After the 1: 3 in Edinburgh, FC Luzern is threatened with the end of the European Cup. For the turning point, the central Swiss need an exploit in front of their home audience.
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the essentials in brief
- FC Luzern is challenged in the qualifying second leg against Hibernian.
- Central Switzerland must make up for a two-goal mortgage.
- The game takes place on Thursday at 8.45 p.m. in the Swissporarena.
Above all, the offensive is required. If the FCL wins by two goals, there would be overtime and possibly a penalty shoot-out.
If the Lucerne team want to advance to the last qualifying round of the Conference League, they have to score at least three goals. However, they haven’t managed to do that in seven competitive games this season.
Can FC Luzern turn the tide against Hibernian?
Not an impossible task
After two 2-1 wins, they stayed at one goal per game in the four games in August. Among others, Max Meyer, Lucerne’s top scorer of the last season, is waiting for his first goal of the new season. New signing Kemal Ademi, who has only scored in the away game against Djurgarden, must also be more efficient.
Despite the suboptimal starting position, the project against Hibernian does not seem impossible, because the Scots have not convinced so far. In the league, last season’s fifth-placed side are still without points after two games – they lost 2-1 to Motherwell on Sunday.
In Europe, they suffered an embarrassing defeat away to Andorran’s Inter Club d’Escaldes but managed to respond at home. In the first leg against Lucerne, the team from the capital primarily benefited from mistakes made by the guests and were royally rewarded with three goals for an overall modest effort.
“We are dying for the game”
Coach Mario Frick’s team, on the other hand, goes into the second leg stronger. On Sunday, the 1:1 against YB not only resulted in a point win, but with the long dominant appearance against the champion, it was also able to gather courage for the task on Thursday.
“We are dying for the game,” said Marco Burch of the “Luzerner Zeitung”. For the 22-year-old defender, who made the clash against Hibernian possible with his goal in the home game against Djurgarden, “nothing has been decided yet”.
If Lucerne succeeds in the exploit, the team would be rewarded with another trip to Great Britain. In the playoff round there would be a duel with the English Premier League club Aston Villa. This should be enough as an incentive to pull out all the stops against Hibernian in a particularly offensive manner.
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2023-08-16 16:10:44
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