A goal by newcomer Vykintas Slivka and a penalty converted by Belgian Amine Benchaibo during added time helped the Lithuanian champions secure a 3-2 away victory over Kosovo champions Gnilane’s “Drita” team.
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The first leg of the tie last week in Kaunas ended in a 1-1 draw, and the historic victory (“Kauno Žalgiris” is playing in the Champions League qualifiers for the first time) not only opened the door to the next qualifying round.
Success in Kosovo will also significantly boost the Lithuanian champions’ budget.
The “Kauno Žalgiris” football club has already secured a bonus of 1.71 million euros from UEFA for their sporting achievements.
- This bonus is calculated in the worst-case scenario: “Kauno Žalgiris” loses in the second round of the Champions League qualifiers, fails to pass the third round of the Europa League qualifiers, and finally falls in the Conference League qualification final.
- The Kaunas team will face at least 3 more opponents in Europe this season, and if they lose all three, they will receive compensation of around 260 thousand euros for being national champions but not qualifying for any main UEFA tournament.
It is already known that in the second round of the Champions League qualifiers, “Kauno Žalgiris” will play against the Faroe Islands champions Klaksvik IF or the strongest Luxembourg club from last season, Bissen “Atert”. In this tie, the Faroe Islands champions won the first match at home 2-1.
If “Kauno Žalgiris” manages to overcome at least one of the three European opponents, they will definitely qualify for one of UEFA’s main tournaments, and the guaranteed bonus will increase to at least 3.97 million euros.
“Our minimum goal is to play at least in the Conference League group stage. That’s why I came here. Very simple,” said the new Kaunas coach Željko Sopičius after the victory in Kosovo.
So far, in the entire history of Lithuanian football, only Vilnius “Žalgiris” has reached the main stage of a UEFA tournament. They achieved this in the 2022–2023 season. At that time, the Vilnius team played in the Conference League group stage.
It is also worth noting that the “Kauno Žalgiris” footballers have already secured a higher sporting bonus this season (1.71 million euros) than the Kaunas “Žalgiris” basketball players who finished 5th in the Euroleague (1.2 million euros).
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