© E. Žaldario
After a long break, reaching the second stage of the Champions League, "Žalgiris" will face perhaps the most serious challenge in the last three years on Tuesday - a match away against the Hungarian champion Budapest "Ferencvaros" team, which already has experience in playing in tournament group stages. In the last few European trips, "Žalgiris" only had a higher caliber opponent in 2018 when they challenged the strength with the "Sevilla" club. This time the opponent is not as famous, but still significantly higher caliber in terms of achievements, player names, and financial capacity. Optimism for Žalgiris could be drawn from history and experience - two years ago they fought tough matches with "Šūduva" (0:0, 2:4). At that time, the team was coached by the current Žalgiris strategist Vladimiras Čeburinas, with Ovidijus Verbickas and Josip Tadić now representing the Vilnius team. At that time, O. Verbickas' goal in Budapest briefly even led "Šūduva" in front - therefore the return to the same stadium raised mixed emotions. "Memories are not only bad, because there were full stands, fans supported them, but it was still fun to play in such a stadium with full stands. It was fun to score a goal back then. Of course, the emotions after the match were not good. There were tears, everything... Because we didn't qualify for the group stage. I was happy that this opponent was drawn again, and there is an opportunity for personal revenge," said the Lithuanian national team defender. O. Verbickas noted that the core of the "Ferencvaros" team has remained since then, with the team's coach being the only change - Austrian Peter Stöger now leads the team instead of Ukrainian Serhiy Rebrov. "Tactics can change with each coach, but I think the team's style will be similar to the last time. If we manage to implement everything, we will play good matches and achieve a good result," hoped O. Verbickas. In the first qualifying round, "Žalgiris" was the favorite. This time the clear favorites are the opponents, so the football player referred to it as a possible advantage for the Lithuanian champions. "There is no pressure in the team. When you are the favorite, there is more pressure, now the pressure will weigh on them. If we confidently advance, show that we can, it's time to put more pressure on them. Especially if they imagine they can easily outplay us," said the player. Fans of "Ferencvaros" discussing the match on social networks immediately noticed that there is a familiar coach in the opponent's team. However, at the press conference before the match, V. Čeburinas did not receive any questions about the old rivalry. "We know that 'Ferencvaros' is a strong team, champions of their country. However, 'Žalgiris' are also champions and have reached this second stage. We analyzed our opponent, their game. We know that this is a team that likes to play attacking football. This is their strength. Starting at home in front of their fans gives them an advantage. Our task is to work and play in a way that gives them fewer opportunities and creates more ourselves," said the "Žalgiris" coach. Žalgiris will be without defender Djibril Diaw and midfielder Karolis Užėla in the last matches in Belfast due to the red cards they received. In the matches against 'Linfield', D. Diaw was one of the three central defenders in the newly tested tactical formation. What V. Čeburinas will choose this time, was forced to guess even by the 'Ferencvaros' coach P. Stöger. According to him, the Vilnius team is stronger than the Kosovar champion "Pristina", which 'Ferencvaros' convincingly beat in the first round with a shared result of 6:1. "Žalgiris" is a more organized team. They can play with four or five defenders, so we have to be ready for both options. The difference is that the Vilnius club probably promotes less physical play than 'Pristina'. However, they are still a very strong team, they won their country's league for a reason. Difficult match ahead, but we are the better team," P. Stöger reassured. In the background of the team called "Fradi" there will be a solid group of fans. "Ferencvaros" - the most popular club in Hungary, with a long tradition of having a passionate fanbase. It is expected that a total of 9-10 thousand spectators will gather at the stadium. This is approximately half of the 'Groupama Arena' stadium, which accommodates 22 thousand spectators. Žalgiris has already played at this location once - but then it was in the old A. Florian stadium, when in 2002 they won 1:0 against another Budapest team "Kispest-Honved" in a UEFA Intertoto Cup match. The modern new stadium was built in 2013, but in this regard, it is not even the newest in the city. Practically new stadiums in Budapest are owned by MTK (opened in 2016) and 'Honved' (2021), and the national team also has separate homes. In 2017, a new 'Puskás Aréna' was built on the site of the old national stadium for half a billion euros, which can accommodate up to 67 thousand spectators and hosted the European Championship final stage matches this summer. The referees from Georgia, with the fourth official Giorgi Kruashvili, will officiate the match in Budapest on Tuesday. This summer he refereed a European Under-21 Championship match between Germany and Portugal. The match between "Ferencvaros" and "Žalgiris" will take place on Tuesday at 9 pm Lithuanian time. The match will be broadcast by the Hungarian television channel "M4 sport". The second leg between the teams will take place on July 27 in Vilnius, at the LFF Stadium.
