Widzew Łódź's big-money signings fail to deliver as Motor Lublin hold them to 2-2 draw in Ekstraklasa opener

Match result

Widzew Łódź began the 2026-27 PKO BP Ekstraklasa season with a 2-2 home draw against Motor Lublin on Sunday, 26 July. The match, one of the most anticipated of the opening round, kicked off at 17:30 at Widzew's stadium. Motor took the lead in the 13th minute when Widzew defender Sebastian Bergier inadvertently turned the ball into his own net. The hosts responded seven minutes later: Mariusz Fornalczyk headed in an equaliser. Bergier then put Widzew ahead from the penalty spot in the 28th minute. Motor levelled the score four minutes after the restart, Mbaye N'Diaye finding the net in the 49th minute. The result extended Widzew's unbeaten home run to seven league matches but was widely seen as a false start for a team tipped to challenge for the top places.

Heavy investment, familiar frustration

Widzew owner Robert Dobrzycki spent approximately 100 million złoty on reinforcements last season, yet the team narrowly avoided relegation. This summer, the club invested nearly 6.5 million złoty to sign Polish international forward Karol Świderski from Panathinaikos and left-back Mario Garcia from Racing Santander. The management also saw changes: Łukasz Masłowski and Artur Płatek arrived, while Dariusz Adamczuk departed. The sale of Osman Bukari, the most expensive player in Ekstraklasa history, freed up resources. Despite the outlay, the opening draw echoed last season's underperformance and left doubts about the immediate impact of the new signings.

Pre-season promise

Widzew entered the campaign with high expectations after an impressive pre-season under coach Aleksandar Vuković. The team won four of five friendlies, defeating Beşiktaş 2-0, Stal Rzeszów 4-0, Marchfeld 4-3, and Puszcza Niepołomice 2-0, and drawing 0-0 with DAC Dunajská Streda. They scored twelve goals and kept four clean sheets. The draw against Motor, described as a "falstart" by Polish media, punctured that optimism and left the club with work to do before the next round.

Motor's transformation

Motor Lublin, one of the surprises of the previous season, underwent a radical summer rebuild. Mariusz Misiura took over as head coach from Mateusz Stolarski, and fourteen players left the club. New signings included experienced Poland international Bartosz Bereszyński and midfielder Mateusz Łęgowski. Forward Karol Czubak, who has eight goals in 2026 and is the joint-top scorer in the league, was expected to lead the attack. Last season, Motor beat Widzew 3-0 at home before losing the return fixture 2-0. Despite the overhaul, Motor's pre-season performances were encouraging, and they carried that form into the opening match.

Coach's calm

After the match, Vuković stressed that the club is not rushing its transfer business.

“As you can see, we are not doing anything in a hurry, but transfers are a topic we are still discussing widely. The most important thing is that we have the core of the team. Thanks to this, we can work with greater calm and without haste to select new players. I am sure there will be a few more.”