Champions League is a forgotten story: solid Olimpija defeated in Turkey, next Europa League group stage showdown in Europe
Olympia
after six unforgettable matches in the Champions League qualifiers, Olimpija has said goodbye to its dream of competing in the competition of all competitions. In the end, however, the expected, if I may add. Although the Dragons were optimistic ahead of their showdown with the
Galatasaray
, the Turks, with their star-studded line-up, proved that they are a few steps ahead of Slovenia’s best club at the moment. Olimpija lost both games. And she didn’t play badly in Ljubljana and Istanbul, she was brave and self-sacrificing, but hand on heart she didn’t come close to a surprise. But no big deal: Olimpija has already secured its autumn in Europe anyway. She may not taste the Champions League, but she will undoubtedly do her best for the Europa League, which will be her next European mission.
Olimpija, who lost the return leg 0:1 to the Turkish champions and were eliminated 0:4 on aggregate, will face their opponents in the decisive round of the Europa League qualifiers on Thursday, when the match between Finland’s HJK and Qarabag from Azerbaijan will be played in Helsinki. After the opening 90 minutes, Qarabag is the better side and will defend its 2-1 advantage in the Finnish capital.
Olimpija scoreless in the first half
The first half was as most people expected. Galatasaray dominated and had the ball in their feet 65% of the time. But the Turks were not much of a threat on the goal, which was defended by Matevž Vidovšek. The hosts only had one shot on Olimpija’s goal in the opening period, but unfortunately they scored. When Vidovšek, after a cross from the right wing, deflected the ball from in front of the goal to the edge of the penalty area, Marcel Ratnik was one step too slow to get back into the game.
Mauro Icardi kaldığı yerden devam ediyor! 🫱😀🫲 #GSvNOL #UCL pic.twitter.com/4bolhcsdze
– Galatasaray SK (@GalatasaraySK) August 15, 2023
With Baris Yilmaz’ s pass, the home star Mauro Icardi was not in an offside position and the Argentine had no problem scoring from a few metres. He had Ratnik with him, but the former Inter striker fired so hard and so accurately that Vidovšek was helpless. Olimpija, who could count on Agustina Doffa (he was booked in the first game), on the other hand, in the first 45 minutes they didn’t have a single shot on target, although it’s true that two or three times they got into a position where it looked like it could be hot in front of the Galatasaray goal.
Despite the fact that Olimpija, who played without injured captain Timi Max Elšnik as expected, was already eliminated after three quarters with the score 0:4, the Ljubljana players showed again in the second half a courageous game with a great desire to threaten the home team’s goal. The visitors’ attacks were not very dangerous, but Rui Pedro was twice in a good enough position to change the result. First he was too selfish, second he was not precise enough. Galatasaray, meanwhile, are 58. six minutes later, he was left without Lucas Torreira, who badly kicked Rui Pedro in the hamstring and received a red card.
Despite Olimpija, who were accompanied by their loyal Green Dragons fans on the road, ended the match with one more on the Istanbul Stadium pitch, the score remained unchanged until the end of the match. The Green and Whites tried until the end of the match to score at least an honourable goal, but although they were attacking and creative, they were still unable to beat Galatasaray’s experienced goalkeeper Fernando Muslera. V 93. Rui Pedro has another good chance in the first minute, but his shot misses the target.
This text was automatically translated using AI.
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