2023–24 Raków Częstochowa season

The 2023–24 season was Raków Częstochowa's 103rd season in existence and ninth consecutive in the Polish top division Ekstraklasa. They also competed in the Polish Cup, the Polish Super Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.

Raków Częstochowa

2023–24 season
Chairman	Piotr Obidziński
Manager	Dawid Szwarga
Stadium	Miejski Stadion Piłkarski "Raków" (Domestic competitions) Zagłębiowski Park Sportowy[note 1] (European competitions)
Ekstraklasa	7th
Polish Cup	Quarter-finals
Polish Super Cup	Runners-up
UEFA Champions League	Play-off round
UEFA Europa League	Group stage
Top goalscorer	League: Ante Crnac (8) All: Ante Crnac (8)
Home colours Away colours
← 2022–23 2024–25 →

Players

First-team squad

As of 9 September 2023^[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  SRB Vladan Kovačević 3 DF  SRB Milan Rundić 4 DF  GRE Stratos Svarnas 5 MF  SWE Gustav Berggren 7 MF  CRO Fran Tudor 8 MF  POL Ben Lederman 9 FW  POL Łukasz Zwoliński 10 MF  ESP Ivi 11 FW  ECU John Yeboah 12 GK  GRE Antonis Tsiftsis (on loan from Asteras Tripolis) 14 MF  SRB Srđan Plavšić 15 DF  BIH Adnan Kovačević 18 DF  POL Adrian Gryszkiewicz 19 FW  CRO Ante Crnac 20 MF  BRA Jean Carlos

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF  POL Dawid Drachal 22 MF  ROU Deian Sorescu 24 DF  CRO Zoran Arsenić (captain) 25 DF  ROU Bogdan Racovițan 27 MF  POL Bartosz Nowak 30 MF  UKR Vladyslav Kocherhin 33 DF  POL Kamil Pestka 66 MF  GRE Giannis Papanikolaou 77 MF  POL Marcin Cebula 89 GK  POL Kacper Bieszczad (on loan from Zagłębie Lubin) 91 FW  POL Tomasz Walczak 93 MF  GER Sonny Kittel 99 FW  POL Fabian Piasecki

Other players under contract

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  POL Piotr Malinowski — MF  POL Daniel Szelągowski — FW  POL Przemysław Oziębała

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 6 MF  POL Szymon Czyż (at Górnik Zabrze until 30 June 2024) 16 DF  POL Oskar Krzyżak (at Warta Poznań until 30 June 2024) 26 GK  POL Xavier Dziekoński (at Korona Kielce until 30 June 2024) 39 GK  POL Jakub Mądrzyk (at Miedź Legnica until 30 June 2024)

No. Pos. Nation Player 71 MF  POL Wiktor Długosz (at Ruch Chorzów until 30 June 2024) 76 GK  POL Jakub Rajczykowski (at Skra Częstochowa until 30 June 2024) — GK  POL Kacper Trelowski (at Śląsk Wrocław until 30 June 2024) — MF  POL Tobiasz Kubik (at Skra Częstochowa until 30 June 2024)

Transfers

In

Pos.	Player	Transferred from	Fee	Date	Source
DF	Stratos Svarnas	AEK Athens	€800,000	1 July 2023
MF	John Yeboah	Śląsk Wrocław	€1,500,000	6 July 2023
MF	Sonny Kittel	Hamburger SV	Free	20 July 2023	[3]
MF	Srđan Plavšić	Red Star Belgrade	€400,000	25 July 2023
FW	Ante Crnac	Slaven Belupo	€1,300,000	1 September 2023

Out

Pos.	Player	Transferred to	Fee	Date	Source
MF	Patryk Kun	Legia Warsaw	Free	1 July 2023

Pre-season and friendlies

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

Raków Częstochowa v Puszcza Niepolomice

27 June 2023 Friendly	Raków Częstochowa	4–0	Puszcza Niepolomice
11:30

Slavia Prague v Raków Częstochowa

2 July 2023 Friendly	Slavia Prague	2–1	Raków Częstochowa
15:30

Raków Częstochowa v Universitatea Cluj

5 July 2023 Friendly	Raków Częstochowa	2–1	Universitatea Cluj
11:00

Competitions

Overall record

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
					Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Ekstraklasa	22 July 2023	9 March 2024	Matchday 1		31	13	10	8	51	34	+17	041.94
Polish Cup	2 November 2023	27 February 2024	Round of 32	Quarter-finals	3	2	0	1	3	3	+0	066.67
Polish Super Cup	15 July 2023		Final	Runners-up	1	0	1	0	0	0	+0	000.00
UEFA Champions League	11 July 2023	30 August 2023	Second qualifying round	Play-off round	6	3	2	1	8	6	+2	050.00
UEFA Europa League	21 September 2023	14 December 2023	Group stage	Group stage	6	1	1	4	3	10	−7	016.67
Total					47	19	14	14	65	53	+12	040.43

