And no other way is left but the hard one. Being European games, the joy of victory is even sweeter. Lucerne has been eliminated, having been judged as overall better than Osijek. This time, the Swiss showed up with new faces in the main 11 and put Osijek under pressure. They won, but didn’t celebrate at the end of the game. The 2:1 they seized was soothing for them, though, because the Croatian candidate moves on in the qualifiers for the Euro-League. Whoever thought things would go smoothly had underestimated Babbel’s picks. Having mentioned the revered ex-national player who played for some of the finest European teams and the German national roster, it must be stressed that Babbel earns a million Euros per year. As it turned out, he was eliminated by Osijek.
Nevertheless, European Experience Needed
The importance of playing the Euro-League was visible at Swissporarena. One cannot say that Osijek was neither scared of their advantage from the previous game, nor the enemy who will be more dangerous than that week before. But, when one plays a critically important game, all cogs need to be well-oiled and no mistakes may be allowed. The away team were put at a disadvantage after a carefully executed shot into their space in front of the goal and they weren’t able to muster the synergy to retaliate.
Lucerne’s boys didn’t blindly run towards Malenica, but they definitely had good ball possession and decent pressure, so that Osijek was oriented towards protecting their gates without any serious threat. Mioc could have netted the ball with a decently placed header for a 1:1, so that the first half would’ve spelled the rest of the game.
They Kept Their Heads
In the second half, Osijek came more determined and just as they thought the enemy’s blade had dulled, Juric scored for 2:0 and confirmed his status as a top-class striker. Osijek’s fans got uneasy, but the team wasn’t losing any steam.
First, Bockaj had a good chance to land them 1:1, but when Omlin defended Bockaj’s strike from 10 meters followed by a good try from Lukic, Grezda and Ejupi, Ejupi landed a shot and drove the crowd insane. It’s the 3rd score of the Macedonian striker this season and the 4th consecutive game and confirms his worth. The Swiss became demoralized as they realized that the game against PSV was more and more out of reach, so morale went down.
After the final whistle, Osijek’s team converged and exchanged hugs and cheers, another obstacle having been overcome and the team fixing their sight on Eindhoven and the coming battle against the then-champion of Europe.
