Croatian champions showed that there is sometimes a huge gap between a bold plan and its implementation.
The Kaunas team tried to hold on, run and resist, but for most of the evening resembled a person dragging a suitcase up the steep slope of the Zagreb funicular – a lot of effort, heavy steps, and the summit does not get any closer.
29% ball possession. Not a single shot on target…
“Dinamo” played simply, confidently, as if performing a routine task already marked in the calendar.
This was already the fifth meeting of the Zagreb club with Lithuanian teams in the history of the Champions League, and so far this acquaintance has been unpleasantly one-sided – “Dinamo” won all five matches. Lithuanian names change, years pass, but the conclusion from Maksimir remains the same: guests are left with memories, hosts with victories.
| Season | Stage | Opponent | Results | Aggregate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-07 | Second | Panevėžys “Ekranas” | 5:2 | 4:1 | 9:3 |
| 2014-15 | Second | Vilnius “Žalgiris” | 2:0 | 2:0 | 4:0 |
| 2026-27 | Third | “Kauno Žalgiris” | 5:0 |
Compared to the match against “Klaksvik”, Ž. Sopičius made two changes in the starting lineup. Motiejus Burba on the right wing was replaced by Leonas Kreokovičius, who scored the winning goal, and Marko Konatar took the left defense wing instead of Nosa Edokpolor.
Returning to his hometown to present the teams’ lineups, Ž. Sopičius received modest applause from the stands, but “Dinamo” quickly reminded that old friendships in football do not grant concessions.
The 36-degree sun scorching the Maksimir pitch was no easier opponent for the Kaunas team than the multiple Croatian champion. The warmest in the stadium seemed to be Ž. Sopičius himself – even in such heat, the coach did not take off his jacket and at least stayed true to his words: on the eve of the match, he explained that the heat would not be an excuse. It was not.
With each minute, the Žalgiris players’ legs grew heavier, their breathing shorter, while “Dinamo”‘s pace did not slow down at all.
It seemed that Žalgiris withstood the first assault on the hosts’ goal, but after half an hour Miha Zajc took “Dinamo” ahead with a great long shot – Tomas Švedkauskas still touched the ball, it hit the post, but then dropped into the goal.
The Kaunas team had not yet recovered from the first shot when they received the second. Less than two minutes later, a corner kick near the Lithuanian champions’ goal ended with another low shot. Scott McKenna was the first to rush to the ball in the penalty area, and his initially unsuccessful kick turned into the second “Dinamo” goal after an unfortunate ricochet. In a few moments, the match, which “Kauno Žalgiris” still tried to keep in their hands, began to slip through their fingers.
Ž. Sopičius reacted to the sudden collapse as befits Ž. Sopičius – passionately. Jumping up from his seat, he walked to the substitutes’ bench and began pointing his finger at one player after another, whom he soon sent to warm up.
The Maksimir stands sang in unison one of the most important patriotic songs of the independence period, “Moja domovina”, and the evening by then resembled a national celebration rather than a tense Champions League qualifying match.
In the 51st minute, Mateo Lisica fired an impressive long shot with his left foot and T. Švedkauskas was helpless again…
In the 62nd minute, Franco Baldassarra tested the “Dinamo” crossbar with a long shot, but throughout the 90 minutes, Žalgiris did not make a single shot on target at the hosts’ goal.
In the 76th minute, Luka Stojković scored the fourth goal with a skillful long shot from the post, and in added time, Lukas Kacavenda put the final point.
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The difference in class on Tuesday evening was simply too great.
“We have to understand where we are right now. Of course, we did not want to play against such a level opponent, but… “Dinamo” was the better team in every way. Every way. Because at this level, they do not play simple football.
We can be afraid – that’s no problem. But it seemed to me that we were too afraid. We made very simple mistakes: inaccurate passes, losing the ball. But I will repeat once again – at this level, against an opponent like “Dinamo”, they will simply kill you if you make a few mistakes like we did.
Our goalkeeper Tomas saved us from two or three more goals. And that’s it. The better team won. Now we have to focus on the championship match on Saturday,” said Ž. Sopičius after the match.
This was the eighth match for Ž. Sopičius at the helm of “Kauno Žalgiris” and only the first defeat.
Still, before the return leg in Kaunas, the Croatian team faces a task that polite people call very difficult, and less diplomatic ones – hopeless.
In a week at the Darius and Girėnas stadium, they will need not only to play better. They will need not to dream of a miracle, but to try to at least somewhat reduce the gap revealed in Zagreb between the team that went to Europe to find its limits and the club that has been mercilessly setting boundaries for such Žalgiris teams for decades.
But Ž. Sopičius is not a man who would stare at the floor for long after a failure.
The Croatian usually talks about defeats as if they were not a verdict, but another chance to slam the door a little louder.
“Quality, quality… As I mentioned before the match, we will play as “Dinamo” allows us. On the other hand, these were ordinary football matches. We came here to play football. Sometimes everything happened very fast, we did not play well because “Dinamo” is simply a better team. But to make two or three mistakes like, I don’t want to say, a ten-year-old kid would make, is incredible. Still, such things happen in football,” the Croatian returned to the match in his thoughts once again.
Asked by 15min if the result was fair, Ž. Sopičius shrugged.
“What can I say? “Dinamo” was the better team. As I said, Tomas saved us from two or three more goals. We maybe had one chance, but suffered a lot. The most important thing for me is not the result itself. I missed that we should have shown more courage going onto the pitch. We would still have lost this match. You understand that, right? But we needed to show a little more. To make mistakes – fine, it’s okay. And probably the result would have been the same anyway. But the first fifteen or twenty minutes looked like we came from nowhere. But here the quality difference is revealed. On the other side was one of the best clubs in this qualifying stage. And that’s it,” said the strategist.
Ž. Sopičius assured he stands firmly on his feet and had no thoughts about any miracles in Kaunas in a week.
“Do you think I will now say that we will beat them 6:0 or something like that? It won’t happen. The most important thing for us is to understand the situation. Now until September 20, I think we will play fourteen matches in a row in about thirty days. I think you understand that. And, frankly, I say this not because this is my city. I’m not angry. Because I understand where we are, where we want to be, and where Zagreb “Dinamo” is. I speak as a coach. Sometimes it’s not easy, but we have to say everything as it is. And that’s it,” the strategist concluded.
Still, Ž. Sopičius admitted that returning to Maksimir stadium was emotionally difficult.
“It’s not easy when you know all their songs and sing them in your heart. But this time I was on the other side and wanted to do everything to achieve a good result. But we also have to understand that it is not that simple. And one more thing I told my guys in the locker room. I said: ‘Guys, it’s okay. You can make mistakes. Play like we played before. Because playing against a team like Zagreb “Dinamo”… It’s logical. Completely logical,” said the specialist.
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