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Super Sypek

Zagłębie in Polish means “coalfield” and Górnik stands for “a miner”. In the 1. Round of Ekstraklasa both teams played like their names suggested: they dug deep and gained important victories. In Lubin it was scoreless and didn’t look pretty after 45 minutes, but that’s when Jakub Sypek came into play. The 25-year old Polish winger turned the game around with a goal and an assist in the span of just 14 minutes. That proved to be enough to beat gritty Piast Gliwice at home for the first time in 9 years.

Out of 4 Polish teams currently in play for the European competitions group stage spots only the cup winners Górnik Zabrze grabbed 3 points. The Miners came from behind to beat Śląsk Wrocław, who last featured in Ekstraklasa two seasons ago. Now to stay alive in their Champions League campaign Lukas Podolski’s side need to do the same vs Fenerbahce on Wednesday. The Turkish side leads this one 1:0 on aggregate.

Winning Wisłas

It was a great round if you played for a team called “Wisła”. The one from Kraków were founded 120 years ago and are 13-time champions, but returned to Ekstraklasa after a 48 months hiatus. They opened the season in style beating GKS Katowice - one of the top 5 teams in 2025/26 - in front of an impressive crowd. Over 31,000 fans celebrated a 2-1 victory, which came with their best striker Angel Rodado coming off the bench in 67. minute. The 29-year old Spaniard won the Polish 1. Division scoring title three consecutive times, but is still nursing a shoulder injury.

Even more impressive was Wisła Płock’s win over Raków in Częstochowa. It was a dream debut for Marcin Flis as he marked his Ekstraklasa return by scoring the only goal of the first half. Last year this 32-year old found the back of the net 10 times in 29 games for his former club Pogoń Siedlce. This stat is truly incredible considering the fact that Flis is a… central defender!

Lech Homecoming Spoiled

Cracovia traveled to Bułgarska to try to ruin the welcome back party for last year’s champions Lech Poznań. In Round 1 of the 2025-26 season the side from Kraków handed the Locomotive a decisive 4:1 beating. This one ended 0:0, which is a very solid result for the Stripes. Lech fans didn't mind the slow(er) start. Their team already won the Polish Supercup (3:1 vs Górnik) and earned an impressive Champions League qualifying victory last week. They beat Aarhus 4:1 in Denmark and - barring any issues - Sabah Baku from Azerbaijan are going to be next on their radar.

Amazing Attendance

A close to a record-breaking attendance watched the first round of the Polish top flight. A total of 168,114 fans showed up at 9 stadiums to cheer on their teams. The biggest crowd - 31,344 - applauded Wisła's win in Kraków. Only 24 fewer supporters came to watch Lech vs Cracovia. More than 20,000 sat at stadiums in Szczecin and Zabrze. In all, the total number of fans turned out to be the second best ever: the inaugural round of the 2025-26 campaign was experienced by 178,030 people.

Game of the Week

Widzew vs Motor (2:2). An own goal by Sebastian Bergier - Widzew’s best scorer last year - gave the visitors’ a surprising lead in the 13th minute. The home team responded by putting two on the board before the 30th minute mark (one scored by Bergier, who redeemed himself). Motor equalized 4 minutes after the break and were able to contain Widzew until the end despite the highly anticipated appearance of Karol Świderski. The Polish national team striker, who has 51 caps to this day, entered the field in the 65th minute, but none of his 3 attempts proved to be the game winner. With all the Widzew’s heavy expectations it was a moral win for Motor, whose roster include more than a dozen new players under a new coach Mariusz Misiura.

A Look Ahead

We have a slew of 8 games for you - available to watch live on beIN Sports channels and our digital platform - on the last day of July and the first days of August. Korona Kielce - Górnik Zabrze match is postponed due to Górnik’s participation in Champions League qualifiers. It will be interesting in Kraków, where the absolute newcomers Wieczysta will play their first ever Ekstraklasa home game. Getting at least a point vs Lech would be a tremendous achievement for Kazimierz Moskal’s team. 

We can expect huge crowds in Wrocław, where Śląsk and Raków will battle it out in search of their first wins. But the fixture that stands out the most is Legia - Zagłębie. Last season the team from the capital fought until the end against relegation, but this year the Army Men are supposed to be back where they belong: among the Polish heavyweights. Last week they stole 3 points in Szczecin after a dramatic finish (a goal in the 6th minute of added time!), but this week they host Zagłębie: the only team to win by two goals in Round 1. Who - in this great battle of the veteran coaches: Marek Papszun vs Leszek Ojrzyński - will come out on top?

Friday, July 31:
Wisła Płock - Widzew Łódź
Motor Lublin - Jagiellonia Białystok

Saturday, August 1:
Piast Gliwice - Wisła Kraków
Wieczysta Kraków - Lech Poznań

Sunday, August 2:
Legia Warszawa - Zagłębie Lubin

Śląsk Wrocław - Raków Częstochowa
GKS Katowice - Radomiak Radom

Monday, August 3:
Cracovia - Pogoń Szczecin

ROUND 1:

Radomiak Radom (2) - Wieczysta Kraków (15) 2:1 (Alves 43’ Grzesik 49’ - Feiertag 57’, red card: Maigaard, Wieczysta)

Pogoń Szczecin (17) - Legia Warszawa (7) 0:1 (Arsenic 90’)

Jagiellonia Białystok (6) - Korona Kielce (16) 1:0 (Prelec 88’)

Górnik Zabrze (2) - Śląsk Wrocław (12) 2:1 (Matsenko 65’own Ikia Dimi 79’ - Banaszak 7’)

Lech Poznań (11) - Cracovia (10) 0:0

Raków Częstochowa (12) - Wisła Płock (2) 1:2 (Makuch 68’pk - Flis 37’ Rogelj 49’)

Widzew Łódź (9) - Motor Lublin (9) 2:2 (Fornalczyk 20’ Bergier 28’pk - Bergier 13’own Ndiaye 49’)

Wisła Kraków (2) - GKS Katowice (12) 2:1 (Bozic 56’pk Sanchez 60’ - Bartlewicz 79’)

Zagłębie Lubin (1) - Piast Gliwice (18) 2:0 (Sypek 72’ Reguła 86’)

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