Caernarfon Town are gearing up for their biggest challenge yet as they face Polish giants Legia Warsaw in the UEFA Conference League.
The Cofi’s in what is their maiden European campaign have been rewarded with a trip to Poland after beating Crusaders on penalties. Legia Warsaw were in the knockout rounds of the competition last season and beat Aston Villa.
To help get an understanding of what Caernarfon Town are going to come up against, we’ve sought the knowledge of Ryan Hubbard, a Polish football expert. Ryan runs Pilka.UK, which is a Polish football page in English. He is also the author of the book ‘From Partition to Solidarity: The first 100 years of Polish football’.
What’s your personal opinion of Welsh domestic football?
Meetings between Polish and Welsh clubs have been few and far between. You need to go back more than a decade to the last one, when Legia Warsaw travelled to Wrexham for a Champions League qualifier, against Welsh champions The New Saints. That tie resulted in a rather comprehensive win for the Wojskowi.
Comprehensive Polish wins have been the common outcome on the majority of occasions that clubs from the two countries have met – the only exception being the first, when Wrexham defeated 1975 Puchar Polski winners Stal Rzeszów.
Based purely on the respective records of Polish and Welsh clubs in Europe, it’s difficult not to look at the Cymru Premier League as inferior to the Ekstraklasa; but even so, that isn’t something that has necessarily mattered in recent years. Polish clubs – including Legia – have occasionally met their downfall against sides from leagues generally percieved as weaker.
Additionally, it’s also worth mentioning how strongly the Polish Ekstraklasa has developed since the last time Legia stepped foot in Wales. A traditionally smaller league itself, perhaps there is something of a blueprint that the Welsh domestic league might be able to follow, in order to expand its potential.
Embed from Getty ImagesWho are Legia Warsaw?
With their fifteenth league title back in 2021, Legia (pronounced “Leg-ee-ah”) are now officially Poland’s most successful club. They’re also one of only three Polish clubs to reach the semi-final of a European competition, doing so in both the 1969/70 European Cup and the 1990/91 Cup Winners’ Cup.
Legia were established back in 1916, whilst Poland itself didn’t actually exist as a political entity, by football-playing soldiers in the Polish Legions of the Austro-Hungarian Army. As the front lines fluctuated during the First World War, they settled in the capital of the newly-proclaimed Polish Republic in 1918, and have remained there ever since.
Ever since, Legia has been intrinsically linked to the Polish Army; and under the Socialist sporting model were able to pinch the best players from across Poland by drafting them into the army – one of the reasons they remain loathed across much of the rest of the country.
What transfer business have Legia done ahead of the tie?
Legia perhaps haven’t been as bold in the transfer market as they have in recent seasons – not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, given they’ve failed to win the league title in the last three seasons. However, that’s not to say they haven’t been busy…
The signing of Cameroonian striker Jean-Pierre Nsame from Italian side Como looks to be an interesting one, given the fact he had previously claimed six championships and three top goalscorer crowns while at Swiss side Young Boys. Loan deals for the Portuguese pair of Claude Goncalves from Bulgarian side Ludogorets, and former Wolves, Everton and Hull defender Ruben Vinagre, also provide intrigue.
Then there is the return of Brazilian midfielder Luquinhas, who spent two-and-a-half years at Legia before moving to the MLS. His first competitive appearance since arriving on loan from Fortaleza saw him knock home an injury-time winner in Saturday’s league opener against Zagłębie Lubin.
Embed from Getty ImagesWhat players should Caernarfon Town watch out for?
As well as the aforementioned Luquinhas, Czech striker Tomáš Pekhart has also made a successful return to Łazienkowska 3 after a spell away. The 35-year-old striker perhaps isn’t as prolific as in his first spell, but has chipped in with a number of important goals – including what proved to be the winner against Kazakh side Ordabasy Shymkent, at the same stage last season.
With Legia progressing to the knock-out rounds of the Conference League, Pekhart’s duties were shared with Spanish striker Marc Gual, who claimed the Ekstraklasa Golden Boot a year earlier. He chipped in with 11 goals in all competitions last term.
Away from the strikers, the 15-time Polish champions can call upon former Polish international midfielders Paweł Wszołek and Bartosz Kapustka – both of whom spent time in the UK with varying degrees of success. Wszołek made more than 100 Championship appearances for Queens Park Rangers; while Kapustka was signed by then-Premier League champions Leicester City after standout performances at Euro 2016, but only received a couple of outings in the League and FA Cups.
Embed from Getty ImagesHow do you expect Legia to line up?
With the Polish Ekstraklasa one of the first to kick off after the summer break, it isn’t unusual to see clubs request that their Ekstraklasa games are postponed in order to help their chances in Europe; however, Legia’s new coach, Gonçalo Feio, has already hinted at his willingness to buck that trend. For that reason, it’d be relatively safe to assume that the Portuguese will make several changes to the eleven which defeated Zagłębie 2-0 at the weekend.
Since his arrival in April, Feio has been consistent in playing with a 3-5-2 formation and an attacking impetus. This will continue to be the case as they begin their European campaign. In fact, Feio has recently had a sign placed above the exit of the Legia locker room, reading “Play Fucking Forward” in order to emphasise his mantra.
The 34-year-old has so far proved to be a very tactically astute coach and is quick to analyse his team’s performances and find areas of improvement or ways to counter an opposition’s tactic. While Zagłębie sought to prevent Legia using their width, the Wojskowi were able to quickly adapt and scored their two goals from more central positions.
The coach is also known to be extremely demanding of his players, and keen to instil discipline – for that reason, you can expect Legia to be well-drilled.
Finally, how do you expect the game to pan out?
It’s hard to look past a Legia victory across the two legs – although they will probably come up against a scare In doing so. By no means are they yet the finished article.
The Poles’ league opener showed that Feio still has a number of areas to work upon; and while the coach will ensure that they do, I wouldn’t expect Legia to hit top gear just yet.
Leave a Reply