Żurawski's Lech debut came on 8 March 1998 in a 1:1 draw with KSZO Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski in which he assisted on a goal scored by Tomasz Augustyniak. That season he played 17 times and scored 2 goals for Lech. In the fall campaign of 1998/99 his partnership with Piotr Reiss proved to be one of the best in the league and helped Lech to unexpectedly become one of the best clubs in the Ekstraklasa.

When Reiss left Lech in December "Żuraw" became a fan favorite. That season he played all 30 games and scored 11 goals as well as assisting on many others.

On 10 November 1998 Żurawski made his national team debut in a friendly match agianst Slovakia. He came on in the 75th minute replacing his friend Piotr Reiss - also a playing in the national team for the first time. Poland won the match 3:1.

In the summer of 1999 Wisła Kraków purchased Żurawski for 2 million DM. In the fall of 1999 he still played 9 times for Lech scoring 6 goals including 2 agianst his future club Wisła Kraków. When Maciej finally made his move to Wisła it turned out to be a bad season for him and his new club.

The 2000/01 season was much better both for Żurawski and Wisła. The club won the Polish League, the Polish Cup, and eliminated Spanish club Real Zaragoza in the UEFA Cup. Żurawski played a big part in this success often playing on the wings. In attack Orest Lenczyk still preffered the Frankowski - Moskalewicz partnership.

Żurawski finally secured his spot in the attack in the 2001/02 season finishing top scorer in the Ekstraklasa with 21 goals in 27 matches. His total for all competitions that year was 31 goals. In the game against GKS in Katowice he scored five. His partnership with Tomasz Frankowski produced 50 goals that season. In the return match in the second round of the UEFA Cup with Inter Milan Żurawski gave the Italian club a scare scoring in the 4th minute. He was a regular on the national team by then scoring 3 goals that season and was included in the 2002 World Cup squad.

In Korea he started all 3 matches but did not score. His best chance was a penalty against the USA which he had saved.

Żurawski's best perfomances so far came in the fall of 2002. Thanks to his goals Wisła elminated Parma and Schalke in the UEFA Cup. Maciej finished the fall top scorer in the league, Wisła was top of the leage and awaitng Lazio in the IV Round (final 16) of the UEFA Cup. In December Żurawski extended his contract to 2007 ending speculation of transfer abroad.

Lazio proved too strong for Wisła but Żurawski scored two in the 3:3 draw at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

After many rumours of an impending move to a league in Western Europe Żurawski was finally sold by Wisła to Scottish club Celtic in the summer of 2005. Although Macej battled through some injuries this season he still scored many important goals for the Glasgow club and helped them win the Scottish league.