Trends from the first leg
The first match saw Sarpsborg go on many fast break counter attacks thanks to their long balls and balls that were stolen in dangerous areas of the pitch. Due to the fast paced play, both sides had plenty of chances as each squad took 15 attempts towards their rival’s goal. Omer Atzily had the most of any Maccabi player with 4 shots on goal.
The Norwegian side looked for striker Patrick Mortensen as keeper Aleksandr Vasyutin sent the target man 16 balls throughout the 90 minutes. Sarpsborg primarily used the left wing for their attack (40) compared to the center and right wings which saw 50 attacks in total. Tobias Heintz was the most active player from the left side taking 7 shots towards the Yellow & Blue goal, almost half of their total chances.
Taking a look at the past
Maccabi will meet Sarpsborg in the second leg after falling 3:1 in Norway, despite the result, there are plenty of examples which prove that nothing is quite finished. We took a look at other ties which resulted in the team that lost the first leg moving on. Last season Swedish side Östersund fell 3:1 at PAOK in the first match but ended up moving on to the Europa League Group Stages after a 2:0 home win as the away goal was decisive in advancing. Another interesting fact from the second leg was that the first goal only came in the 71’ (the 2nd was scored in the 78’) so it’s worth being patient.
In addition, this season Zenit St. Petersburg lost 4:0 to Dinamo Minsk in the first leg, but won 8:1 in the return matchup. Rapid Wien fell to Slovan Bratislava 2:1 but won 4:0 in the second leg while if we look back at last season, Zenit fell at Utrecht 1:0 but took the home tie 2:0 to advance. Finally, Red Star lost 3:2 against Krasnodar away but won 2:1 in the second leg to move on.
Sarpsborg home and away
Sarpsborg will come into the second leg against Maccabi after losing a home league match 2:1 to Kristiansund. Head Coach Geir Bakke made wholesale changes to his Starting XI to give his players rest for the domestic tilt after the first leg match against Maccabi.
The Norwegian League has already played 20 Matchdays due to the weather conditions in the Scandinavian country. So ahead of the return leg we looked at Sarpsborg’s record at home and away. In 11 home contests, Bakke’s club has won 6, drawn 2 and lost 3 while in 9 away matches they have won 3, drawn 3 and lost 3 matches.
