Braga beat Lazio 1-0 but drop out of Europa League by a single goal | OneFootball

What looked like mission impossible at the start of the evening so nearly was accomplished as Braga won against the previously unbeaten Europa League table toppers Lazio, who finish top of the pile despite their defeat in Portugal tonight.

Ricardo Horta’s early goal earned the Guerreiros all three points, but the Braga captain missed a late chance one-on-one against Lazio goalkeeper Christos Mandas that would have made all the difference.

Braga finish in 25th position in the table and are out of Europe, agonisingly one goal short of earning a playoff place. José Ricardo Leite reports on a bitter-sweet night at the Quarry.

Carlos Carvalhal finally dropped his charges against João Moutinho. He understood, after several poor performances, that he is by far the best midfielder in his team. Today, Moutinho was in charge of leading the team to an absolute miracle: defeat Lazio (the best team in the Europa League) and give the Arsenalistas some hope.

Carvalhal put in an absolute menace of offensive players: Ismaël Gharbi, Amine El Ouazzani, Ricardo Horta and Roger Fernandes. If the message was clear, the entrance in the game was even clearer.

A strong and definitive start

Six minutes in and Ricardo Horta, the captain, puts the Guerreiros do Minho in front. The miracle was on. Braga knew that they couldn’t take their foot off the gas and knew that goals could play a huge roll in this final round in the league phase of the Europa League. They pressed high, they tried to build up their plays on the counter attack, on positional attacks, but most of all they were playing with their hearts, something that has been missing from Braga in this competition.

In the 17th minute, Gigot made an awful challenge on Gharbi. The Lazio players, even though they knew they were already qualified, wanted to make Braga’s life very difficult. They also knew that they were stronger and their challenges were very hard, borderline aggression.

Pedro tried his luck with a dangerous free kick going wide in the 20th minute.

Another awful challenge by Lazio players took place in the 25th minute. The referee did nothing about it and Braga’s coaching staff were losing their patience. One minute later, Niakaté seemed to sprain his muscle and was subbed off for Bright Arrey-Mbi. The game became very stuck all around the pitch: Lazio were overwhelmed with Braga’s offence and the hosts were overwhelmed by the pressure.

Pedro Rodriguez was the only threat to Braga’s hopes and came really close to scoring in the 37th minute. Luckily, he was offside. Arrey-Mbi is a very talented player but a complete liability under pressure.

Lazio’s players had a free pass to do whatever they pleased on the field: play handball, challenges meant to hurt… Braga’s mountain was growing bigger. At the end of the first half Braga found themselves in the final playoff spot and their hopes and dreams were just some lucky results and 45 minutes away.

A rollercoaster of a second half

The second half started much more like the end of the first: a stuck game, Braga with high spirits and high pressure. Lazio dropped back and gambled on the counter attack but they were completely under siege by the Guerreiros.

News travels fast

With the goal by FC Porto in Belgrade in the 57th minute and with Midtjylland losing by only one goal, Braga needed two goals to secure their playoff spot. With the news came pressure. If it was high before, now it was higher than ever. The Guerreiros were lost in their minds and on the pitch and with 66 minutes played, Isaksen was really close to put the final nail in Braga’s coffin. Lukas Hornicek responded with a brilliant save.

71 minutes: good news from England; with Elfsborg losing against Tottenham by one goal, everything was tied between both teams. One goal made every difference and now the Guerreiros needed to gather their strengths and push for another goal.

Roger Fernandes tried from distance, El Ouazzani was giving everything fighting with Lazio’s centre backs. With ten minutes left, the fans were trying to play their part as well. But the news from the Netherlands brought the Guerreiros back down to earth. The crowd roared in disbelief because of how unlucky they were.

Dele-Bashiru tested Hornicek once more and again Braga’s goalkeeper shined. Boulaye Dia also created danger right away. The game was back and forth in the final five minutes and Ricardo Horta had a clamorous chance to make it 2-0 but he chipped it so badly that the keeper had no problem saving the “lob”.

In the final breath A GOAL FOR BRAGA THAT PUTS THEM IN A PLAYOFF SPOT. But Gabri Martinez was offside. Braga needed a goal for Midtjylland to defeat Fenerbahçe… but nothing happened.

Braga are out of the Europa League, but go down with their heads held high.