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Vilnius's "VMFD Žalgiris" already looked solid in the European arena last season. However, the rather shameful 0-5 defeat against Salzburg's "Red Bulls" did not wash away the quite honorable home battle, which ended in a 0-2 defeat to the opponents. The duel against the strongest Austrian team from the Vilnius side was neither interesting nor honorable. This season, it seems, will have only one flaw out of two.
Before the match against Zagreb's "Dinamo," many looked optimistically towards the upcoming duel, supporting the Vilnius team. However, after the match, it seems that "Žalgiris" may have lost at least half of its fans (at least that's what can be judged from the comments on the internet). Yes, it must be acknowledged that on the opponents' field, "Žalgiris" was simply "floundering," and the most memorable episode while attacking the opponent's goal was probably the fall of the team's newcomer A. Rocha, requesting a yellow card for the opponent (which was shown to Žalgiris' own forward), instead of continuing the attack to create danger in front of the opponents' goal. "Žalgiris'" game was truly not interesting or inspiring, even in the worst situations. However, is the final result really bad? History says something else.
If we look at the performances of Lithuanian clubs against high-level teams, the recent history of Lithuanian teams has been simply merciless - 16 defeats out of as many possible, with a goal ratio of 6-53 (!).
Lithuanian clubs over the past decade have managed to defeat teams from countries like Malta, Ireland, the Faroe Islands, Estonia, and similar in the football world, but when meeting high-level opponents, the results, let's be honest, are appalling. Over the past 10 years, Lithuanian teams not only didn't play interestingly against high-level opponents - they didn't even play honorably.
So, can we really be angry about what we saw in the first leg between Vilnius's "VMFD Žalgiris" and Zagreb's "Dinamo"? Can we be upset about Žalgiris' fear of attacking or controlling the ball longer? Can we be upset about the lack of attacks? However, can we be angry about what "Žalgiris" achieved even without demonstrating quality football? I doubt it, because "Žalgiris" played honorably for the first time in the past 10 years against a particularly high-level team, which is halfway towards the dream of reaching the group stages of European tournaments. The foundations for further improvement are laid very firmly - we must be happy about that and I am sure that in the next few years we will take the second step, allowing us to play not only honorably but also interestingly.
14-07-22 Lithuanian Football Federation Stadium, Vilnius - 21:00 Vilnius's "VMFD Žalgiris" - Zagreb's "Dinamo"
