Lech in Norway

In the summer of 2009, when Jacek Zieliński took over Lech’s senior team, he and his players drew Fredrikstad in the qualifiers for Europa League. Back then, we didn’t know much about the Norwegian side, other than that they struggle in the defence and play in white and red kits which they ‘borrowed’ from the Polish national team. In October 1926, when the Polish squad played an international match in a small Norwegian town, the local club reached out to the Polish FA saying they loved the Poles’ match kits and would like to adopt similar ones. Not only did the Polish FA happily agree, but they also sent the Norwegians a set of match kits.

The rumours about Friedrikstad’s poor defence proved true when Lech demolished the Norwegian side. The local players would go on to hide their faces in the white and red jerseys as the scoreboard showed a 6:1 win for the guests. Not only was it a humiliating loss to suffer at home, but also the Fredrikstad players were to blame since they made a series of errors.

“What team can I compare Fredrikstad to? Probably Grasshoppers Zurich,” said Sławomir Peszko in the pre-match press conference. The Pole predicted the final score of the match very well – in the clash with the Swiss side, Lech triumphed 6:0, and the match against the Norwegians ended in a 6:1 score. Hence, the win at Nye Fredrikstad Stadium was a historic one for Lech. Previously, the club’s highest away win was 4:2 – the final score of Lech’s clash against Beitar Jerusalem from 1993.

On the morning of this historic game, it looked like Lech might be in trouble since Marcin Kikut was ruled unfit and Lech had no other right defenders as Grzegorz Wojtkowiak was undergoing rehabilitation following a knee injury. As a result, Dimitrije Injac, who normally played as a defensive midfielder, was positioned as a right-back and he did a great job. “We are close to advancing to the next round, but we still need to seal the deal,” cautioned coach Zieliński.

Nenad Bjelica was in a different mood on his way back from Norway 8 years later. In the two-leg clash against Haugesund FK, at one point, Lech was down by three goals, but they ended up winning 4:3 on aggregate. How is that possible? In the 73^rd minute of the match in Norway, the hosts were winning by three goals. However, Lech didn’t lose hope and the two penalties converted into goals by Radosław Majewski and Darko Jevtić gave the team a much-needed motivational boost. The 2:3 loss was frustrating, but it gave Lech a chance to advance to the next round, and they eventually did.

In Norway, Christian Gytkjaer made his debut. The striker would go on to become one of the key players and in the 2019/2020 season, he won the league’s best goal scorer title. Interestingly, the Danish forward spent three years of his career playing at Haugesund. Moreover, in the clash between Lech and Haugesund FK, Christian faced his brother, Frederik.