Thun – Lech Poznan

Don't expect a repeat of such a large turnout at the follow-up meeting.

The real catastrophe happened for Swiss Thun in the first leg of the Europa League qualifying round. The team began the European season as the champion of its country. Thun's high status was won for the first time in its history and clearly it was not prepared to defend its country's honor in the Champions League. This was compounded by a lack of readiness and the Swiss champion's awful transfer policy. To strengthen ahead of the start of qualification for Europe's elite tournament, Thun spent 1.4 million euros. At the same time, it sold several key players, not all of whom chose to pursue careers in the continent's top leagues. Perhaps this is the best evidence of the not-so-great circumstances surrounding the club. Moreover, in the Champions League qualifiers Thun fought not badly, managing in Zagreb to push the local Dynamo Zagreb into extra time. Dropping to the Europa League, the Swiss, thanks to a home win, defeated Vikingur Reykjavik. Alarm bells rang for Thun on the first day of August, when ahead of the opening match against the Icelanders they were crushed at home by Young Boys 0-6. The decisive stage of qualification for the Swiss champion began in Poznan. Already in the first half, Thun's defense collapsed, and Lech Poznan demonstrated clinical finishing. After losing the first half 0-5, the Swiss side failed to regroup for the second. The final score 0-7 leaves Thun with no chance to continue in the competition, but opens the way to the group stage of the Europa Conference League. Precisely because the Swiss would receive a consolation prize anyway, the return leg seemed to be of no use to anyone. At least, Lech would gladly focus on the away league match in Poland against Widzew Lodz, scheduled just two full days after the Swiss match. Having decided the winner of the duel, surely Thun players will try to avoid another humiliation and defend more reliably, while Lech's players will try to avoid injuries. Moreover, a serious rotation of the squad by the Polish club's coaching staff cannot be ruled out.