Ruslan Rotan needs his Polissya team to overcome a one-goal deficit when they travel to Andorra for their crucial Europa League qualification match against "Santa Coloma" on Thursday.
"We must be a completely different team and improve our performance," Rotan stated ahead of the match. "With the same attitude we showed in the first 15-20 minutes of our match in Slovakia, we're fully capable of achieving the desired result and advancing to the next qualification round."
The Ukrainian side finds themselves in a difficult position after losing the first leg 1:2 at home, despite initially taking the lead through Oleksii Hutsulyak. The Andorran club not only equalized but managed to grab a winner before halftime, putting Polissya's European campaign in jeopardy.
According to bookmakers, Rotan's squad enters the match as slight favorites with odds of 1.61 for a Polissya win compared to 4.75 for a "Santa Coloma" victory. A draw stands at 4.00.
Interestingly, "Santa Coloma" has shown vulnerability in their previous home fixture, losing 0:2 to Bosnian side Borac in the first qualification round. This gives the Ukrainian club reason for optimism – they need to overcome just a one-goal deficit, unlike Borac who faced a three-goal mountain to climb.
The match kicks off at 19:00 local time at Estadi FAF in Encamp, with Northern Irish referee Ben McMaster officiating. Whoever advances will face either Hungarian side Paks or Slovenian club Maribor in the next round, with Paks currently holding a 1:0 advantage.
Expected lineups:
"Santa Coloma": Ruiz — Crespo, S. Rodriguez, San Nicolas, Sistero — D. Rodriguez, Puerto, Arjona, Remolins — Leon, Mourelo
"Polissya": Volynets — Khadroy, Chobotenko, Sarapiy, Mykhailichenko — Babenko, Andriyevskyi — Hutsulyak, Yosefi, Nazarenko — Filippov
Can Polissya turn things around and continue their European journey? The answer will come Thursday evening in the mountains of Andorra.
