"We cannot be satisfied with this match in terms of the game," said the Hungarian goalkeeper after the match. After an agonizing, uneventful and unimaginative 120 minutes, the Hungarian team won in Bosnia.
After the home draw, Ferencváros played 1-1 after extra time on Thursday as a guest of Bosnia's Borac Banja Luka, which it then beat on penalties in the last, fourth round of the UEFA Europa League qualifiers.
In the extra time of the uneventful match without any chances, the home team took the lead from a corner, then Barnabás Varga equalized from the penalty spot. In the battle of nerves, the green and whites finally proved to be better, so they can appear on the main table of the second European cup series.
The FTC is on the main table for the sixth time in a row, including the fourth time in the Europa League.
The draw for El will be held on Friday at 1 p.m. in Monaco.
Ferencváros, like in the first match, played football in a superior manner, but it was just as harmless on goal as it was in Budapest.
Only Abu Fani's long shot caused excitement, but the ball narrowly missed the right corner. The Hungarian champion's attacks lacked creativity and momentum, so until the break, he could only show that he had almost twice as much possession as his opponent, but this was not shown in situations at all.
The picture of the game did not change even after the change of half, the green and whites could only fight for a barren dominance on the field. Even though the FTC controlled the match, it was unable to play through the back line of the Bosnians, who defended in an organized manner, so the match continued to flow quietly. The most telling fact about Ferencváros' offensive game is that they did not have a single shot on goal in ninety minutes, so extra time could follow.
Even in the extra time, minutes passed without any chances, until the home team unexpectedly took the lead after a corner. At a disadvantage, FTC switched to a slightly higher gear, but the equalizer was only due to a big mistake by the rival goalkeeper, because Manojlovic moved badly when a forward cut ball hit Kady instead, and the penalty was saved by substitute Varga. In the battle of nerves, Ferencváros proved to be better, so even if it is difficult, it can continue its performance in the number two series, while Borac Banja Luka was transferred to the Conference League.
Pascal Jansen told M4 Sport after the match that their most important goal was to advance, but it will be worth analyzing how they achieved all this, because they did not play well in the first match of the match, in Budapest, and suffered away from home.
"The team played a lot of matches in a short time, but this cannot be an excuse, we have to play better football. I think we were a little too tense today, we played too direct football in the first half, which has not been typical of us so far. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we have reached our goal."
According to the coach, the quality up front was lacking to create chances.
"We had the possession, but to score you need quality up front to solve the one-on-ones, or to be able to create a quick presser and get behind the defense, but we couldn't create those chances because we weren't good enough with the ball, compared to what we were before."
Dénes Dibusz , you have to be self-critical after the match, as they did not manage to score against the Bosnians in 180 minutes.
"Furthermore, in the second leg, we played the 90 minutes without a shot on goal, which is not enough, to put it mildly. Then, in overtime, we found ourselves at a disadvantage with a ball we threw in, and we put ourselves in a very difficult situation. Fortunately, we managed to equalize, it was felt that we were mobilizing the last reserves of strength, we were able to increase the intensity of the game a little. Fortunately, Barnabás Varga was able to slip several balls, one of which led to the penalty shootout. But we cannot be satisfied with this match in terms of the game."
The national team goalkeeper added that the home team defended well this time as well, but they opened up a few times in the second half and in overtime, in which case Fradi was able to play the balls deep in the middle, but much more of these would have been needed.
"But only in the last third of the match did such situations begin to emerge, from which we were not able to create a serious threat anyway. We struggled, you can't criticize that, everyone put in the work, but we didn't play well at all in the two matches. Thus, the fact that we were at a disadvantage, it was already gratifying that we managed to save the match on penalties, and luckily we had Fortuna next to us and we took the penalties better than the home team."
Barnabás Varga, who came on as a substitute and scored the equalizing goal for FTC , said that they expected that Borac would not force the offensive game and would rather aim for the penalty shootout.
"For the most part, their will was realized, of course we managed to work out some minor situations, but again we failed to sell them. But the point is that we progressed, that was the most important thing now. Maybe we moved the ball a little slowly, but they defended with ten men, the most important thing for them was to end the match without a goal as long as possible, that's why we only had long shots, it was difficult to get inside the penalty area. Then we conceded a spot kick goal in overtime, but fortunately we still had enough to equalize. It can give the team strength both in the championship and in the Europa League, that they managed to advance in such a match."
MTI / civilek.info
Photo: Ferencvárosi Torna Club Facebook