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Panevėžio "Ekranas" returns to A league battles in Vilnius after a break of more than 10 days on Wednesday and will meet the league leaders "Žalgiris" in the XIV round. The tournament table indicates that the capital club can confidently be considered the favorite in this duel, which defended the names of the cup winners in Utena over the weekend.
Panevėžio "Ekranas" currently has 19 points and shares 5-6 places with Gargždai "Banga".
Panevėžio "Ekranas" head coach Valdas Dambrauskas shared his thoughts on the upcoming match with Vilnius "Žalgiris".
- "Ekranas" had an almost two-week break, how did the team use that time?
- That break is relative. We trained every day. Sometimes we even had two trainings, there was no such break where players could completely relax from football.
We trained on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, sometimes twice a day. The guys worked quite hard, did a good job. I think we are ready for this two-match stage.
- "Žalgiris" defended the names of the cup winners over the weekend, what impression did the final match leave?
- Final matches are always tense and rarely beautiful. I think "Žalgiris" deservedly won, they had a two-goal advantage after the first half and just needed to maintain it until the end of the match. Although "Banga" softened the result, they did not have good moments to equalize the result.
The match was not very different in some ways, but from the very beginning, the dominance of "Žalgiris" and especially the individual mastery of the players was evident. It was not the case that the team clearly outperformed the opponent in individual mastery, creating many chances.
However, they score goals "out of nowhere": this is determined by the individual mastery of the players. First of all, Jakubas Wilkas, who scores goals in almost every match. Of course, Deividas Šemberas, winger Ramūnas Radavičius, forward Serge Nyuiadzi. These are players of high individual mastery who can determine the outcome of the match at any time.
- On "Žalgiris" side after winning the cup final - good emotions and even greater confidence in their abilities.
- Of course, "Žalgiris" is the champion, the leader of the national championship, with a convincing reserve of points, and has just won the cup. The Vilnius team will play at home, supported by their own fans.
All the advantages are in the hands of "Žalgiris". They will be set on winning, perhaps they underestimated us somewhat in the first match. So it will definitely not be the case in these matches. They are probably in the best form of the season, in a great mood. I have no doubt that they will be very well prepared.
- Could "Ekranas" tactics differ from the first match in Panevėžys?
- Wednesday evening will show. We have to understand how we can play, what we can demonstrate, what players we have. As I mentioned, "Žalgiris" has individually strong players and they need to be given a lot of attention. We find moments to attack in every match.
We score quite a few goals, I hope we will be able to score tomorrow.
- Did D. Šemberas' words about the team and the chosen tactics when playing against "Žalgiris" upset you?
- Emotions boil after the matches and you can say anything. There is no rule against choosing the tactics you want to achieve the result. Those words gave us more motivation and benefits to both "Ekranas" and the whole A league. Interest in both "Ekranas" and the entire A league increased after the interview with D. Šemberas.
Reminder, the match between Vilnius "Žalgiris" and Panevėžio "Ekranas" will take place at the LFF stadium at 19:30.
