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Panevėžio "Ekranas" for the second consecutive year will compete in the UEFA Europa League to qualify for the group stage of the tournament, and the Lithuanian champions will face a clash with the title-holding Romanian team - Bucharest's "Steaua".
Expecting technical, fast opponents
"At the moment we have quite a few matches, two per week. We play in the A league on weekends, and in the middle of the week we have international matches. We need to pay more attention to the players' recovery after tough battles," - said the head coach of FK "Ekranas" about preparing for the upcoming Europa League matches.
"When it comes to qualifying for the Europa League group stage, there are definitely no easy opponents. We have analyzed the Romanian team, we've watched a few of their matches, they are a very strong team. It won't be easy.
The opponents play fast, technical football. It is a team that constantly tries to attack, the ball spends very little time in the middle of the field. Our defense will need to concentrate even more," - said "Ekranas" strategist Valdas Urbonas the day before the match.
The main loss for "Ekranas" is the disqualification of goalkeeper Emilijus Zubas due to a red card received in the second leg match against Brussels' "Anderlecht". Tadas Kauneckas is expected to defend the goal.
"We will try to redeem ourselves after the recent unsuccessful matches in the A league and the Champions League tournament. We will strive to show what we are capable of. I can't say these will be the most important matches of my career, as I guarded the goal in 2010 playing in the Champions League against a Finnish team. There were other important matches in my career," - said goalkeeper Tadas Kauneckas.
Defender Aurimas Kučys stated that the team is determined to fight, just like before every game. "We don't have many international matches, so focus on them is exceptional. We will fight, we will try, I think a really tough battle awaits us, we will want to perform better than against the Belgian team. It is a team that promotes technical, fast football, a very difficult battle is expected," - said one of the most experienced players of "Ekranas".
According to the coach, all the other players are healthy and will be able to help "Ekranas" in the tough fight.
Boasting about their "homework"
Looking objectively, "Steaua" is a better team than "Ekranas", we watched the match with "Anderlecht". The Belgian team was superior, but "Ekranas" had good chances to score, which they did not take advantage of. "Ekranas" is a good team and we respect our opponents," - said FC "Steaua" head coach Laurentiu Reghecampf at the press conference. The head coach of the Romanian team relied on the strengths of his team, but did not underestimate the opponents, the Lithuanian champions, and said that a tough battle awaits.
"I won't reveal who will appear on the pitch tomorrow, but I promise that the best player for 'Steaua' that day will play in the match. We are used to playing with short passes, which is not a secret, I hope the synthetic surface will not be a hindrance to this style of play. Usually we play on natural grass, tomorrow's match will be somewhat unusual because of it, but I don't think it can affect the result.
We are well prepared for the match, we had a lot of information about the Lithuanian team, we have done our "homework". We hope for good matches and a favorable result. It is normal to aim to advance to the next stage and expect good results in this tournament," - said FC "Steaua" head coach Laurentiu Reghecampf at the press conference.
The coach revealed that Tiberian Balan, who did not travel, stayed in Romania and should soon move to another team.
List of FC "Steaua" players who arrived in Lithuania: goalkeepers - Răzvan Stanga, Ciprian Tătărușanu, defenders - Iasmin Latovlevici, Daniel Georgievski, Novak Martinovic, Vlad Chiricheș, Paul Pârvulescu, Andrei Dumitraș, Florin Gardoș, midfielders - Alexandru Bourceanu, Alexandru Chipciu, Lucian Filip, Mihai Pintilii, Adrian Popa, forwards - Mihai Costea, Raul Rusescu, Stefan Nikolic, Adi Rocha.
Remember, the match will take place on August 23, 19:45, at the Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) stadium. Ticket prices are 15Lt and 30Lt. You can buy them in advance in the bilietai.lt distribution system or on the day of the match, on Thursday from 16:00 at the LFF stadium ticket offices (Liepkalnio st. 13/2, Vilnius). For those who cannot come to the stadium - live broadcast on Lryto TV.
