It was asking a lot for an Irish side to jump straight to the top floor without the near misses and Europa League campaigns that Legia have endured and enjoyed.
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Dundalk manager Stephen Kenny has praised his side despite their exit from the competition last night. “Nobody gave us absolutely any hope coming out here”, the 44-year-old told TV3. Persistent fouling from Legia was a feature of the first meeting but they were punished here when Hlousek – earlier booked for a cynical hack on Barrett – received a second red for needlessly dragging down the lively Finn.
“When they went down to 10 [men] we tried to stretch them and use the width of the pitch, but they defended well”.
“They shut the game down with ten men and then hit us on the counter with their pace”.
Kenny continued: “But overall I have to commend my players. We felt we could score more goals, but it wasn’t to be and Legia also showed their quality”.
They kept this Champions League play-off alive until the last moment and will regret the second goal in Dublin that promoted the scale of this task into mission impossible territory.
“We’ve qualified for the Europa League, which was beyond our wildest dreams really, a few seasons ago. But we were well in the game and it’s disappointing to lose”.
That draw will be made on Friday and Manchester United and Inter Milan are among the heavyweights they could draw.
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Dundalk and Stephen Kenny’s game plan was working a charm and the high pressing led to limited chances for the Polish side at their home Arena in the first half and both sides went in at half time with Dundalk on top.
