The first match in the capital of Georgia between Vilnius “Žalgiris” and Tbilisi “Dinamo” ended 3:0 in favor of the hosts, and in the return match, starting on Thursday at 8 p.m. at the “Žalgiris” home stadium, the Vilnius team faces a real Sisyphean task.
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In Tbilisi, during the first 40 minutes, the defense of Andrius Skerla’s pupils, which collapsed like a house of cards, forced the coach to grab his head. The strategist dressed in dark blue then shrugged his shoulders and tried to motivate the team from the sideline.
In the second half, “Dinamo” somewhat loosened the reins in attack but remained just as agile in defense. The Lithuanian club’s footballers failed to mount a single dangerous attack on the Tbilisi team’s goal.
The Vilnius team will have to not only erase the three-goal deficit but also overturn the overall result in their favor. Although “Žalgiris” will be supported by an almost packed stadium, they face a real Sisyphean task.
Stronger than the Georgian team, the fists will be clenched by Givi Kvaratskhelia, well known to Lithuanian football fans. The central defender who played for FBK “Kaunas” from 2005-2007 won the Lithuanian championship twice with the team.
He also played in one of the most famous Lithuanian club football matches. In August 2005, FBK “Kaunas” challenged “Liverpool” in the Champions League qualifiers. They lost that series 1:5.
In the club managed by the notoriously infamous Lithuanian businessman Vladimir Romanov, G. Kvaratskhelia played 68 matches and scored 8 goals. Now retired at 47, the footballer works as a coach in his native Tbilisi and continues to follow “Dinamo’s” play.
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He spent six seasons with this club and became the Georgian champion twice.
“The game of ‘Žalgiris’ itself certainly did not leave a bad impression on me. We saw what good football ‘Dinamo’ played. The Vilnius team certainly did not look like they had collapsed in the first half.
Our team simply pressed ‘Žalgiris’. That’s football – that evening ‘Dinamo’ was stronger,” said the midfielder who played seven matches for the Georgian national team in an interview with 15min.
- In the 14th minute, after a corner, “Žalgiris” goalkeeper Vincentas Šarkauskas left the goal, and taking advantage of this, Numan Kurdičius sent the ball into the net with a weak header, putting “Dinamo” ahead.
- In the 26th minute, the defender made a mistake. Although Petar Bošancic managed to block Leo Santos’s shot at the goal left by the goalkeeper, Dominik Franke lost control of the ball, and L. Santos, who quickly intercepted it, doubled his team’s lead.
- In the 30th minute, the last goal of the match was scored by Nikoloz Ugrekhelidze, who was the first to rush to the ball rebounding from the “Žalgiris” goal frame.
“In that match, ‘Dinamo’ simply pressed the opponents and constantly suffocated them. Then came the ‘Žalgiris’ goalkeeper’s mistake, and later another goal fell after a set-piece. I think that evening, especially in the first half, ‘Dinamo’ completely dominated,” G. Kvaratskhelia said retrospectively.
You can also look at the statistics of that match. “Dinamo” made 15 shots, of which 9 were on target. Meanwhile, the Vilnius team tried 13 times to disarm the opponent’s goalkeeper, but only 3 shots were on target.
However, two of the three green-and-white shots on target were made only in the 88th and 90+3rd minutes.
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“First of all, I saw that
