Nine percent of hope turned into one hundred percent madness, and the almost prematurely buried Vilnius “Žalgiris” created an evening that will be hard to find a rational explanation for a long time.
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After a 0:3 defeat in Tbilisi, the Vilnius team won 7:2 at home and with an aggregate score of 7:5 secured a ticket to the next qualifying round of the Conference League, turning Liepkalnis stadium into a place where common sense temporarily ceased to apply.
“I had never experienced anything like this. It is one of the most impressive evenings of my career. As a coach, I had never gone through this before,” admitted “Žalgiris” strategist A. Skerla after the match. “Few believed that everything could happen as it did. I think many had to cancel their tickets because they had already planned vacations, as the next match was scheduled only 16 days later.”
It was not a match, but a football fever. Not a comeback, but a resurrection from the pit where the Georgians had already started building a tombstone.
“Žalgiris” fell, got up, was knocked down again, and each time returned even angrier. They conceded when it seemed they were close to a miracle, and scored when the faith in the stands was hanging by a thread.
In the 82nd minute, Stanislav Bilenkyi lit up the scoreboard with the long-awaited numbers – 5:2. At that moment, the percentages counted by “Žalgiris” president A. Tapinas before the match no longer mattered to anyone.
The millionaire club owner Tadas Burgaila shook “Žalgiris” director Mindaugas Kasperūnas, the stands became one roaring body, and Liepkalnis was only waiting for the final whistle.
But “Žalgiris” no longer knew how to stop that evening.
Nemanja Mihajlović scored the sixth, S. Bilenkyi from the crossbar – the seventh, and in the media stand, the legendary Žalgiris player Robertas Tautkus began demanding a hundred.
“South IV” tirelessly continued to pull the “Žara silks,” and the confused Georgians on the field no longer understood from which side the next blow would come. The stadium was immersed in such euphoria that neither this stadium nor the nearby maternity hospital had ever seen before.
When the whistle of Macedonian Ilioski Vlatko sounded, A. Skerla ran onto the field with raised hands, his assistant Gintaras Staučė Jr. grabbed marketing project manager Aušrinė Šidlauskė into his arms and spun her into a spontaneous victory dance.
The stadium floodlights went out, but the stands did not quiet down for a long time. “Žalgiris! Žalgiris!” – Liepkalnis chanted as loudly as never before.
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The evening was so incredible that on Thursday not only football logic briefly turned upside down – conservative leader Ingrida Šimonytė, wearing “Žalgiris” shirts, left the stadium carrying four empty cups in her hands.
Before the match, there was talk of a miracle. After it, that word already seemed too modest.
“After the match in Tbilisi, we were very disappointed. You all saw the rough mistakes we made there. Everyone felt huge disappointment, but today, helped by wonderful fans, the players showed impressive character and motivation. I have no words, I am very happy,” said A. Skerla.
“Žalgiris” not only erased the three-goal deficit. They rewrote their European summer in one evening, escaped from almost closed doors, and stormed into the next round so loudly that the impact probably shook not only Vilnius but also Tbilisi.
And it all started from nine percent and a penalty shot over the bar.
“From the very beginning, we controlled the ball very well. I saw that the opponents had difficulty adapting to this pitch. They lost many balls. It seemed they went onto the field already thinking about the next round. Meanwhile, we went out very focused. We missed the penalty, but controlled everything. When we finally scored the fifth goal, I believed we could score more and not wait for extra time. And so it was,” rejoiced A. Skerla.
After the duel, the strategist wanted to shake hands with the opponent’s coach Temur Kecbaja, but he was no longer on the bench.
“I went there to say goodbye, but he was already gone… There were only assistants and support staff. I know how hard it is to accept such a defeat. It happens in coaches’ careers,” the strategist downplayed.
For this feat, the strategist promised his pupils one day off.
“Well, maybe two,” smiled the strategist.
In the next competition stage, Žalgiris will face the Split “Hajduk” club, which lost a two-goal advantage and was eliminated 0:4 by “Pafos” in the Europa League tournament.
“An interesting feeling, a few years ago, when Valdas Dambrauskas worked there, I went for an internship. It will be interesting to return. Split is a big and rich club, but we will try.
