Before the Europa League qualification match with the Austrian club "Salzburg", the players of Žalgiris assured that they can play good football and provide positive emotions.
On Thursday evening, August 29, at 9:30 pm, the Vilnius city football team "Žalgiris" will play their second match of the Europa League tournament final qualification round at home.
In the first match in Austria, the "Salzburg" team celebrated a 5-0 victory.
Gave too many gifts
After the first match, the opponents' coach said they played one of their best games. At that time, we played as poorly as we could. We gave away too many gifts. We made too many hasty decisions. This led to such a big loss. In Vilnius, we want to show the competitor that we are not as weak as we seemed in the first match," M. Zubas said confidently.
Biggest defeat in career
This is the biggest defeat in my coaching career. But we have to accept this challenge, this is football. One day you win, the next – you lose. I will repeat that we learned a very good lesson. We felt what high-level football is," reflected the coach.
Hope to score
Defense is the foundation of everything, but one of our main goals is to score. We have nothing to lose anymore, we can demonstrate interesting football, provide positive emotions for the spectators. The feeling of playing in a full stadium is amazing. I still hope that we are capable of eliminating the deficit and reaching the group stage," M. Zubas said optimistically.
The fate of reaching the main tournament stage may not only be decided on the field
No one knows what will happen. We should not experience additional pressure. It would be a big challenge for me, the team, and the staff," the specialist thought.
No match for the Austrians in Salzburg
Before the match, we knew how to play, but it didn't help. We were late everywhere, they were faster, made decisions more quickly. In the second match, our main advantage will be our own fans," said Algis Jankauskas, captain of the Žalgiris team.