Crvena zvezda kicked the season off with a goalless draw that would hardly have captured the imagination of the fans. Still, our team created enough chances and perhaps needed a bit more luck in the final third.
Ground: ARVI Football Arena, Marijampolė
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Jørgen Burchardt (Denmark)
Sūduva: Kardum, Švrljuga, Kerla, Jankauskas, Živanović, Slavickas, Matulevičijus, Čađenović, Verbickas, Topčagić, Tadić.
Crvena zvezda: Borjan, Gobeljić, Milunović, Babić, Rodić, Jovančić, Jovičić, Ben, Marin, Ivanić, Boakye.
The longest journeys start with a single step, they say – and our first step on the road to this season's Champions League group stage was the away leg of the First Qualifying Round in Lithuania. We met the same opponents last year and beat them both home and away.
However, Head Coach Vladan Milojević called for caution ahead of this encounter, labeling the hosts a well-organized, tough side.
Our team started brightly and had three early attempts on goal as Ben, Ivanić and Boakye all tested Ivan Kardum inside the opening 15 minutes.
Captain Marko Marin created havoc for the hosts with his great runs and first touch, but all-blue-clad Zvezda couldn’t capitalize on it in the first half.
El Fardou Ben came the closest just before the break as his left-footed strike slid just off target.
Second half brought more of the same as Zvezda turned the screw on the Lithuanian side. Milan Borjan had to be alert on 65 minutes however as a rare Sūduva attack ended with a dangerous shot that could have given the hosts the lead against the run of play.
The introduction of Jose Alberto Canas and Milan Pavkov in place of Branko Jovičić and Richmond Boakye 20 minutes from time have the visitors some different options in the attempts to break down the stubborn Lithuanian defence.
Late introduction of Aleksa Vukanović also did little to change the score as the champions of Serbia had to settle for a goalless draw in this first leg.
It’s all to play for when these teams meet next Tuesday at Rajko Mitić Stadium.