FC St.Gallen suffered their third defeat in their fifth Conference League game, conceding goals 14 to 17. blue Sport experts Markus Neumayr and Daniel Gygax are clear about where the leverage needs to be applied.
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- FC St.Gallen lose 4-1 to Vitoria Guimarães in front of their home crowd and concede their third defeat in their fifth Conference League match.
- While the players mourned the missed chances after the final whistle, blue Sport experts Daniel Gygax and Markus Neumayr saw the primary problem in the defense.
- For Neumayr, scoring four or five goals against a team like Guimarães is "wishful thinking".
On the fifth matchday of the Conference League, FC St.Gallen were beaten by the strong Portuguese side Vitoria Guimarães. In front of a home crowd, Enrico Maassen's team lost 4-1, the 14th to 17th goals conceded by FCSG in the Conference League.
Nevertheless, in an interview with blue Sport after the final whistle, Jordi Quintilla spoke primarily about the lack of chances. "We need to improve on that," said the 31-year-old, mourning the good chances he created in the first half. Christian Witzig echoes a similar sentiment: "The big issue was again in front of goal. (...) The chance conversion is not what we want it to be."
One game without a goal since the beginning of September
In the blue Sport studio, experts Markus Neumayr and Dani Gygax put the main focus on the defense of Eastern Switzerland. "That's the danger in St.Gallen at the moment. You enjoy the energy, the intensity that you get from the crowd. But at the end of the day, you've conceded four goals again and I can't remember the last time St.Gallen played to nil," says Neumayr.
In fact, the Espen very rarely keep a clean sheet. Since the beginning of September, they have managed to do so just once in 20 competitive matches - at home to Yverdon on November 24. "If you look at how they defend in certain situations - that's no coincidence and that's where they have to apply the levers," Neumayr makes clear. "Because scoring four or five goals against a team like Guimarães is wishful thinking."
Dani Gygax agrees: "You can't concede 17 goals in five games. They're good opponents, but you can't concede that many goals, it's madness. It's just extremely difficult like that." A place in the knockout phase is still possible. However, they will need a surprise against Bundesliga side Heidenheim in the final game of the league phase - and a solid defense.
