experience proved to heartbreaking as following a goalless draw in the first leg in Vilnius Žalgiris was a whisker away from eliminating Astana only to concede an injury time goal to lose the game 2–1. In the 2017 season, Žalgiris failed to progress beyond the Champions League's second qualifying round once again in 2017 when impressive first leg win over Ludogorets Razgrad and an early goal by Serge Nyuiadzi in the second leg were completely undone by four straight goals by Bulgarian side. In September 2017, Žalgiris reached the seventh consecutive cup final, where they lost to Stumbras, who appeared in their first major final. Žalgiris failed to defend the league title, while they were in top position of the standings until October 2017, but a late march by Sūduva saw them winning their first-ever championship. In the 2018 season, Žalgiris finished in second place as Sūduva defended their league title, while Žalgiris managed to win the cup in a repeat of last year's final as they defeated Stumbras. Playing in the UEFA Europa League, Žalgiris reached the third qualifying round where they lost to Spain's Sevilla, which was their best performance in European competition since 2013 when they reached the play-off round of the qualification in the UEFA Europa League. In November 2018, Žalgiris announced that Deividas Česnauskis and Deividas Šemberas joined the club. Česnauskis was appointed as sports director, while Šemberas – director of sports operations. During the 2019 preseason head coach Valdas Urbonas signed contract with the Lithuanian Football Federation and became the head coach of Lithuania national team. Žalgiris then appointed Marek Zub, who was previously successfully working in the club, as head coach. However, on 15 July 2019 Zub left Žalgiris. João Luís Martins, who became available after the dissolution of FC Stumbras, took on the job of head coach on a temporary basis until the end of the season. In January 2020, Žalgiris announced the appointment of Juan Ferrando as head coach. However, Ferrando was forced to pull out due to health issues. Later that month, Alyaksey Baha was signed as the team's new head coach. He started off with a success by winning the Lithuanian Supercup on 29 February against champions FK Sūduva. Žalgiris went on to win the 2020 A Lyga. In July 2022, after beating Malmö 3–0 on aggregate in the Champions League second qualifying round, Žalgiris made history by guaranteeing