Jagiellonia" - Debuting Club in the Champions League Qualifiers

2024-07-22 08:59 © jagiellonia.pl

"Panevėžys” football club will face their second opponent in the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds. The people of Panevėžys will compete against the Balstogė "Jagiellonia” team, which triumphed in the Polish championship for the first time.

Founded 104 years ago, the club has been playing continuously in the country's top league since the 2007-2008 season. During that time, "Jaga” finished second twice and once enjoyed 3rd place. Last season was fantastic - the Balstogė team sensationally triumphed with 63 points, surpassing Wroclaw's "Slask” footballers due to a better goal difference.

The fate of the title was decided on the last matchday: the future opponents of "Panevėžys” needed a victory at home and they achieved that by defeating Poznan's "Warta”. In the previous two seasons, the team located closest to Lithuania in the "Ekstraklasa” league finished in 12th and 14th places respectively.

A young 32-year-old specialist, Adrian Siemienecas, led the Balstogė team to historic triumph, having previously worked with the club's reserves. The "Jagiellonia” team is usually led by specialists from Poland, although in 1998 one of the rare foreign nationals in the technical zone was Lithuanian Algimantas Liubinskas.

"Jaga” and another team in the Podlaskie Voivodeship region - Suwałki "Wigry” - have the most connections to Lithuania among Polish clubs. Around a dozen Lithuanians played in the Balstogė team, including notable figures like Andrius Skerla, who scored the winning goal in the cup final, as well as standout players Arvydas Novikovas and Fedor Černych.

"Jagiellonia” has played friendly matches with Lithuanian teams before and once faced a representative of the "TOPsport A Lyga” in international competitions. In 2015, in the Europa League qualifiers, the Balstogė team beat Pakruojis "Kruoja” 1-0 and 8-0, whose honor was defended by several players who later represented "Panevėžys”. However, "Kruoja” ceased to exist after a little over a month, while the Polish team has never surpassed one stage in international competitions.

Compared to the previous season, "Panevėžys” opponents have retained a significant part of their team. Goalkeeper Zlatan Alomerovič has moved to Cyprus, while Bartłomiej Wdowik, who had a great season, was bought by "Braga” club. Two players must be highlighted - Taras Romanchuk, who competed in the European Championship in the summer, and Spanish player Jesús Imaz, who is the all-time top scorer of the Balstogė team.

The stakes are high in the double confrontation. The winner of the pair will advance to the third stage of the Champions League qualifiers and secure participation in at least the Conference League group stage battles.

The first meeting between Lithuanian and Polish champions will take place on July 23, Saturday. The match will start at 18:30 at the "Aukštaitija” stadium, and the broadcast will be available on the DELFI TV channel.