S. Vrevenas: we must not mourn for too long

2024-07-24 15:35 © fcpanevezys.lt

The football club "Panevėžys" welcomed nearly four thousand fans at the "Aukštaitijos" stadium on Tuesday, who watched the first confrontation between the champions of Lithuania and Poland.

The match ended with the visitors’ team, Białystok's "Jagiellonia," winning 4:0, so after the match, Panevėžys' coach Stijn Vreven fully acknowledged the opponents' superiority.

"I can start by saying that sometimes football is really fair. I believe this is a fair result. We shouldn't be talking nonsense after this match. 'Jagiellonia' stretched our limits. I think we played bravely, not with a low block, not just in defense; we tried to play football, press high, but the opponents were better than what we saw in the video footage. They have a lot of quality on the field in every position and were very confident with the ball. These were really tough matches that pushed our limits."

"They scored fantastic goals; we have to admit, that’s one hundred percent a fair result. Sometimes we could have done better in some situations. After conceding the second and third goals, we could have played better; they scored fantastically, but after the throw-in from the sideline, we lost the ball very easily soon after. Five seconds later, they scored a goal, but that’s also the quality of the opponent. We are also disappointed with the result, but it is fair."

I told the players that we shouldn’t be sad in the evening; of course, we have to be disappointed, we are professional players, but we worked so hard in the two matches against HJK to play this match – we cannot be sad for too long. In my opinion, we will play in the Champions League again on Saturday. "Džiugas" – the next match, which is very important for us to rise in the top of the table and not stay at the bottom anymore; we also need wins there. Saturday will come quickly for my players, but that’s the reality. Once again – this is a fair result,” said S. Vreven, reflecting on the confrontation for the fk-panevezys.lt website.

The Polish club "Jagiellonia" was supported by about a couple of thousand fans at the "Aukštaitijos" stadium, creating a memorable atmosphere. This was appreciated by the coach of the "Jagiellonia" club, Adrian Siemieniec, who stated that this was a crucial driving force in the away game.

"I will start by congratulating the team on this victory and the match, and thanking our fans for how many of them showed up, how they supported the team throughout the match; they created a wonderful atmosphere and environment that made us feel almost at home. It was impossible considering the environment and the significance of the match; these were not our walls, but we felt the presence of the fans all day long and during the match."

"Of course, we are very happy about the victory, we are pleased that we scored four goals and did not concede, we kept a clean sheet on the other side. As for the result after the first match, I won’t hide it; we are satisfied, but we understand that this is the first half, and the second half is ahead of us in Białystok. We need to maintain focus, continuity, and responsibly assess the moment we are in. We are happy about it and want to enjoy this moment because we deserve it after the past year, but now we are gearing up for what lies ahead. Our next game is against 'Radomiak', and then we will think about the return match with 'Panevėžys'," said the football specialist from Poland.

The return match between the two teams will take place on July 31, Wednesday, in Białystok. The match will start at 21:30 Lithuanian time.