The Lithuanian became the first coach from our country to lead his team to the UEFA Champions League group stage.
And he did it in a match that should remain in the memory not only of him but of the entire Baku “Sabah” club for a long time.
After losing the first encounter 1:2 in Bucharest to Beer Sheva’s “Hapoel,” the Azerbaijani champions twice found themselves playing catch-up in the return match but recovered both times.
When it seemed the dream was slipping away, Tellur Mutallimov snatched extra time in the 94th minute, and in it, the hosts sealed the final points.
“Sabah” reached a place for the first time in the club’s history where just a few years ago it was hard to imagine themselves – among the strongest European clubs.
After the match, V. Dambrauskas first spoke not about tactics.
He spoke about people.
“Wonderful, wonderful atmosphere. I would like to personally hug and thank all the fans who came to the stadium today for coming, giving us their energy, and creating such an atmosphere in the stadium.
My players… Whenever I start talking about them, tears well up in my eyes – because of how strongly they believe, because of their work, because of what they do every day. This is the best, most wonderful group of players I have ever had in my life and throughout my career. And today they proved it once again.
When it was tough, when, I think, maybe some of you had already lost hope, they kept believing. We came back twice from a very difficult situation.
And now let’s see what the future holds for us. We are in the Champions League. We are in the best tournament in the world, among the best European teams. We are very, very proud of that. And tonight I am the proudest coach in the world,” said the strategist from Pakruojis.
“Never, never, never”
It was not easy to lose hope on Tuesday evening in Baku.
“Hapoel” led 1:0, then 2:1. The clock was ticking down, and with it, “Sabah’s” chances. But when asked if he ever thought for a moment that the Champions League doors were closing, the Lithuanian did not hesitate for a moment.
“Never, never, never. I have never lost hope in my life. You can ask my players. Even when we conceded the second goal, when we made substitutions and the score was 1:2, I kept telling the players leaving the field: just believe, believe.
We need just two minutes to score two goals. Let’s just go one goal at a time – score the first, then score the second.
And, of course, belief is one thing, but we also needed that luck for the shot to become a goal. Some days such balls go in, other days they don’t. Fortunately, today it went in,” rejoiced V. Dambrauskas.
It went in almost at the last moment.
T. Mutallimov’s goal in the 94th minute sent the teams into extra time, and in it, “Sabah” did not stop – Orphe Mbina and Joy-Lance Mickels finally broke the Israeli champions.
“We didn’t buy this place”
After the match, V. Dambrauskas did not want to hear talk that the team now urgently needs strengthening before the Champions League.
According to him, there are not only football reasons but also very simple regulatory reasons for this.
“Look, in the Champions League we can register 17 foreign players. So which player should I now exclude and not allow to play in the Champions League? Today I had 17 foreigners. So if now, as usual throughout Europe, we made new transfers, one of the players who was in this team today would have to stay out of the Champions League squad. Do you think any of these players deserved that?
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Look, we are here not without reason. We did not buy this trip to the Champions League. We did not buy this place. We defeated champions of four countries. We went the whole way, four qualifying rounds to the Champions League group stage.
We eliminated a really, really top-level team. If you look at the statistics, if you look at their performances in Europe, currently this is one of the best pressing teams in Europe. And the goals we conceded today were born precisely because of their pressing. This is a really, really strong team.
But our team made it to the Champions League. And I think the players who did it are fantastic. They deserve to be there,” the Lithuanian triumphed.
Will not change philosophy
“Sabah” did not avoid mistakes on Tuesday. Especially playing riskily from their own goal, and one such episode ended painfully.
However, V. Dambrauskas made it clear that the Champions League sign will not change his football principles:
“We have our style, we have our philosophy. We want to play, we want to dominate, and we are not afraid to do it.
I am very, very proud of my players. Very proud of my goalkeeper. Yes, today he made a mistake. But if he were not brave enough to play such football, to make such passes, maybe we wouldn’t even be here today because we wouldn’t have won the championship. And we won it.
How many times have you said yourselves: ‘Wow, how well Sabah counterattacks.’ And those attacks started with the goalkeeper – those situations started from him, we ran forward and scored.
Unfortunately, today it ended with a mistake. But we will never give up our philosophy and our style of play. No matter who we play against.
First of all, we care about the fans who come to the stadium. We want to play attractive football for them, we want to score goals, because that is exactly why football is played.”
The Lithuanian also explained one of the most important tactical decisions of the evening. After the first match in Bucharest, the coaching staff decided that in the return match the opponents should be forced to make more mistakes, so “Sabah” tried the 4–1–4–1 formation for the first time.
“Right after the match in Bucharest, I said we have to find a way to make them make more mistakes. That is exactly what we tried to do tonight. We slightly changed our formation. We played a 4–1–4–1 formation for the first time, but we did it precisely because of what the opponents were doing on the field,” explained the coach.
And then the last and probably inevitable question on such a night – how will all this be celebrated?
V. Dambrauskas laughed and promised that there definitely will be a celebration. Just don’t look for a glass of champagne in his hands.
“I have never consumed alcohol in my life, but I can celebrate without it. And tonight I will definitely celebrate – I guarantee you,” the coach laughed.
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