On Thursday evening, a strange mood prevailed in Kaunas. In the return match, the Kaunas team had to chase the intrigue that lasted only a few minutes on the Bosphorus coast. The Europa League stage was nearing its end, but the European journey of “Kauno Žalgiris” did not end there – one door closed only for another to open immediately.
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“Kauno Žalgiris” went much further this summer than Lithuanian club football was used to. The journey, which started from Gnilańa, led through the Faroe Islands, Zagreb’s “Dinamo,” and finally brought them to “Beşiktaş” – opponents whose names and stadiums became louder with each stage, and mistakes – more costly.
The first two encounters showed that the European doors could be opened. Zagreb and Istanbul reminded how much they weigh when rising one level higher.
But the most important detail of this story lies not in the fact that the Europa League sign will now be replaced by the Conference League logo.
“Kauno Žalgiris” reached the UEFA tournament league stage for the first time in the club’s history and secured six matches in Europe this autumn already in the summer. This means that nothing really ended in Kaunas on Thursday. The long qualifying summer simply reached its final stop.
Therefore, Željko Sopičius could already talk after the match not only about another game against a much richer and more famous opponent. In less than two months, his team managed to see several different levels of European football – from matches where they dictated the conditions themselves to evenings in Maksimir and Beşiktaş, when the difference between the Lithuanian champions and the old continent’s heavyweights became visible to the naked eye.
Now the more interesting part of this story begins. It is not a question of whether “Kauno Žalgiris” will be able to enter Europe. They already have. The question is what they will do with it.
If they play like on Thursday, they can do quite a lot.
“I think we did something really special. Of course, we understand that “Beşiktaş” did not play with their strongest lineup, but we also did not field our main eleven. Everyone knows that. Ultimately, this victory was not enough, but I am very proud of my team. I think not only our fans but the whole country is proud of us – for how we fought.
I always talk about the fight. Sometimes there are days when you play better football and can show more, sometimes – when you manage less. But at the end of the day, the most important thing is that you can look at yourself in the mirror and know that you gave everything.
I don’t even know what to say – honestly, I still find it hard to believe that we beat “Beşiktaş.” Let’s not deceive ourselves: when we look at where we are now and where “Beşiktaş” is, there is a whole universe between us. But we beat them.
Today they were the better team, and ultimately it was “Beşiktaş” who advanced to the next stage because, of course, they are generally a stronger team and deserved to win this tie,” said Ž. Sopičius after the match.
He called Thursday evening the biggest victory of his career.
“You can ask people in Turkey what “Beşiktaş” means. Yes, this is the biggest victory in my coaching career. It is not easy for me to compare different clubs or different victories, but you have to understand: when you play against a club whose budget is 50 or 60 times bigger than yours, it is very difficult to compare with them.
You might beat such a team maybe once in many years or many matches. But in the end, we did not advance to the next stage. Congratulations to “Beşiktaş” – over two matches, they were better.
We can enjoy this 1:0 home victory and build our future on it – in the Conference League, Lithuanian Championship, and Lithuanian Cup,” said the strategist.
Compared to the match a week ago in Istanbul, Ž. Sopičius reshuffled the starting eleven completely – only Joris Moutachy, Rokas Lekiatas, Gabriel Debeljuh, and Anthony Kalikas kept their places. But even after pressing all possible buttons, only the image and result changed, not the final outcome: the Croatian who pulled out the “Super Mario” metaphor last week did not find a secret pipe in Kaunas that would allow jumping from the third level to the seventy-second in one leap.
Asked by 15min whether his players rose to at least a slightly higher level of play in a week, the strategist smiled.
“If we talk about the football level, basically, we stayed the same. Maybe we rose one level higher because we play in Lithuania. It’s like playing “Super Mario” – you pass one level, then another.
But if we talk about desire, dedication, and fight, I think today we reached a very, very high level. And that is the minimum I will demand as long as I am in this club – a footballer on the field must give everything.
