© EuroFootball.com
"We need to forget all previous encounters - on Wednesday everything will start anew," says Algis Jankauskas, the captain of the VMFD "Žalgiris" team.
At 7:30 p.m. at the Vilnius LFF Stadium, the two strongest Lithuanian football teams of the past season, Vilnius City Football Club "Žalgiris" and Panevėžys "Ekranas," will meet.
It will be the second match of the "SMScredit.lt A League" VI round between the Lithuanian giants this season.
The teams first tested their strengths on March 2 in Marijampolė during the LFF Super Cup match, where the Žalgiris team defeated the "Ekranas" club 1-0 in extra time.
A little over a month after the victorious season opening match, the capital team hopes for a similar match scenario this time.
"We will play against the country's champions team so this will be an extremely important and interesting match. Ekranas has maintained its fighting spirit - as last year, they fight until the last minute and often score goals at the end of the match. We must be prepared for that," said Marekas Zubas, the Žalgiris team coach, ahead of the upcoming encounter.
The team captain, Algis Jankauskas, reiterated the sentiment: "This will be an unusual encounter - a 6-point match. Despite the change in composition, the Panevėžys club has maintained its previous style of play. We need to forget all previous encounters - on Wednesday, everything will start afresh."
Žalgiris goalkeeper Rytis Leliūga called the match with "Ekranas" the "Lithuanian El Clasico," but did not overstress its importance.
"The match with 'Ekranas' will be difficult both physically and psychologically. However it turns out, it will be just one battle. The war will end in November. Only then will the champion of the championship be revealed," said R. Leliūga.
In the sixth round of the "SMScredit.lt A League" that started on Tuesday, victories were achieved by Klaipėda's "Atlantas," who rose to the top spot in the standings, and the "Šiauliai" team.
At the moment, "Ekranas" is two points away from the first position, and "Žalgiris" is three points away.
