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The Vilnius “Žalgiris” footballers finished their performance in the UEFA Champions League qualifying phase. The capital club could not overcome the barrier of the second stage: Žalgiris’ team lost 1: 3 (0: 1) to the Hungarian champions of Budapest footballers Feroncvaros in the counter-match at the LFF stadium.
As a result of both confrontations, Vilnius had to admit the opponents’ advantage 1: 5.
After leaving the Champions League team, Žalgiris will continue his marathon of international duels in the UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds.
The people of Žalgiris began the duel actively. Vilnius “Žalgiris”, supported by crowded LFF stands, tried to squeeze the opponents and threaten the Hungarian goal – during the first 10 minutes of the duel V.Čeburinas students took four corners, team captain Saulius Mikoliūnas also scored a powerful shot a distance into the goal area.
After an active start, the game of “Žalgiris” came to a halt. Although the hosts had a bit more control over the ball, they failed to create dangerous opportunities for themselves.
Edvinas Gertmonas, the Vilnius club’s goalkeeper, did not have any serious work during the entire first half, but in the 44th minute. The Žalgiris, who had lost the ball in the opponent’s half of the field, were unable to successfully return to their goalkeepers and they were penalized with a painful stab just before the end of time.
Ryan Mmaee came close to extending the visitor’s lead.
“We analyzed our opponents, we prepared responsibly for the match, we tried to do everything possible to make the result useful to us. The match ended with a score of 1: 3, but it cannot be said that one team dominated the match.
The first half was especially successful for us. We create a lot of opportunities, we take corners, we put pressure on opponents. The opponent scored all his goals after a quick attack. That is already the case with football. Don’t hit him, hit him.
Congratulations to the players of “Žalgiris” – today they gave it their all. They showed disciplined football and followed all instructions. It’s a shame that the result was not in our team’s favor ”, reasoned V. Čeburinas, chosen as June’s best coach, after the clash.
After the break, Žalgiris had a great opportunity to even the numbers on the scoreboard in the 51st minute of the match. – Ovidijus Verbickas fired a shot from around 35 meters and LFF and couldn’t do anything about it, diving and swerving, he did it all up.
The crowd couldn’t believe it in the 56th minute when FC Hugo Videmonto found himself unmarked in front of the goal after a play from the left.
“It was my first European home game that I started as part of the beginning. I used to be a kid delivering the ball in a game like this.
Wonderful atmosphere, packed stadium, great emotions, it’s a shame we couldn’t snatch the victory “, – Žalgiris young defender Karolis Uzėla shared his atmosphere and experience after the match.
71 min. Nemanja Ljubisavljevičius from Žalgiris fell into the opponents’ penalty area after another corner kick obtained by the Vilnius team: the soccer player injured his head after a mid-air collision, but the referee’s whistle remained silent and
The people of Žalgiris scored their consolation goal at the end of the duel. 93rd duel min. Eldhaji Diaw was the scorer.
However, the Lithuanian champions could not end the match on a joyous chord: the Budapest club’s players scored their third goal on the next attack.
“It just came to our notice then. You can’t be happy to lose a match, but the European journey is not over – we need to get as much positivity as possible.
The first part was good, we have to take all the positive things and move on.
Already in the first match we realized that we can even play with such an opponent. We believed we could get something out of this match, ”Karolis Uzėla, Žalgiris defender, said at the end of the match.
In this confrontation, “Žalgiris” hit the opposing goal five times and threw up to 10 corners. Meanwhile, the Feroncvaros team hit six shots and went up three corners to the goal of the capital team.
After this failure, Vilnius Žalgiris will continue his fight in the European tournaments in the third stage of the UEFA Europa League team.
Vilnius residents will compete with the losers of the Mura and Valdas Dambrauskas of the Slovenian champion Murska Sobota, the strongest Bulgarian soccer team in Razgrad’s Ludogorec. The first meeting of these teams in Slovenia ended with an equal score of 0: 0.
– This time “Žalgiris” was much more active. What made your game safer compared to your first match? – after the duel, V. Cheburin was asked.
– In the first match, the competitors dominated. We tested our strength, we played against many spectators. The jerseys also played a role – we played with unusual colors (“Žalgiris” in Hungary played with red jerseys – ed.).
But here things turned out differently. We realized that we are capable and can overcome them.
– The opponents scored all their goals in quick attacks. Didn’t he focus too much on offense and crazy defense?
– The first goal was after a corner kick – we bounced the ball, but the opponents were technically able to catch it, “dribble” forward and score a goal.
We also lost the second goal by focusing too much on attack. All of our players were ahead and we wanted to score under the corner and regain our confidence, but we were penalized again.
– “Žalgiris” will continue his performance in Europe at the UEFA European Cup tournament. What can you learn from the Champions League playoffs you have already played?
– We take a lot of lessons. Particularly positive: we have shown that we can fight strong opponents. On the negative side, we will have to improve our defense in quick attacks from rivals.
