Legia Warszawa returns to European cups! The winner was decided by penalty kicks

So far, the Polish-Danish clashes were 0:1 after FC Copenhagen advanced to the group stage of the Champions League. Although Raków Częstochowa drew 1:1 in the return match, Medaliki lost in Sosnowiec after an own goal. Legia Warszawa could avenge the Polish champions by playing against FC Midtjylland to advance to the group stage of the European Conference League. Recall that in the first leg the score was 3:3, so the question of qualification was still open.

Midtjylland players threatened Legia at the end of the first half

From the beginning of the match, both teams created their chances. The Legionnaires were more active, finding their way into Jonas Lossl’s penalty area time and time again. In the 12th minute, Tomas Pekhart received a great free kick, but his header missed the goal far from the left post. The rivals tried to threaten the Warsaw team with high pressing, and once they almost succeeded when Gue-Sung Cho received a perpendicular pass from one of his teammates in the 32nd minute. Fortunately for Kacper Tobiasz, he missed the goal.

Just before the break, another loss of Legia resulted in a counterattack and a dangerous opportunity for the Danes. Fortunately, Aral Simsir did not twist the ball towards the right post. A moment later, Franculino came close to scoring, but he only hit the side netting. In the fourth minute of added time, Kacper Tobiasz made a great intervention, thanks to which Legia went to the locker room with a draw.

Tomas Pekhart gave Legia the lead in the second half

A goalless draw meant overtime, so in the second half both teams had to think about scoring a goal, keeping in mind that they also had to defend against their rivals. Just after the start of this part of the game, FC Midtjylland players created a dangerous situation, but fortunately Oliver Sorensen, standing on the fifth meter, missed the ball, which facilitated Ribeiro’s intervention. In the 53rd minute, Tomas Pekhart got on the scoresheet. Paweł Wszołek delivered a perfect cross to the Czech’s head.

This result favored the hosts to play in the group stage of the Europa Conference League, so the visitors had to open up. One of the counter-attacks could have been used by Gual, but he dribbled instead of passing to Kun who was running out. Unfortunately, nothing came of this action, which was what my colleagues complained about the Spaniard.

FC Midtjylland equalized

After Legia scored, the Danes kept possession of the ball longer and looked for opportunities to threaten Kacper Tobiasz’s goal. They managed to do it only in the 69th minute, but Rafał Augustyniak saved the goal thanks to his goalkeeper’s brilliant intervention. A minute later, Paulinho tried his luck from about 30 meters. One of Legia’s defenders tried to kick it out, but this unfortunate intervention caused the ball to bounce off the inside of the post and flutter into the net.

Five minutes later, Paweł Wszołek created a great opportunity for Pekhart. Unfortunately, the intervening defender prevented the Legia attacker, who missed the ball. As replays later showed, there was no offside in this action, so a possible goal would have been allowed. In the 82nd minute, Aral Simsir was very unlucky. Turek carried out a great individual action, but he hit… the post. The legionnaires could breathe a sigh of relief. Four minutes later, Cho looked for his chance from a distance, but Kacper Tobiasz made a great save.

In added time, Patryk Kun had the match ball at his feet. The shuttleman ran from deep in the penalty area to receive Slisz’s cross, but unfortunately he missed Lossl’s goal. We didn’t see any more goals, which meant overtime. The extra half hour did not determine the winner, so the team that would advance to the group stage of the European Conference League had to go to penalties. Legia Warszawa players were better in them, winning 6:5. Kacper Tobiasz saved the decisive eleven.