First time on the podium

Last Wednesday, when Lech faced Miedź in the postponed match from the 2^nd round, John van den Brom’s team already had an opportunity to jump on the podium. However, they failed to win the game, hence they tied Pogoń Szczecin and Widzew Łódź point wise, but had a worse goal average. When Lech defeated Miedź on Sunday, they surpassed the two teams in the league table as neither Pogoń (1:1 draw against Jagiellonia) nor Widzew (lost 0:2 to Śląsk Wrocław) managed to win their matches.

The autumn has been a challenging period for Lech. Not only is the Poznań squad defending the Championship title, but as a result of the promotion to the group phase of the Europa Conference League, they had to play a total of 32 games throughout the autumn months. Moreover, the numbers could have been even higher had Lech not been eliminated from the Polish Cup. This busy schedule forced the squad to work at a very intense level without room for much rest. Moreover, in the summer, the new coach – John van den Brom – took over the senior team and had little time for adaptation and preparation.

Therefore, it’s no surprise that July and August were difficult for the Dutch coach. “I wasn’t familiar with the Polish league; I was still in the process of learning its characteristics. In addition, we had problems with the squad - for instance, with the centre-backs. Hence why the beginning was challenging,” explained the Dutchman. Lech would go on to win their first PKO BP Ekstraklasa game in the 6^th (formally, the 7^th) league round, but this breakthrough initiated a run of 4 league wins and enabled Lech to move out of the relegation zone.

John van den Brom’s squad stayed ranked mid-table for the next few rounds – although they lost just one game, there were a few draws which made it hard to climb up the table. Finally, towards the end of the autumn, Lech caught up to the teams from the top ranks. The last-minute triumphs against Korona Kielce (3:2) and Jagiellonia Białystok (2:1), both thanks to Filip Szymczak’s goals, greatly improved Lech’s situation in the league.

At that point, the squad from Poznań already had the chance to jump on the podium, but they had one postponed match to play – against Miedź Legnica (2^nd round of PKO BP Ekstraklasa). This clash was rescheduled to the end of January/beginning of February, hence as a result of a long winter break – due to the World Cup in Qatar – Lech had to wait patiently before they could have a shot at the podium. Eventually, they achieved the objective – despite the two disappointing draws against Miedź and Stal. The Sunday triumph enabled John van den Brom and his players to jump on the podium for the first time this season.

There are still 15 matches left in the 2022/2023 campaign and Lech is in a good place to finish the season strong. Everything is still possible – the upcoming games will clarify what the final table will look like.