An incredible comeback was not rewarded

A game that the more than 10,000 spectators in Favoriten will probably not forget in a hurry. Legia Warsaw took a 2-0 lead before the break and added another goal after the break. But the Veilchen did not give up, Andreas Gruber scored two goals to reduce the lead to 2-3. Legia Warsaw scored 2:4, before Reinhold Ranftl - already in injury time - reduced the score to 3-4. However, extra time did not come, Ernest Muçi gave Austria the death blow in the 10th minute of injury time. Unbelievable final score: 3-5!

Michael Wimmer trusted the winning team from the first leg, only the injured Tin Plavotić was replaced by Johannes Handl. Marvin Martins is eligible to play in the European Cup and started as usual in the defensive centre.

Legia coach Kosta Runjaić also saw little reason to change his starting line-up. Only Artur Jedrzejczyk started in the three-man backline in place of Radovan Pankov, who - like Plavotić - was injured in the first leg.

Legia took the lead

The numerous fans at Viola Park saw a pressure-filled start from the home side. In the first five minutes, Austria had three corner kicks and the high pressing worked well. A first shot by Matthias Braunöder was blocked (3rd). As in the first leg, Michi Wimmer had to change early, Marvin Potzmann had to go off injured, Manuel Polster came into the game. Andreas Gruber did not put enough pressure behind the ball with a header after Polster's cross (19th). Legia became dangerous for the first time in the 23rd minute: Marc Gual appeared in front of Christian Früchtl, but his shot was wide of the mark and the Spaniard was offside. A long throw-in by James Holland caused a dangerous situation in the Legia penalty area, but goalkeeper Kacper Tobiasz was alert (29th).

A shot by Josué went well past the goal, on the other side Andreas Gruber was much closer (33rd, 38th). One minute later, the visitors scored the opening goal, Juergen Eltim scored with a powerful shot from 20 metres. The goal was preceded by an offside position by Pawel Wszolek, but a VAR is not used in UECL qualifying.

James Holland hit the crossbar with his head after Dominik Fitz's corner, almost equalising (41st). It got even worse in the first half, Marc Gual scored after a cross from Bartosz Slisz to make it 0-2 (45th). Austria needed at least one goal after the break.

The second half is hard to put into words

There were no personnel changes at the break, Chris Früchtl prevented a header by Patryk Kun with a brilliant save immediately after the restart. The Austria goalkeeper was also successful against Tomáš Pekhart (57th). Andreas Gruber narrowly missed a Stangl pass from Muharem Husković, and in return Pekhart scored after a perfectly played counterattack to make it 0-3 (59th).

Wimmer reacted and brought on Aleksandar Jukić and Manfred Fischer. In the 69th minute, 10,000 fans in the stadium found new hope, Andreas Gruber scored after a wonderful double pass with Dominik Fitz to make it 1-3. Marvin Martins was heckled in the penalty area by two Polish players, but the penalty whistle did not blow (80th). Alexander Schmidt celebrated his debut for Violett in the 82nd minute, one minute later Viola Park was upside down. Andi Gruber scored again after an assist by Dominik Fitz - only 2-3, total score 4-4.

But the joy was short-lived, substitute Maciej Rosołek scored in the 87th minute to make it 2-4. Legia Warsaw had the upper hand again. To make matters worse, Jukić was shown the red card for an assault. In the nine minutes of injury time, the Veilchen threw everything forward and the seemingly impossible happened, Reinhold Ranftl scored after an assist from Johannes Handl to make it 3-4 - Austria was back in the race.

But on this day it just wouldn't happen, you could hardly believe it. Ernest Muçi scored in the 100th (!) minute to make it 5-3 for Legia Warsaw, Austria were eliminated from the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers with an aggregate score of 5-6.

Austria Wien - Legia Warsaw 3:5 (0:2)

Austria: Früchtl; Handl, Martins, Galvão; Ranftl, Braunöder (62nd Fischer), Holland (62nd Jukić), Potzmann (5th Polster); Gruber, Husković (82nd Schmidt), Fitz

Legia: Tobiasz; Jędrzejczyk, Augustyniak, Ribeiro; Wszolek, Slisz, Elitim (74th Celhaka), Kun (90th+4 Rose); Josué (90th+4 Muçi), Pekhart, Gual (61st Rosołek)

Goals: Gruber (69th, 83rd), Ranftl (90th+6); Elitim (39th), Gual (45th), Pekhart (59th), Rosołek (87th), Muçi (90th+10).

Yellow cards: Gruber (45th+3), Martins (64th), Fischer (72nd); Elitim (35th), Augustyniak (45th+3), Slisz (90th), Josué (90th+3), Muçi (90th+11)

Red card: Jukić (89th)

Viola Park, referee István Vad (Hungary), 10,288 spectators