– Paul Dollery reports from Warsaw
JOHN CAULFIELD ATTEMPTED to play down his side’s chances of progressing after last week’s first leg, but the post-match comments of veteran defender Damien Delaney are more likely to have provided an accurate reflection of the mindset in which Cork City will approach this evening’s game.
With a clash against Spartak Trnava (Slovakia) or HŠK Zrinjski Mostar (Bosnia & Herzegovina) in the second qualifying round of the Champions League up for grabs, City will aim to overturn a 1-0 deficit in their second leg against Legia Warsaw at the Polish Army Stadium [8pm Irish time].
“We deserve to be at this level,” Delaney said last Tuesday at Turner’s Cross, after Michal Kucharczyk’s spectacular 79th-minute strike put Legia in the ascendancy.
“I hope the lads feel very, very happy and confident with the showing they put up. Going out there, I’m hoping we give as good a showing as we gave here and we’ll be looking to win that game.”
Legia’s lead may be slender, but the odds are stacked against the Leesiders as they face a club who have claimed five of the last six Polish titles. That’s evidenced by their respective prices with the bookmakers. Cork City are available at 14/1 to advance, with their opponents fancied at 1/100.
Progressing at Legia’s expense would undoubtedly be City’s greatest European triumph. For Dean Klafuric’s side, this tie merely represents one small step towards their ultimate goal of returning to the group stages of the Champions League, which they last achieved in 2016/17.
While it ended in defeat for City, the first leg may only have served to increase their belief that an upset is possible. As expected, Legia dominated possession and moved the ball at a pace which the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division champions aren’t accustomed to.
Through the likes of Sebastian Szymanski — their 19-year-old playmaker who has attracted interest from Liverpool and featured in Poland’s extended squad ahead of the World Cup — Legia possess a calibre of individual capable of producing a moment of magic to change the entire complexion of a game.
However, the first leg also illustrated that the Polish champions are certainly not flawless. As Damien Delaney put it: “They’re a good team, there’s no disputing that. They’re well organised, they get some nice passing moves going, they play out from the back — but I feel they’re vulnerable.”
Their loyalty to that policy of playing out from the back almost cost Legia dearly seven days ago, when Barry McNamee was presented with a golden chance by intercepting Inaki Astiz’s casual pass across the face of his own goal. McNamee failed to convert, but City continued to make Legia appear susceptible to a blunder by pressing their back three, which was weakened by the absence of a pair of Polish internationals.
With Astiz, William Remy and Mateusz Wieteska on duty again in front of goalkeeper Arkadiusz Malarz, Legia’s defensive frailties were exposed once more last Saturday when they suffered a 3-2 defeat on home ground against Arka Gdynia in the Polish Super Cup. The manner in which last season’s double winners in Poland leaked two of the three goals will undoubtedly have provided John Caulfield with food for thought.
At the other end, Legia found it difficult to create significant openings at the Cross as City worked tirelessly to starve them of the space they craved. Caulfield’s defence grew in confidence when Legia began to resort to ambitious long-range efforts in the second half. Unfortunately for the hosts, one of those attempts was brilliantly executed by Kucharczyk with 11 minutes remaining.
From the claustrophobic confines of Turner’s Cross to the relatively vast expanses of the 31,000 capacity Polish Army Stadium, narrowing those gaps may prove to be a much more difficult task for City this evening. Nevertheless, it’s something they’ll need to do successfully if they’re to have any hope of frustrating the hosts.
Playing at home and in front of a notoriously passionate and hostile support, Legia will feel more at ease than they did in Cork, where boss Dean Klafuric admitted that the “crazy atmosphere” generated by the 6,000-strong crowd made it difficult for him to relay instructions to his players.
A much larger attendance is anticipated tonight, but the local consensus in the Polish capital is that their team is unlikely to encounter many hurdles en route to securing a place in the next round. However, as St Patrick’s Athletic discovered here in 2014, that’s something visiting teams can use to their advantage.
“We got an early goal in that game — Christy Fagan scored — and the white handkerchiefs came up in the crowd,” St Pat’s winger Conan Byrne said recently on the Greatest League In The World podcast. “[Legia] didn’t really respond to it particularly well. We gave away a goal in the third minute of injury time so we got a great 1-1 draw over there.”
More recently, Dundalk highlighted what’s possible in such an environment when Robbie Benson’s superb goal gave the Lilywhites the lead in a 1-1 draw at the Polish Army Stadium. A 1-1 draw won’t be enough for City, but taking the lead — as their League of Ireland peers have done here in the past — would at least put their faith back in their own hands.
How much potential there is for City to succeed in this game will depend substantially on Legia Warsaw’s team selection. Many of their key players didn’t travel to Ireland last week, but several are eligible to feature on this occasion.
Three of those players — Michal Pazdan, Domagoj Antolic and Eduardo Da Silva — boast over 100 senior caps between them. Midfielder Antolic and ex-Arsenal striker Eduardo are both Croatian internationals, while Pazdan featured for Poland at the World Cup.
With three more rounds of Champions League football to be negotiated before they can reach their desired destination, as well as preparing for the start of their league defence this weekend against Zagłębie Lubin, Dean Klafuric may feel he can afford to resist the temptation to restore Pazdan to his rearguard less than three weeks since Poland’s World Cup campaign concluded.
Legia are also capable of beefing up their attack for this evening’s game. Club captain Miroslav Radovic returned for the defeat to Arka Gdynia over the weekend, while Carlitos made his debut from the bench in the same game. The 28-year-old Spanish striker was a summer signing from Wisla Krakow, having finished last season as the top goalscorer in Poland.
The most notable guaranteed absentees for the home side are defender Artur Jędrzejczyk — who also featured for Poland at the World Cup — and striker Jarosław Niezgoda, Legia’s most prolific marksman in the 2017-18 campaign.
Despite missing the first leg due to an ankle injury, Cork City goalkeeper Mark McNulty is in contention to reclaim his place from Peter Cherrie. Neither Conor McCarthy nor Gearoid Morrissey have travelled, however, after sustaining injuries in last week’s game.
The loss of McCarthy will be tempered by the likely inclusion of Steven Beattie, who many observers will feel is an upgrade for City at right-back due to his experience and the threat he offers in attack. Morrissey’s unavailability is certainly a blow for City, as the energetic midfielder had been performing excellently in the first leg before injuring his groin.
Jimmy Keohane will subsequently revert to a deeper position in the middle of the park, which could pave the way for Graham Cummins to return up front, with Karl Sheppard switching back to a wide attacking role.
Cognisant of the importance of not falling further behind to Legia, Caulfield will look to keep things tight and avoid unnecessary risks early on. If they’re still in the tie in the second half, they’ll hope for some creative inspiration from Kieran Sadlier, who’s likely to be held in reserve once again.
After finishing second to Dundalk in the Premier Division for three consecutive seasons, Cork City removed a monkey from their backs by clinching their first title in 12 years in 2017. Yet within the camp there remains a desire to emulate the unprecedented achievements of their rivals on the European stage two years ago.
Getting the better of the side who denied Dundalk a place in the group stages of the Champions League would be the ideal way to do just that, but for now the consolation prize of a place in the third qualifying round of the Europa League may have to suffice.
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