Legia Warsaw's embarrassment. "We know, the weather, force majeure."

Before kick-off, the hosts seemed to have some chances, given the fact that they were playing on their home turf, both literally and figuratively, which was hot. Larnaca and the Cypriot climate, with temperatures well over 30 degrees Celsius and very high humidity, certainly didn't help the visitors from Warsaw. Still, Legia should have performed much better.

Legia Warsaw's defeat. Zbigniew Boniek briefly summarized it.

The Warsaw team clearly didn't expect their opponent to impose such tough conditions. One gets the impression that in the previous round, the Czech team Baník Ostrava, eliminated by Legia, had been the more athletic team. However, the Polish team managed to find a way to eliminate their opponent. It was a completely different story in Larnaca, where the final score was a humiliating 1-4. A result that, with a three-goal deficit, will be difficult to overcome in the return leg in Warsaw.

Former Polish Football Association president Zbigniew Boniek commented on Legia's result in his own style on platform X. "Zibi" traditionally follows events related to Polish football, regularly posting on social media.

"We know the weather, force majeure. Next week the weather will be different," we read Boniek's words, which were quickly picked up by internet users.

Twitter

Interestingly, during the return leg in Warsaw, the temperature will be... quite similar to what the Legionnaires encountered in Cyprus. At least, that's what the weather forecast indicates. The difference is that in Poland, the humidity won't be as high, which could favor the home team. But what good is that, since in the end, Legia simply has to show that they're better than their opponent. With a three-goal lead, AEK Larnaca can focus primarily on defending their own goal while also launching dangerous counterattacks. And this, again, could be the key to success.

It's worth noting that Thursday, August 7th, wasn't a successful day for Polish teams competing in European competitions. Of the three PKO BP Ekstraklasa teams, only Jagiellonia Białystok won. And that was on what seemed like the most challenging ground, Denmark. "Jaga" defeated Silkeborg 1-0.

Besides Legia, Raków Częstochowa also suffered a defeat. Coach Marek Papszun's team unexpectedly lost 1-0 at home to Maccabi Haifa. The Israeli club took home a priceless, albeit modest, bonus from Jasna Góra.

In the case of Jagiellonia and Raków, this is the third round of qualifying for the Conference League. The return legs, similar to Legia's (i.e., the UEFA Europa League), will take place in a week.

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