Despite a constant presence in European competitions the results there were rarely encouraging with the aggregate defeats like 2–7 to Ruch Chorzow and 0–7 to Maccabi Tel Aviv. Budapest Honved and Portadown were the only teams eliminated by Žalgiris between 2000 and 2004. 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup thus stood out as a major success as green and whites went past three teams – Lisburn Distillery, Dinaburg and Egaleo, before being eliminated by CFR Cluj. 2008–present The struggles of the noughties culminated in 2008. The league finish of fifth could have been seen as adequate for the time (20 points gap to fourth-placed Sūduva was harder to take) but as country's economy braced for the inevitable crisis, expenditures were cut and uncertainty rose Žalgiris was dealt a big blow when club owner Vadim Kastujev was arrested in Moscow. Striped of funds club survived until the end of the season but failed to meet licensing requirements for top flight competition in 2009. With old club's future very much in doubt fans of Žalgiris founded a new phoenix club called VMFD Žalgiris which had the same players and staff, and following unsuccessful application for A Lyga license entered second division. A year outside of top flight proved to be difficult. Žalgiris finished sixth in seven team league and were eliminated from the cup in the Round of 16 by Sakuona Plikiai, a team from a town with a population of just 600. Despite this bleak performance the club received promotion to A Lyga as the number of teams in top flight was increased and some other clubs refused to join in mainly because of financial burden. Žalgiris finished 2010 season in the third place, their highest since 2001. The fortunes of Žalgiris went all uphill from there. With FBK Kaunas in complete turmoil and Vėtra bankrupt Ekranas for several years became the undisputed superpower of Lithuanian football. Green and whites were closing in, however: Žalgiris took second in 2011, eight points adrift, and closed the gap to a single point a year later. Moreover, in 2012 Vilnius side finally ended their nine-year trophy drought and won Lithuanian Football Cup, beating Ekranas on penalties following a 0–0 draw. The same season saw Žalgiris returning to European competitions but their UEFA Europa League campaign proved to be short: following 1–1 draw in Vilnius, Admira Wacker Mödling hammered Žalgiris 5–1 in the second leg of the