– That's a difficult moment. In a short time we did a lot and expectations for us have changed. We have received praise many times, and now you have to accept criticism. The most important thing is that we continue to be together and not give up – said coach Adrian Siemieniec after a Sunday defeat in Kielce. Jagiellonia is already losing seven points to the leading Raków and five to Lech. Although there are mathematical opportunities, in practice, four queues before the end of the competition, this is the end of the dreams of the Białystok defense of the title.
However, this is not the end of problems, because under a big question mark the podium and European cups in the next competition for the outgoing country champion also stood. The speeding pursuit loses only two points to “Jaga”, and in the last round he will come to Bialystok for a direct start. In Podlasie, certainly everyone will keep their fingers crossed for the Polish Cup to go to Szczecin, because then the pass to Europe can also give fourth place. But the lack of a medal would leave disgust anyway.
Before Jagiellonia, a difficult finish of the season. Before the match with Pogoń, Jaga will first play in Bialystok with Górnik, and then she will be waiting for trips to Częstochowa and Wrocław. The team has the right to be exhausted mentally and physically after over 50 meetings of this season and a long way to the quarter -finals of the conference league. But this does not change the fact that in a sense her failures are determined by trifles, which can still fix the current Polish champion in a short time.
The art of using moments. It failed Jagiellonia the most
And although in the last two matches with Zagłębie and Korona Jagiellonia she lost three goals, contrary to appearances, her main problem is not defensive. It all starts with what the “yellow-red” do under the opponent's goal. In the last eight queues, they were only able to score two goals once when they won with Lech 2: 1 after the suicide goal of Radosław Murawski in the second half. In addition, Siemieniec's offensive machine stops at a maximum of one goal in the match. And it is indolence in the attack that is the main cause of breathlessness, costing falling out of the race for a championship title.
The lack of Afimico Pululu goals (in Kielce, hitting the penalty kick, scored the first goal in the league from February 7) or Jesus Imaz (two goals in the last eight matches) is only a part of the problem that spreads into the whole team. The ball is the art of using its good moments, and here Jagiellonia Białystok has a huge problem. These considerations are not only about clean adding goals to your achievements, but also a change of momentum during the meeting.
The match with Korona is a very good example here. Jagiellonia dominated for 30-35 minutes, and to the last action of the first part of the game did not allow the crown to go through the goal situation. But instead of translating it into two or three goals (when Jarosław Kubicki had an excellent situation, and Taras Romanczuk hit the crossbar closely), she only used a penalty kick. The 1: 0 score still allowed the crown to lead to a draw. And the crown was leveled, after the controversial decision of the judge at the clash of Jewhienija Szykawka with Norbert Wojtuszek and the goal after a permanent fragment of the game. And nothing left of Jaga's good game, while with a 2-0 result in such circumstances of the match it would be difficult to come back to the game.
In the second half the same. The second permanent fragment of the game for the Crown and Gol Paua Resty at 2: 1. After a while, Afimico Pululu has a situation alone with the goalkeeper. If he fired, it would be 2: 2 and Jagiellonia would get the wind in the sails in battle. But Angolczyk wasted this opportunity and after a while Mariusz Fornalczyk scored a fantastic goal at 3: 1 and it was Korona who was sure of her. Self -confidence could be disturbed if Jesus Imaz used another goal situation, but the guests did not succeed. There were many unused moments to change the course of the match, higher lead or return to the game, but none of that. Jagiellonia, playing away, had five big opportunities in this meeting, and only used a penalty kick.
Shooting only one goal in the match gives three points only with flawless defensive or a lot of happiness. And there is no such defense today. The team is not so strong yet to regularly dominate their opponent from the first to the last minute. But paradoxically, Polish champions are needed to be little. When Jagiellonia will better use her good moments at the end of the season, many of her problems will disappear.
- 1: 0 vs GKS Katowice (house)
- 1: 0 vs Widzew Łódź (Departure)
- 2: 1 vs Lech Poznań (house)
- 0: 1 vs Lechia Gdańsk (Departure)
- 1: 1 vs Piast Gliwice (house)
- 1: 0 vs Legia Warsaw (Departure)
- 1: 3 vs Zagłębie Lubin (house)
- 1: 3 vs Korona Kielce (Departure)
Jagiellonia's dream is not over
Raków and Lech, which in these competitions will play 35 matches in all competitions, currently have more arguments and strength to fight a battle for the championship. In the case of Jagiellonia, it should be remembered that the anomaly is not that in the end “Jaga” will not defend the title, but that with the still modest potential of the whole club she was able to combine the league with cups with dignity and until the 30th round in this race remained. After all, even after a defeat with a crown Piurters Siemieniec has only one point less than a year ago, when they reached the first title in history (55 at 56 years ago). Then, by the end of the season, they scored seven more, and the paradox of the current games is such that the result may not even give the podium similar to 63 points.
However, even when you get out of the fight for the title, Jagiellonia is still playing an excellent season, which part of it seems to forget fansand even bystanders. The same people at the turn of August and September probably, after a series of seven defeats in a row in all competitions, predicted the team of Adrian Siemieniec a desperate fight for maintenance and defeat in European cups.
Meanwhile, we are witnessing the opposite. Jaga is on a par with the league leaders. The championship, the Polish Super Cup and the quarter -finals of the Conference League are a success that was not even dreamed of in Bialystok. In this way, reality exceeds the imagination.