Champions League Qualifier: Beitar Jerusalem-Wisla Krakow 2:1.

A classy team would have won that. You lead 1-0 and you have a number of occasions to make it 2-0. Then you lose a goal after you had one-on-one situation seconds earlier. You lose a second one after an easy one-two by the opponent. Even though Wisla played well the result shows the lack of real, European quality of Polish champions.

Beitar Jerusalem-Wisla Krakow 2:1 (Aviram Baruchian 62′, 79′ – Pawel Brozek 28′)
Wisla: Mariusz Pawelek – Marcin Baszczynski, Arkadiusz Glowacki, Cleber, Piotr Brozek – Rafal Boguski (81′ Tomasz Dawidowski), Radoslaw Sobolewski, Mauro Cantoro, Tomas Jirsak (75′ Wojciech Lobodzinski), Marek Zienczuk – Pawel Brozek (85′ Andrzej Niedzielan)

Wisla lost a chance to put themselves in a great position before the second leg today. Don’t get me wrong, they weren’t far better than Beitar; as expected the teams were really well matched. It’s just that the scenario of the game went perfect for Polish champions. 1-0 after first half and an opportunity to play counter attack in the second. A situation that every Polish team playing away wants to be in. So what went wrong? Details, as always. Sobolewski had a one-on-one situation before Beitar’s first goal, but he decided to dive in the box instead of shooting. Then half of the team went applying for the penalty. Beitar’s players didn’t and used this chance for a well executed counter attack. After that it was all emotions, which meant no organised play whatsoever. Unfortunately, it was Wisla that got hurt in the process. A simple one-two was enough to surprise Cantoro and Krakow’s defenders. The result should have been better, but it’s not a big surprise that it isn’t. Lack of quality and international experience, that’s all. Now Beitar looks favourites to go through, but it’s gonna be a tough battle in Krakow.

Allright, enough about Wisla, this is a national team blog. Let’s see how Leo’s hopefuls did in the game:

Mariusz Pawelek: inconsistent. A couple of good saves, but also some spit out shots and misunderstandings with the defenders. Could’ve saved the first goal. Didn’t shine.
Arkadiusz Glowacki: is not to blame for the goals, but the whole defensive play wasn’t convincing. Didn’t make Leo think.
Piotr Brozek: not convincing in defence and not much better in offence. Lost composure under pressure far too often (long balls to noone). Didn’t look like a player who can start for the nt.
Rafal Boguski: proved he has potential, but sometimes made bad choices in decisive moments. Impressive in defence as he helped the right back (Baszczynski) throughout all his time on the field.
Marek Zienczuk: a great league player that is unable to rise up to the occasion. Once again failed to impress against a quality opponent. A truly idiotic red card after he received a second yellow for holding Beitar’s player shirt just metres away from the referee.
Pawel Brozek: looks better and better as a lone striker. Of course, he won’t win any headers, but this time his movement created passing options for midfielders. As long as the ball was played on the ground he could use his speed and outrun defenders. Needs to work on holding the ball properly, though.
Wojciech Lobodzinski: played only for 15 minutes but looked quite fresh and dynamic. Will probably replace Zienczuk in the second leg. Get healthy Lobo.

Pawel Brozek’s goal

What do you think about the game? Did Wisla deserve a better result?