Last updated: 10 May 2024
Source: Soccerway

Ekstraklasa

Main article: 2023–24 Ekstraklasa

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
5	Lech Poznań	34	14	11	9	47	41	+6	53
6	Górnik Zabrze	34	15	8	11	45	41	+4	53
7	Raków Częstochowa	34	14	10	10	54	39	+15	52
8	Zagłębie Lubin	34	13	8	13	43	50	−7	47
9	Widzew Łódź	34	13	7	14	45	46	−1	46

Source: ekstraklasa.org 90minut.pl
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Number of wins; 7) Number of away wins; 8) Lower number of points based on yellow and red cards (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, sending-off = 3 points - including 1 point for first yellow card); 9) Fairplay ranking; 10) Draw.
(Note: Head-to-head record is used only after all the matches between the teams in question have been played)^[4]

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
31	13	10	8	51	34	+17	49	9	5	1	30	8	+22	4	5	7	21	26	−5

Last updated: 10 May 2024.
Source: Ekstraklasa

Results by round

Round	1
Ground
Result
Position

Updated to match(es) played on 25 November 2023. Source: Ekstraklasa
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Raków Częstochowa v Cracovia

25 November 2023 16	Raków Częstochowa	1–1	Cracovia	Częstochowa
15:00 CET (UTC+1)				Stadium: Miejski Stadion Piłkarski "Raków"

Śląsk Wrocław v Raków Częstochowa

3 December 2023 17	Śląsk Wrocław	v	Raków Częstochowa	Wrocław
17:30 CET (UTC+1)				Stadium: Stadion Wrocław

Polish Cup

Main article: 2023–24 Polish Cup

ŁKS Łódź v Raków Częstochowa

2 November 2023 Round of 32	ŁKS Łódź	0–2 (a.e.t.)	Raków Częstochowa	Łódź
18:00 CET (UTC+1)			Kocherhin 109' Lederman 120'	Stadium: Stadion Miejski im. Władysława Króla Referee: Tomasz Kwiatkowski

Raków Częstochowa v Cracovia

6 December 2023 Round of 16	Raków Częstochowa	v	Cracovia	Częstochowa
18:00 CET (UTC+1)				Stadium: Miejski Stadion Piłkarski "Raków"

Polish Super Cup

Main article: 2023 Polish Super Cup

Raków Częstochowa v Legia Warsaw

15 July 2023 Final	Raków Częstochowa	0–0 (5–6 p)	Legia Warsaw	Częstochowa
20:10 CET (UTC+1)				Stadium: Miejski Stadion Piłkarski "Raków" Referee: Szymon Marciniak

UEFA Champions League

Main article: 2023–24 UEFA Champions League

Qualifying rounds

Main article: 2023–24 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round

First qualifying round

Raków Częstochowa v Flora

11 July 2023 First leg	Raków Częstochowa	1–0	Flora	Częstochowa, Poland
20:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Piasecki  29' Kocherhin 54'	Report	Alliku  22' Ojamaa  49'	Stadium: Miejski Stadion Piłkarski "Raków" Attendance: 5,242[5] Referee: Arda Kardeşler (Turkey)

Flora v Raków Częstochowa

18 July 2023 Second leg	Flora	0–3 (0–4 agg.)	Raków Częstochowa	Tallinn, Estonia
20:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Seppik  67'	Report	Zwoliński 47', 59' Svarnas  57' Papanikolaou 85'	Stadium: Lilleküla Stadium Attendance: 3,204[6] Referee: Marian Barbu (Romania)
Note: Raków Częstochowa won 4–0 on aggregate.

Second qualifying round

Raków Częstochowa v Qarabağ

26 July 2023 First leg	Raków Częstochowa	3–2	Qarabağ	Częstochowa, Poland
20:15 CEST (UTC+2)	Cebula  11' Cafarguliyev 55' (o.g.) Piasecki 71' Kittel 90+1'	Report	Benzia  35' Xhixha 73', 75',  78' Richard  90+8'	Stadium: Miejski Stadion Piłkarski "Raków" Attendance: 5,451[7] Referee: Lukas Fähndrich (Switzerland)

Qarabağ v Raków Częstochowa

2 August 2023 Second leg	Qarabağ	1–1 (3–4 agg.)	Raków Częstochowa	Baku, Azerbaijan
20:00 AZT (UTC+4)	Medina  47' Xhixha 60' Medvedev  89' Janković  90+6'	Report	Tudor 52' Jean Carlos  56' Kovačević  90+2'	Stadium: Baku Olympic Stadium Attendance: 31,257[8] Referee: Sven Jablonski (Germany)
Note: Raków Częstochowa won 4–3 on aggregate.

Third qualifying round

Raków Częstochowa v Aris Limassol

8 August 2023 First leg	Raków Częstochowa	2–1	Aris Limassol	Częstochowa, Poland
20:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Kocherhin 7' Tudor  24' Papanikolaou  39' Piasecki 63' (pen.)	Report	Szöke  34' T. Jahnigen (not on pitch)  86' Mayambela 89'	Stadium: Miejski Stadion Piłkarski "Raków" Attendance: 5,500[9] Referee: Duje Strukan (Croatia)

Aris Limassol v Raków Częstochowa

15 August 2023 Second leg	Aris Limassol	0–1 (1–3 agg.)	Raków Częstochowa	Limassol, Cyprus
20:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Moucketou-Moussounda  67'	Report	Cebula  21' Tudor 49' K. Waskowski (not on pitch)  61' L. Włodarek (not on pitch)  81'	Stadium: Alphamega Stadium Attendance: 3,959[10] Referee: Matej Jug (Slovenia)
Note: Raków Częstochowa won 3–1 on aggregate.

