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In Austria, during the first leg of the Europa League knockout stage, Vilnius' "Žalgiris" lost 0:5 to the footballers of "Salzburg". It doesn't seem realistic for them to make a comeback in the return match in Lithuania.
However, the fate of "Žalgiris" may not depend on the outcome of the next Thursday's match, but on the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Wednesday. A case seemingly unrelated to the residents of Vilnius could potentially open the gates of the dreamed group stage tournament for "Žalgiris".
The uncertainty of the future of the Istanbul club "Fenerbahce" in European competitions has given hope to the leaders of the Lithuanian championship.
UEFA had removed the Istanbul club from the Champions League for match-fixing. The Turks appealed the decision to the CAS. Therefore, UEFA allowed "Fenerbahce" to play in the European Champions League until the CAS decision, from which the Turkish team eliminated "Salzburg" (1:1 and 3:1) and will meet London's "Arsenal" in the group stage. The team that loses the Champions League qualification match enters the Europa League group stage.
If CAS lifts UEFA sanctions on the Turks, the English would play in the Champions League regardless of the qualifying match result. In the Europa League, "Fenerbahce" would replace "Salzburg", and "Žalgiris" would take the place of this team in the next stage of the Europa League group.
This scenario is confirmed by the precedent of the decision by UEFA in the case of Kharkiv's "Metalist".
UEFA had removed the Ukrainian club for fixed matches in the Champions League qualifiers. The Kharkiv club appealed to the CAS, but unlike the case of "Fenerbahce", the Ukrainians' appeal was rejected immediately.
Thus, in the fourth round of the Champions League qualifiers, Salonika's PAOK replaced "Metalist", and Tel Aviv's "Maccabi", who were supposed to compete with the Greeks in the fourth round of the Europa League, advanced to the group stage of these competitions without a fight.
"Salzburg" has also (before the match with "Žalgiris") turned to the CAS in hope to stay in the Champions League qualifiers, like PAOK, but since "Fenerbahce" has not been removed by the CAS decision, the Austrians had to settle for a match with the Lithuanian vice champions, which may not necessarily determine the chances of both teams competing in the Europa League groups.
