In the second round of the group stage of the European Cup, Group B played first, the world's tenth-ranked Croatia played against the world's No. 66 Albania, in the first half of the game, Rachi took the lead with a header, Albania took the lead, in the second half of the game, Kramaric pushed and equalized, Sucic made an own goal, Croatia scored two goals in three minutes, 2:1 to complete the overtake, but in injury time, Albania scored a goal, and finally Croatia drew 2:2 with Albania, two rounds of winless continue to be at the bottom, A win over Italy in the next round will take place.
Background of the game
In the first round of the game, both teams lost, so this game is a life-and-death battle to qualify, whoever loses means that they are basically out, especially for Croatia, they lost 0:3 to Spain in the first round, and there is no advantage in goal difference, and it is difficult to have an advantage if they compete for the third place in the group, not to mention that they will play the defending champion Italy in the final round.
Croatia 2:2 Albania
In the first half, Croatia, who were eager to win, launched a frantic attack, but they lacked absolute speed, and they did not open up on the two wings, and it was difficult for them to pose a threat to the Albanian goal. On the contrary, Albania's counterattack was sharp, in the 11th minute, Asani, who plays in the K League, crossed from the right, and Rachi scored with a header in the penalty area, Albania took a 1-0 lead and scored first in two consecutive games, which put Croatia in a desperate situation.
In the subsequent game, Albania continued to counterattack efficiently, especially Asani's pass on the right side, the offensive effect was really good, fortunately Livakovic made two key saves, did not allow Albania to extend the lead, retained the team's hope of a reversal, at halftime, Croatia had 0 shots on target, while Albania had 7 shots on goal, 3 on target.
In the second half, Croatia made personnel changes, Sucic and Pasalic came off the bench, Croatia could not penetrate, so they stepped up their long-range shots, but Strashako concentrated and made two saves in a row.
Croatia's attack is still unable to speed up, as long as the speed is a passing error, Albania is very accurate in predicting their passing line, if you force a cross, there is no absolute strong point in the penalty area, it is difficult to pose a threat to the goal.
In the 74th minute, the situation on the field changed abruptly, Croatia scored two goals in three minutes to complete the reversal, first Kramaric pushed the goal in the penalty area, and then substitute Sucic shot, causing Jasura's own goal, Croatia 2:1 overtake.
However, in the final stage of the game, Albania gave it a go, and in the 90+5th minute, Jasula made up for it and scored a goal, and Albania drew 2:2.