Why are Legia struggling this season?
Friday, October 2, 2015
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Having made the round of 32 last season, Legia Warszawa have lost both group games so far this time: UEFA.com's Piotr Koźmiński explains what has changed.
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In the UEFA Europa League group stage for the fourth time in five years, having made the round of 32 last season, Legia Warszawa could have been excused some optimism.
However, their 2-0 home loss to Napoli on Thursday – following a 1-0 defeat at Midtylland on matchday one – leaves them six points adrift of Group D second place, a stark contrast to 2014/15 when they won five of their six group games. So what is going wrong for Legia in their centenary season?
They still miss Radović
Legia's troubles can be traced back to February when the inspirational Miroslav Radović decided to leave for Chinese second division team Hebei Zhongji. Not only did the Serbian score lots of important goals for Legia in Europe, he was also the most prolific foreign marksman in Ekstraklasa history, with 53 in 228 matches.
As recently as November 2014, Radović signed a new Legia deal, calling it "a contract for life". That was the intention, but the offer from Hebei's Serbian coach Radomir Antić proved too good to turn down. Legia have not been able to replace the 31-year-old, lost the title to Lech Poznań and are disappointing both at home and in Europe.
They benched their best striker
The best alternative to Radović, Nemanja Nikolić had to wait 62 minutes before entering the pitch against Napoli, by which stage Legia were already behind. With ten goals in as many Ekstraklasa games this term, Nikolić was voted the league's player of the month on Thursday for the second time running by captains of the top-flight teams.
Legia coach Henning Berg explained his decision: "I did not want our tactics to be too obvious to our opponents so I decided to start with Aleksandar Prijovic. If we had played 4-4-2, we could have conceded goals more easily."
They are under pressure in the league too
Club officials openly say that a second successive campaign without an Ekstraklasa title is absolutely unacceptable, meaning Berg cannot concentrate just on the UEFA Europa League. But after ten rounds, Legia are third, eight points off surprise leaders Piast Gliwice.
On Sunday, Legia play the Polish 'Gran Derbi' at Górnik Zabrze, a game that could prove pivotal for Berg personally. This could be why Nikolić was not started against Napoli.