In Warsaw, Legia’s passage to the next round of the Europa Conference League was scarred by an on-field brawl and shocking gestures from the head coach, while in Wrocław, Śląsk exited Europe following a match blighted by a refereeing display that has even been blasted by Poland’s Minister of Sport and Tourism.
Needing to overturn a 2-0 deficit, the writing had looked on the wall for Śląsk Wrocław after Bastien Toma put St. Gallen 3-0 ahead on aggregate after poking home in the 21st minute.
Fighting for a place in the Europe Conference League playoff, Śląsk hit back with Petr Schwarz bundling the ball into the net on 41 minutes. Visibly buoyed, it was game on when Piotr Samiec-Talar swept in another for Śląsk just two minutes later.
Astonishingly, Śląsk then added a third right before the break courtesy of a flying header by Aleks Petkov.
Pushing for a goal to take them clear on aggregate, Śląsk were initially awarded a penalty in the 73rd minute after Petkov was clipped in the box. However, after consulting VAR, referee Duje Strukan not only revoked the decision but then gave Petkov his marching orders after showing him a second yellow card for simulation.
With the match running 25 minutes into injury time, tempers then exploded ten minutes into added time after Strukan awarded the visitors a penalty for a handball in the box.
As the players argued and pushed each other, Śląsk winger Matías Nahuel was shown a red for his part in the fracas.
The drama, however, was just beginning. Stepping up for the penalty, Christian Witzig saw his effort palmed away only for Strukan to order a retake after keeper Rafał Leszczyński was judged to have moved off his line a fraction too soon.
Charged with the retake, Willem Geubbels made no mistake, thundering the ball past Leszczyński.
There was still time for one last twist. As Śląsk poured forward in a last-ditch bid to rescue the game, Arnau Ortiz was tripped in the box. Infuriating the crowd even further, Strukan turned down the ensuing appeal and flourished his third red card of the evening, sending Ortiz off for diving.
As anger builds, Śląsk have promised to file an official complaint concerning Strukan’s handling of the game, with even Poland’s Minister of Sport and Tourism, Sławomir Nitras, weighing in. Writing on X, Nitras said: “Śląsk played with eight [players] against twelve.”
While the Śląsk debacle has dominated Poland’s back pages today, there were more breathless thrills elsewhere around the country. In Warsaw, Legia scraped through to the Europa Conference League playoffs after a fortuitous 1-1 draw against Brøndby proved enough to book a tie in the next round against Drita of Kosovo.
Winning 4-3 on aggregate, Legia’s advance was marred by disgraceful scenes at full-time that saw both squads brawling on the pitch and Legia manager Gonçalo Feio directing crude gestures towards the visiting fans.
Last season’s cup winners, Wisła Kraków, will also appear in the Europa Conference League playoff after winning an epic penalty shootout against Slovakia’s Spartak Trnava. Wisła had it all to do after losing the first leg 3-1, but capped a heroic comeback with an extraordinary 12-11 win in the shootout.
Wisła, currently mid-table in Poland’s second tier, will now face Cercle Brugge.
Elsewhere, last season’s Ekstraklasa champions, Jagiellonia Białystok, also found out their fate and will meet Dutch giants Ajax in next week’s Europa League playoff.
