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Back in July, Lech Poznań were sent crashing out of Champions League qualification by Qarabag, and they only really scraped into the group stage of the Conference League. Since last summer however, they’ve been looking more and more capable both domestically and in Europe, and now they have the honour of being the first Polish side to play knockout European football since Legia Warszawa played in the Europa League Round of 32 back in 2017.
I wrote that Lech might be capable of a surprise in this competition back in September after their demolition of Austria Vienna, and despite not performing to their best for the whole of the group stage (in my opinion) they triumphed over a weakened Villarreal side in their last group game to get out of the group.
Now they will face Bodo/Glimt in the Round of 32 this evening, playing the first leg away in the Arctic Circle. It will be tough for Lech, and not least because of the conditions in Norway, but given that they were knocked out of a tough Europa League group Bodo/Glimt will be looking to show their quality.
Michał Skóraś will be one of Lech’s most impactful players, as he often is. He earned plenty of plaudits for his group stage performances and you can imagine he will be keen to take that confidence into the knockout rounds. Mikael Ishak has been great as well, and a special mention for Kristoffer Verde who really seemed to come alive in this competition back in the autumn.
Whether or not Lech triumph over their opposition in this tie or not, it’s encouraging for the progress of Polish football that only club representing the nation has managed to perform above expectations so far this season.
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