It will therefore take a small feat. Sanctioned by too many turnovers, Strasbourg lost to Mainz (2-0) Thursday evening in the quarter-final first leg of the Europa Conference League, jeopardizing its chances of seeing the last four of the third European competition.
To lift the Racing Club de Strasbourg for the first time to the semi-finals of a European Cup, Ismaël Doukouré’s teammates will be forced to perform the feat next week in front of more than 30,000 spectators at La Meinau, obliged to score at least twice to win extra time.
It’s a real setback for Strasbourg which had until then won all its away matches, whether in the group stage (2-1 in Bratislava against Slovan and at Häcken in Sweden, and 1-0 at Aberdeen) finished in the lead, or in the round of 16 (2-1 at Riejka in Croatia). But on Thursday evening in Mainz, less than 200 kilometers from home, Gary O’Neil’s men were punished by German counter-attacks, with Silvan Widmer’s teammates being more aggressive in midfield.
Barco finds the bar
Kaishu Sato, who recovered the ball from Gessime Yassine’s feet, opened the scoring in the 11th minute. After a relay with Sota Kawasaki, the Japanese deceived Mike Penders with a superb curling shot which landed in the top corner, helped by Andrew Omobamidele’s deflection.
Less than ten minutes later, Stefan Posch doubled the lead, completely alone at the penalty spot to return with the flat of his right foot a corner taken by Paul Nebal in the 19th minute. Posch won the corner by recovering the ball about thirty meters from Penders’ goal, getting the better of Valentin Barco.
Jostled in midfield, Strasbourg regained a little footing in the match and showed a better appearance in the second half without it materializing in a goal. The Alsatians may regret this strike from Valentin Barco on the bar at the end of the match, which would have done them a lot of good in view of the return match next week. But in a melting Meinau stadium, nothing is impossible.
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