By Titas Teiten
Only a week after one of the most memorable victories in FK Žalgiris Vilnius’ recent history – a stunning 7-2 triumph over Dinamo Tbilisi – the Lithuanian champions were brought back down to earth with a heavy 5-2 defeat against Hajduk Split in the first leg of the UEFA Conference League third qualifying round.
It proved to be a difficult evening for FK Žalgiris. After briefly restoring hope with a first-half equaliser, the hosts saw those hopes quickly fade as Hajduk regained the lead before the break to take a 2-1 advantage into half-time. The Croatian side continued to dictate proceedings after the interval, increasing their attacking pressure and demonstrating their superior quality to secure a convincing three-goal victory.
Despite the disappointing result, FK Žalgiris head coach Andrius Skerla made sure to acknowledge the supporters before reflecting on the performance.
“First of all, I’d like to thank our supporters and everyone who came to the stadium today. It was a difficult match, but even though we lost, they were loud and backed us until the very last minute.
Hajduk Split are a very strong team. We saw the difference in quality – their pace, technique, physical strength and efficiency. They scored some excellent goals. The result wasn’t in our favour, but looking at the overall performance, I still saw plenty of positives. We managed to create some decent chances, but our defensive mistakes were punished,” said Skerla.
When asked what ultimately went wrong, the FK Žalgiris manager admitted that his side had simply come up against a superior opponent.
“We are capable of playing better against a team like this. Of course, you need a bit of luck as well, but you can’t rely on that all the time. We were up against a side with much stronger individual quality. They were fully focused from the very beginning, it wasn’t a case of them underestimating us. They immediately showed their speed and quality. It was clear they didn’t come here just to play football casually.
We also saw in Kaunas that when teams of this level are fully motivated, they are extremely difficult to stop,” thought Skerla.
One of Hajduk’s goalscorers was American-born midfielder Rokas Pukštas, whose parents are Lithuanian. Asked about the 21-year-old’s quality, Skerla had nothing but praise for the midfielder.
“I think he’s a very good player. You can see that he has an excellent understanding of the game and knows how to find space. Whenever he has the ball, he almost always makes the right decision. But it wasn’t just him. They had plenty of quality players who showed us how football should be played.”
The 5-2 home defeat leaves FK Žalgiris with a mountain to climb ahead of next week’s return leg in Split. While overturning the deficit appears highly unlikely, Skerla insisted his team will travel to Croatia determined to fight until the end.
“Give me a chance to catch my breath first. We’ve just lost the match, so that’s all I’m thinking about right now.
We’ll see if we can surprise them in Split. There are always mistakes, and we need to avoid making them. You saw the pace they have. At times it looked like we were well organised, but their individual quality allowed them to beat us one-on-one, and that’s where the danger came from.
We could simply park the bus and try to stop them from playing, but that goes against my football philosophy. Still, I also saw some encouraging moments. The plan was never to sit deep and wait. I want to thank my players. It wasn’t easy, and they had to deal with a lot. There were difficult spells, but that’s what happens when you play against a better team.”
Skerla was also asked whether his team’s attacking approach had ultimately contributed to conceding five goals. Rather than criticising his players, the Žalgiris coach highlighted Hajduk’s tactical flexibility and ability to exploit space.
“Good teams know how to adapt. They changed a lot during the game. That was especially noticeable in the opening 20 minutes, when they kept finding free players and immediately created pressure around our penalty area. We can certainly play better, but today we weren’t able to do that.”
