to the top tier in 1952, but came last next season. Before the start of the 1983 season in Soviet Top League, players initiative group demanded the resignation of coach Benjaminas Zelkevičius, and the players wish was granted as, Algimantas Liubinskas became the trainer. Start was cautious. A similar result 0–0 has played in Tashkent with Pakhtakor, in Leningrad with Zenit, in Vilnius with Dynamo. In the fourth match of the season against Neftchi in Baku, Gražulis scored goal on 1–0 and brought victory. There were victories and failures, but Žalgiris became the winners of the first round. In first place Žalgiris stayed short, Nevertheless, final fifth place is the highest achievement of Lithuanian football on this time and gives a great hope for future. Arminas Narbekovas, Romas Mažeikis, and Vladimiras Buzmakovas succeeded in the team in that season. In 1984 Soviet Top League season, Žalgiris finished on 9 place among 18 teams, but rejoiced victories against FC Dynamo Kyiv (1–0 at home), FC Spartak Moscow (twice 2–1), FC Dynamo Moscow (1–0 at home, 2–1 in Moscow). and Valdas Ivanauskas debuted in first team. The club's most successful season was in 1987 when they finished third in the Soviet Top League and qualified for 1988–89 UEFA Cup where they played against Austria Wien, while also for the first time in club's history reaching semi–finals of the 1987–88 Soviet Cup (after being eliminated in quarter-finals of the 1955, 1959–60, 1964 campaigns) and 1987 USSR Federation Cup. The club represented the Soviet Union at 1987 Summer Universiade which they won by defeating the South Korean team. In the following season they finished fifth and again qualified for UEFA Cup where they faced IFK Göteborg in the first round and Red Star Belgrade in the second. In 1988, several of Žalgiris players were decorated with medals in the USSR national teams: Vyacheslav Sukristov received silver medal of the UEFA Euro 1988, and Arminas Narbekovas and Arvydas Janonis brought back gold medals from the 1988 Summer Olympics. In 1989 the club finished in fourth place and for the third year in a row qualified for UEFA Cup. They managed to play one game in 1990 at the start of the season before withdrawing due to re-establishment of Lithuania's independence and joined the Baltic League which consisted of clubs from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Therefore, they lost their place in UEFA Cup, which was taken