Dramatic Last Minutes for Flensburg

“Valladolid have a very safe 6-0 defence,” analysed Kent-Harry Andersson, coach of Flensburg, before the game.

In fact, the fifth team in the Spanish championship have a wide defensive repertoire. The Swedish can could never be sure which defensive formation his colleague, Juan Carlos Pastor would apply.

For any case, Kent-Harry Andersson practised with his team the tactics against a 5-1 formation as well.

His instinct did not deceive him. Valladolid have shown a very good attacking play in most of the game. The shooting power of Marcin Lijewski and the help from Joachim Boldsen helped the hosts to gain advantage in the first half of the game.

Richtig davon ziehen konnte die SG aber nicht. They made too many mistakes in attack. It seemed that the hosts can keep the match under control. They gained a four-goal advantage. “We were not nervous in these phases,” praised his team Juan Carlos Pastor. “You have to fight for every ball.”

The Spanish team equalised again in the 46th minute (23:23) and signalled that they are up to the challenge. “Chema” Rodriguez directed the team and the pivots made use of his passes, just as Eric Gull and Alen Muratovic in the final phase of the game.

Joachim Boldsen suffered from an injury and the 5:1 Valladolid defence worked well against Marcin Lijewski as well. The fans feared that Flensburg might lose the game. In this period Ljubomir Vranjes emerged and led the attacks. Flensburg was able to maintain the lead with his help.

The “Hölle Nord” saw a disillusioning last minute. Blazenko Lackovic broke free but he could not make it 33:29, and Alen Muratovic fired the ball in the corner from the counterattack. “It is not good luck to play the first game at home,” said Kent-Harry Andersson. “It is a great stress to gain good advantage for the second leg.”