Vitória crash out of Europe after shock defeat against NK Celje
The curse continues. No Portuguese team has ever qualified for the group stage of the Europa Conference League and Vitória will not be the first after crashing out of the competition in Guimarães tonight.
Vitória started the night in an advantageous position after victory in Slovenia last week, but a second-half header from Gregor Badje sent the tie into extra time then a penalty shootout, which the visitors won 4-2.
It is a hugely disappointing start to the European season for Portuguese football in general, and for Vitória in particular.
Over 18,000 fans turned up at the Dom Afonso Henriques stadium expecting to see the hosts finish off the job after looking far superior to Celje in a 4-3 victory in the first leg last week.
But a bad-tempered and disjointed game ensued, with the referee the busiest man on the pitch, administering a total of 11 yellow cards in the 120 minutes.
Vitória were left to rue missed opportunities at the end of each half of normal time, with André Silva hitting the post and Zé Carlos shooting wide from point-blank range after his initial effort had been beaten out the Celje goalkeeper.
It was not one-way traffic though, with Celje’s Nigerian forward Chukwu Ikwuemesi causing panic in the Vitória defence all night and missing several presentable goal-scoring chances.
Celje were proving to be anything but the favourable draw they initially appeared to be. The Slovenians were a well-organised and fiercely competitive team.
Nevertheless, Vitória will be devastated to lose and it immediately puts the pressure on coach Moreno, who will have to start the league well to appease Vitória’s notoriously demanding fans.
With Vitória eliminated from the competition at the first hurdle (second qualifying round), it is up to Arouca to fly for flag for Portugal in the competition.
The northerners face Norwegian outfit SK Brann in the third qualifying round. Should Daniel Ramos’ side make progress, they will have to subsequently negotiate a play-off to reach the group stage.
By Tom Kundert