It is not easy. We play a lot of matches. We know that in the next four weeks, we have eight games ahead. I understand that not all footballers will play equally much, but today they showed me that everyone can fight for a place in the starting eleven.
Who will play, I will decide. But we have our goals and know perfectly well what they are – to win the Lithuanian Championship and Cup,” repeated the strategist.
The coach is right. There was more desire, passion as well, and the 7079 stadium spectators should not have been disappointed, but the obviously more solid image of the Kaunas team had to be evaluated with a caveat – “Beşiktaş,” who came with a three-goal advantage, no longer pressed the accelerator to the floor in Kaunas.
In the 64th minute, Renan Oliveira, who came on after a substitution, caught Tiago Djalo unprepared, took advantage of his mistake, and, breaking away one-on-one with the goalkeeper, shot accurately and lifted the entire stadium from their seats.
This goal was the only one on Thursday.
“First of all, I want to thank God. This is the biggest victory of my career and one of the most important goals in my life as well,” said the Brazilian after the match. “We knew the opponents had more quality. We played with them away, but we failed to play a good match there. Today we did everything the coach asked of us and saw the result.”
The coach was satisfied.
“I’ll give a simple comparison: if you have driven a bad car all your life and suddenly someone gives you a 600-horsepower car, it is not so easy to control it. The same goes for us; it is not easy to be in such an environment. We want to give everything and we do, but when opponents have such support and conditions, naturally, they have an advantage. Their budget is also a bit bigger, so they can afford better players. Not incredibly better, but still better.
It is natural that it is easier for us to play at home when our fans support us. Thanks to them once again – the way they supported us was amazing.
In the end, everything comes down to passion and patience. “Beşiktaş” is one of the biggest clubs in Turkey. Everything is very simple for me. We cannot forget one thing: the difference is that they are already there, and we are still here, just creating our path.
Therefore, it is completely normal that it is easier for us to play at home. But if you want to beat such a team, you need a bit of luck, a top-level goalkeeper, and eleven warriors on the field ready to give absolutely everything for victory,” the leader of “Kauno Žalgiris” rejoiced about his team.
His opponent Vincenzo Italiano did not overemphasize the defeat in Kaunas. Still, the Italian admitted that the recent weeks’ performance does not satisfy him.
“Our goal was to advance to the next stage, and we succeeded. So there is no disappointment or negative emotions – that was exactly the goal we set and managed to achieve. Now we will focus all attention on the championship. However, it is obvious that we have to react to two consecutive losses. We will try to do that on Monday at home, in front of our fans,” said the “Beşiktaş” leader after the encounter in Kaunas.
In the Conference League, Kaunas will have six matches – on October 15 and 22, November 5 and 26, December 10 and 17. The main stage draw, after which opponents will be known, will be held on Friday.
It is symbolic that the Conference League final next spring will take place at “Beşiktaş” home stadium. The Kaunas team was pushed out of the Europa League by the club whose stadium will host the tournament’s final, to which they are relegated. Until that final – football light years, but the route is at least familiar: Istanbul became not the final stop for Kaunas this time, but just a transfer to another European train.
Ž. Sopičius had no doubt that Thursday evening before the Conference League battles would add a lot of confidence to his players.
“A lot, for sure,” said the Croatian. “But we have to understand that it will not be easy for us. We are currently in third place in the Lithuanian Championship. Of course, there are no teams of “Beşiktaş” level in our championship, but two or three teams are very strong, so it will definitely not be easy for us.
Already a few weeks ago, I said that we would be better in the second half of the season. Fans know what players we brought, why we invited them, and what the overall situation is. Some players still need to reach their best physical form, so over time, we should look better.
Of course, such a victory is a huge boost for us. And not only for us – it is important for the whole club. We play in Europe, we reached this competition stage. And I told my players only one thing before the match – enjoy it. Just enjoy it.”
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