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The whole Split is riled up but the games are won on the pitch, not on the stands

The city of Split will see this game as the biggest game of this century. The whole town has been riled up for days and the Ukrainian players didn't exactly get a good night 's sleep. However, that is Hajduk's only advantage and the question is whether it will be enough

hajduk.hr

If the winners were decided on the stands, Hajduk would have won this game by a landslide as all hell is getting ready to break loose tonight at Poljud, and the Ukrainian players had a chance to catch a glimpse of it last night when a couple of thousand fans stayed in front of their hotel until early morning, chanting and making loud noise. The detonations from the fireworks spread deep into the night until the early morning and the question is whether the Ukrainians got any sleep at all. The stadium has been packed for a few days and there's no doubt that the Ukrainians will face something like this for the first time in their life. Truth be told, not many Hajduk players have had this experience before as well.

However, that's where Hajduk's objective advantages stop. The first game showed the individual difference in class but the second half also showed that the Ukrainians can be vulnerable if things don't work well for them. Hajduk could/should have been down by 2-3 goals after the first 45 minutes but Lovre Kalinić kept performing his magic on goal. Hajduk took the lead in the second half but they conceded soon afterwards. Had the ref decided to call a penalty in the second half, it would have been a different story; this way, they conceded a second goal with 2 minutes to go.

Hajduk struggled with possession a lot. They were quite intimidated before the game and the Ukrainian high pressure created a lot of problems for them. Today, they will have to do much better in this area if they want to win.

hajduk.hr

- I still think Dnjipro have better players than we do, but I believe in our hard work and the goal that we have been training for. That's the reason for my optimism, along with our fans - said Tudor, once again defending his decision to rest his entire team in their last league game against Osijek.

- We have the squad that we have. It would have been stupid to risk losing someone in that game.

Unfortunately for them, Vlašić has been ruled out with concussion, while Bradarić is out for a while and so is Milevski:

- He will not compete for the next two games but will be fully prepared during the international break that follows.

This means that they will use a squad almost identical to that in Kiev. The only possibility is Mezga replacing Gotal.

- We did well in Kiev and we will do even better here. Looking at the tape, I got the impression that three-four players were not up to par. If we have eight-nine players at a good level, we have a chance - said Tudor.

The Ukrainians squandered their chance for an easy second leg in the first half but after their second half performance, they should feel lucky to have any advantage at all here.

- The key is to separate their lines, primarily their midfield from offense. We cannot allow ourselves to play like we did in the second half - said club captain Rotan.

Coach Markevič has tried to keep things calm by saying that the league is their priority and that EL elimination wouldn't be a tragedy for then. We sincerely doubt that considering the investments and the value of their team.

- Hajduk have an attacking game in which the key is to stop their forwards. I believe we will succeed in doing so and I'm not afraid of the atmosphere on the stadium - said Markevič at the press conference yesterday.

However, their forward Kalinić admitted that Torcida's (Hajduk's fan firm) performance last night makes him wonder what they could expect at the stadium.

They should also use the same squad as in Kiev. Injured Konopljanka and Mattheus are still out, but they're still a top-class team, at least one step above Hajduk in terms of individual quality.