Qarabag more likely than not to decide where Olimpija will play: Dragons no closer to conference league after opening game against Azerbaijan
After six games in qualifying for the the Champions League is
Olimpija
played its first Europa League qualifying match on Thursday evening and has already taken a big step towards the group stage … conference leagues! In the last qualifying match of the summer, the Slovenian champion faced a playful opponent with a lot of individual quality. All of the above was too much for Olimpija,
Qarabag
was already the better opponent in the first match. The Azerbaijanis won 2:0 and have already set Olimpija on the road to the group stage of the conference league…
Although it was widely believed among Olimpija supporters that they were coming to Ljubljana as a relatively easy opponent to beat, Qarabag needed just 45 minutes to prove what they could do and what they could do in Stožice. The Green-Whites had problems throughout the opening period with the lively visitors, who went into the break with a two-goal advantage.
Qarabag took the lead in 32. Yassine Benzia crosses from a corner and Kevin Medina makes a diving save in front of goal. The Colombian footballer, who also made some great moves in front of his own goal, was in the air for a few seconds, but in the end he headed the ball powerfully behind the back of the helpless Matevž Vidovšek and into the Ljubljana net.
Olimpija only came alive at the end of the game
Just before the end of the first half, Leandro Andrade scored. Qarabag took advantage of Marcel Ratnik‘s loose ball and learned a painful new lesson in Europe that quality opponents punish every mistake. After a quick action on the left, Redon Xhixha crossed to the other post and Portugal’s Andrade sent the round leather under the crossbar.
In the second half, the image on the pitch didn’t change much either. Olimpija simply couldn’t find its rhythm, and as a result, its offensive actions were ragged and lacking inspiration. Qarabag had a couple of good chances on the other end, but Matevž Vidovšek proved his mastery once again.
Olimpija came alive a bit more only at the end of the game, when Qarabag was more than satisfied with what they had scored, and squandered the best chance of the game in the 83rd minute. minutes. Debutant Diogo Pinto, who hadn’t really shown anything of note up to that point, had a possible shot from 18 metres. Luka Gugeshashvili had a lot of problems, but the ball just bounced off his head and, as if on a platter, he gave Nemanja Motika an extraordinary chance. The latter was first to the rebound, but still couldn’t score. Gugeshashvili redeemed himself with a decent reaction and excellent defence, although it is true that Motika should have finished better…
Olimpija doesn’t score, but is shown a red card. Just before the last minute of injury time, David Sualehe protested a little too vigorously to the referee, got a second yellow card and a red card immediately after. The Portuguese wing-back will not be able to help his club in the return leg.
