After the first half, the score was still tied 1:1, but after the break Žalgiris scored 6 times.
Most goals in a single match
Žalgiris became the first Lithuanian club to score seven goals in a single UEFA tournament match.
The previous record also belonged to the green-whites. In 1994, in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup qualifying, Žalgiris crushed the Welsh club Barry Town 6:0 at home. This victory remains another record – the largest winning margin.
Most productive victory by a Lithuanian club
In the return match against Tbilisi Dinamo, a total of 9 goals were scored. Until now, no Lithuanian team had won a UEFA match where both teams combined scored more than 6 times.
Nine goals is not a new single-match record – in 2002 Marijampolė Sūduva lost away 1:8 to Glasgow Celtic. However, Žalgiris became the first Lithuanian club to win such a match.
Largest deficit overturned
Until now, Lithuanian clubs in UEFA tournaments had only managed to recover and advance after losing the first match by 1 goal difference.
Žalgiris became the first Lithuanian team to overturn a 3-goal deficit.
VIDEO: Goals up close | Žalgiris – Dinamo Tbilisi | Goals up close
Goals up close | Žalgiris – Dinamo Tbilisi | Goals up close
After losing 0:3 in Tbilisi, the green-whites needed to score at least 3 times in Vilnius, but they beat the opponent’s goalkeeper 7 times and won the match by a 5-goal margin.
Another remarkable statistical achievement – an 8-goal difference swing between the two matches. In Tbilisi, Žalgiris lost by 3 goals, but in Vilnius triumphed by 5 goals.
Six goals in one half
Another record was set in the second half of the match. After the first 45 minutes, the score was 1:1, so Žalgiris scored all remaining 6 goals after the break.
Until now, no Lithuanian club in UEFA tournaments had managed to score six times in one half. Even in the record 1994 victory 6:0 against Barry Town, Žalgiris scored 2 goals in the first half and 4 in the second.
A total of 12 goals were scored over the two matches between Žalgiris and Tbilisi Dinamo. This is a matched UEFA record for Lithuanian clubs.
The same number of goals was scored in three other Lithuanian club pairings. However, only one was a close contest – between Vilnius Vėtra and Llanelli (aggregate 6:6) in 2007. In the others, the opponents were clearly stronger – in the matches between Panevėžys Ekranas and Zagreb Dinamo (3:9) in 2006 and Klaipėda Atlantas and Bucharest Rapid (0:12) in 2001.
Lithuanian clubs have played 447 matches in UEFA tournaments since 1988, including this season.
Rare comeback
Such a case is generally rare in European tournaments considering teams from all countries.
In the past decade, in UEFA men’s club tournaments including qualifiers, out of nearly one and a half thousand different two-legged ties (more than 4.8 thousand matches), only 9 teams managed to advance after losing the first match by at least three goals.
VIDEO: Emotional volcano at the end of the match: 4 goals from above
Emotional volcano at the end of the match: 4 goals from above
In the last ten years, this was also achieved by Barcelona (Spain), Roma (Italy), Saint Petersburg Zenit, Liverpool (England), Olympiacos (Greece), HJK (Finland), Brondby (Denmark), Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), and AGF (Denmark). The latter club did it a day before Žalgiris – managing to avenge against Poznań Lech 4:1 after losing by the same score.
Žalgiris became the tenth such case, the seventh after exactly a 3-goal deficit, and the first in this period to score 7 goals in the 90 minutes of the return match. The 6 Žalgiris goals in the second half is the highest figure among all these comebacks.
The Vilnius team’s performance resonated in Europe as well. Perhaps most prominently, the biggest German media outlet BILD presented Žalgiris’ comeback with a separate article titled “a huge European miracle – from 0:3 to 7:5”.
Understand instantly
Before Žalgiris’ fight with the Croatian giant – ticket purchase restrictions: “For security reasons”
Before the trip to Vilnius – the Croatian giant’s slip
Žalgiris will play their next UEFA Conference League match on August 6th at home against Split Hajduk. Tickets for the match are sold by Kakava.lt (public sale from Monday at 12 PM).
