumbras)
Assistant referees: Arūnas Dapkus (Lithuania) Edgaras Bučinskas (Lithuania) Fourth official: Mantas Pomeckis (Lithuania) Additional assistant referees: Manfredas Lukjančukas (Lithuania) Mindaugas Jackus (Lithuania)Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used.
References