Play-off round

Raków Częstochowa v Copenhagen

22 August 2023 First leg	Raków Częstochowa	0–1	Copenhagen	Sosnowiec, Poland[note 1]
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)		Report	Racovițan 9' (o.g.) Óskarsson  89' Jelert  90+3'	Stadium: Zagłębiowski Park Sportowy Attendance: 11,600[11] Referee: Irfan Peljto (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Copenhagen v Raków Częstochowa

30 August 2023 Second leg	Copenhagen	1–1 (2–1 agg.)	Raków Częstochowa	Copenhagen, Denmark
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Vavro 35' Claesson  48' Lerager  81' Diks  84' Falk  88'	Report	Arsenić  12' Rundić  42' Kocherhin  68' Zwoliński 87'	Stadium: Parken Stadium Attendance: 34,737[12] Referee: István Kovács (Romania)
Note: Copenhagen won 2–1 on aggregate.

UEFA Europa League

Main article: 2023–24 UEFA Europa League

Group stage

Main article: 2023–24 UEFA Europa League group stage § Group D

The draw for the group stage was held on 1 September 2023.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ATA	SCP	STU	RAK
1	Atalanta	6	4	2	0	12	4	+8	14	Advance to round of 16		—	1–1	1–0	2–0
2	Sporting CP	6	3	2	1	10	6	+4	11	Advance to knockout round play-offs		1–2	—	3–0	2–1
3	Sturm Graz	6	1	1	4	4	9	−5	4[a]	Transfer to Europa Conference League		2–2	1–2	—	0–1
4	Raków Częstochowa	6	1	1	4	3	10	−7	4[a]			0–4	1–1	0–1	—

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:

1. Tied on head-to-head results. Overall goal difference used as a tiebreaker.

Atalanta v Raków Częstochowa

21 September 2023 1	Atalanta	2–0	Raków Częstochowa	Bergamo, Italy
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	De Roon  32' De Ketelaere 49' Éderson 66'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia Attendance: 13,698[13] Referee: Roi Reinshreiber (Israel)

Raków Częstochowa v Sturm Graz

5 October 2023 2	Raków Częstochowa	0–1	Sturm Graz	Sosnowiec, Poland[note 1]
18:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Papanikolaou  49' Crnac  62'	Report	Bøving 24' Danté  35' Teixeira  88'	Stadium: Zagłębiowski Park Sportowy Attendance: 8,993[14] Referee: Aliyar Aghayev (Azerbaijan)

Raków Częstochowa v Sporting CP

26 October 2023 3	Raków Częstochowa	1–1	Sporting CP	Sosnowiec, Poland[note 1]
18:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Berggren  19' Kocherhin  44' Jean Carlos  47' Piasecki 79'	Report	Gyökeres  8' Coates  8', 14' Diomande  67'	Stadium: Zagłębiowski Park Sportowy Attendance: 10,518[15] Referee: Anastasios Papapetrou (Greece)

Sporting CP v Raków Częstochowa

9 November 2023 4	Sporting CP	2–1	Raków Częstochowa	Lisbon, Portugal
20:00 WET (UTC±0)	Gonçalves 14' (pen.), 52' (pen.) Inácio  29' Paulinho  85'	Report	Racovițan  12' Rundić 70'	Stadium: Estádio José Alvalade Attendance: 32,940[16] Referee: Enea Jorgji (Albania)

Sturm Graz v Raków Częstochowa

30 November 2023 5	Sturm Graz	0–1	Raków Częstochowa	Graz, Austria
18:45 CET (UTC+1)	Sarkaria  82' Affengruber  89'	Report	K. Waskowski (not on pitch)  73' Yeboah 81' Tudor  82' Plavšić  90+3'	Stadium: Liebenauer Stadium Attendance: 12,517[17] Referee: Filip Glova (Slovakia)

Raków Częstochowa v Atalanta

14 December 2023 6	Raków Częstochowa	0–4	Atalanta	Sosnowiec, Poland[note 1]
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Tudor  76'	Report	Muriel 14', 72' Bonfanti 26',  79' Holm  33' De Ketelaere 90+2'	Stadium: Zagłębiowski Park Sportowy Attendance: 10,386[18] Referee: Enea Jorgji (Albania)

Notes

1. Raków Częstochowa played their UEFA Champions League play-off and UEFA Europa League group stage home matches at the Zagłębiowski Park Sportowy in Sosnowiec, instead of their regular stadium, the Miejski Stadion Piłkarski "Raków", in Częstochowa, which does not meet UEFA requirements.^[1]