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The impressive season of Vilnius "Žalgiris" in the UEFA Europa League tournament will end in the knockout stage. The leaders of the Lithuanian championship suffered a heavy 0-5 defeat in the first leg away match against "Salzburg" and buried their hopes of reaching the group stage. From the very first minutes of the match, it was obvious that "Žalgiris" faced an opponent of unmatched strength. The fast, technical, and sharp attacks of the Austrian club tore through the edges of the Vilnius team and created chance after chance. The visitors failed to stop the opponent's attacks with early gaps in the midfield, which greatly complicated the defensive tasks. In total, the Žalgiris players committed fouls only eight times, while the Austrians did so only twice. The first goal came before the half-hour mark: Artūras Žulpa lost a micro duel to Mane on the left side, who then passed to Jonathan Soriano. The Spaniard only had to send the ball into the net from a few meters away. After opening the floodgates, the hosts could not close them again. A few minutes later, Soriano headed the ball into the net, and in the 40th minute, Mane, forgotten by Egidijus Vaitkūnas, jumped alone in front of the goalkeeper and knocked down the opponents for the third time. Before the second half, the Žalgiris coach Marekas Zubas made two substitutions: the debutant from France Nyuiadzi and Janušauskas appeared on the field. However, the situation did not change significantly: the Austrians continued to dominate, and the Lithuanian club was saved either by the goalkeeper or by the opponent's inaccuracy in the final phases of the attacks. However, the "dry" gates were not maintained in the second half: two more goals fell in the 63rd and 70th minutes, with one of them scored by the hat-trick Soriano, finally ending "Žalgiris"s season in Europe. "Salzburg" 5 - 0 Vilnius "Žalgiris" 29' [1 - 0] J.Soriano 37' [2 - 0] J.Soriano 40' [3 - 0] S.Mane 63' [4 - 0] J.Soriano 70' [5 - 0] M.Hinteregger Starting lineups: "Red Bull" (4-4-2): Gulasci; Klein, Ulmber, Hinteregger, Ramalho; Mane (78' Merlninger), Ilsanker, Hierlander, Kampl (89' Leitgeb); Soriano (67' Berisha), Alan "Žalgiris: (4-5-1): Vitkauskas; Vaitkūnas, Perič, Skerla, Freidgeimas; Šilėnas (46' Nyuiadzi), Kuklys (78' Zagurskas), Komolov, Leliūga (46' Janušauskas), Žulpa; Bilinski;
