MINSK, 29 August (BelTA) – FC Neman Grodno failed to advance to the main stage of the UEFA Conference League, having suffered two defeats to Spain's Rayo Vallecano, BelTA has learned.
In the second leg of the qualifying stage in Madrid on 28 August, Igor Kovalevich's team lost 0-4. In the first half, the hosts had a significant advantage but created almost no truly dangerous chances. The visiting team defended calmly and carried out sharp counterattacks. In one of them, Anton Suchkov took a powerful shot, but the ball hit the crossbar. At the end of the half, the Spaniards did score a goal, but it was disallowed for offside. However, after the break, they managed to score twice in a row, in the 64th minute, the score was opened by Alvaro Garcia, and just two minutes later, Sergio Camello beat Maksim Belov's goal. In the final ten minutes, Jorge de Frutos and Alvaro Garcia scored two more goals.
A week ago in Hungary's Szeged, the Spanish club won with a minimal difference, 1-0.
FC Neman Grodno has reached the decisive qualifying stage of European tournaments for the first time. On their path to the playoffs, Igor Kovalevich's team overcame Yerevan's Armenian Urartu (2-1 and 4-0), Slovakia's Košice (3-2 and 1-1), and the Faroese KÍ Klaksvík (0-2 and 2-0, winning 5-4 on penalties). This season, Neman has earned almost €1.5 million.
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