After losing 2-0 in Vilnius, champions Hamrun Spartans will be hoping to bounce back as they host FK Žalgiris of Lithuania in the second leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round at the Centenary Stadium on Tuesday, kick-off at 19:00.
It will definitely be no easy task to win by a two-goal difference to force extra-time or win by a three-goal difference to secure a spot in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League and set up a clash with FC Dynamo Kyiv of Ukraine.
The eliminated side would enter the UEFA Conference League second qualifying round Champions Path where they would face the loser of the Irish clash between Shelbourne FC of the Republic of Ireland and Linfield FC of Northern Ireland. Shelbourne won the first leg 1-0.
In Vilnius, the Spartans played a good game, creating several chances but failed to score. On the other hand, Žalgiris struck twice in the second half to build a two-goal lead.
Addressing the media ahead of Tuesday’s game, Hamrun Spartans coach Giacomo Modica said “As for the approach, there is not much I can criticise. We made mistakes defensively, on dead balls inside the box. There was a poor reading of that situation, but as for the approach, I cannot criticise the team because they showed commitment, they created a significant duel in midfield and we managed to build chances up front. If anything, given the remaining 95 minutes, it’s clear that, given the many goal-scoring opportunities we squandered in the first leg, we absolutely can’t afford them now. So the only thing I rely on is common sense on the pitch, in the game itself, knowing that we can’t afford to waste these opportunities, especially because we are a top division side playing the qualifying rounds of the Champions League, and consequently, when you have five scoring opportunities, you can’t fail to score even one. This is the only thing I can criticise in the first match because the team was alive, they fought, they played, and it’s clear that in football, the one who makes the fewest mistakes wins. They had four scoring opportunities and scored two. We had five and scored zero. From this perspective, I expect a change in mentality, especially in the knowledge that they are excellent players who can control the game at any moment.
When asked whether he would opt for a more offensive 4-3-3 formation, Modica was quick to say “They’re just numbers. We always play with eleven men. For me, occupying space is crucial: how we attack spaces, how we defend, and how we get the ball to score goals. Inside the pitch, how we move, how we attack, how we move up the pitch, how we free ourselves, and above all, what to do when we don’t have the ball. Those are the ingredients of football, in my opinion, because then we always play with eleven men. The problem isn’t the formation, it’s how we want to approach the spaces.”
Regarding Žalgiris, the Hamrun coach said “I expect them to wait for us and then start again. They have a two-goal lead and therefore I don’t think they are here to impose the game. We have to take it the way we want. I expect the team to be aggressive and fast and, if possible, try to allow them to think as little as possible because they have a lot of quality from midfield on up.”
Modica could be force to make some changes as he revealed that there were a few players who were recovering from injuries like Ryan Camenzuli and Matias Garcia, who had started the game in Vilnius, along with Jonny Robert and Redon Mihana. He said he still had to watch the game in the final training session before making a decision.
Meanwhile Joseph Mbong added that the players were confident as they know that there is quality within the squad and the ability to turn this clash in their favour. He said that this was not the first time, they were in such a situation and therefore they had the experience of turning the game in their favour. Mbong said that the team worked on those aspects which they could have done better in the first leg.
“The morale is high as we believe in ourselves and that we can play a good game and turn the score in our favour.”
“The full squad has been working together just for two weeks. Therefore we did not have much time to get to know each other that well. However, the performance was a positive one considering that we created chances away from home against a valid team which is mid-way through its league campaign. I believe that with more aggressiveness in front of goal, we would have been in a much better position but there is still the chance to turn the score in our favour,” said Mbong.
While Hamrun are hoping to progress to the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League which would guarantee a spot in the UEFA Conference League play-offs, Žalgiris are hoping to emulate their 2022 campaign when they managed to reach the Europa Conference League group stage.
Hamrun’s best run in Europe was in the 2022/23 campaign where they managed to reach the play-off round of the UEFA Europa Conference League after eliminating Alashkert of Armenia, Velez Mostar of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Levski Sofia of Bulgaria. Last season, Hamrun were eliminated by Ballkani of Kosovo from the UEFA Conference League second qualifying round after losing out to Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar on penalties in the first round.