Santa Clara beaten 2-1 by NK Varaždin in UEFA Conference League | OneFootball

Vasco Matos’s Santa Clara were narrowly beaten by NK Varaždin in an entertaining first leg of their Conference League qualifier in Croatia.

The hosts had the better of the first half and deservedly went into the break leading, albeit through a dubious penalty award, confidently converted by Ivan Mamut. Adriano Firmino equalised for the islanders with a tremendous shot from outside the box in the 55th minute.

Both teams had chances to take the lead, but during the Portuguese team’s best spell of the match Varaždin snatched the winner via a deflected free kick from substitute Marko Dabro.

Back in Europe

Santa Clara were playing in European club competitions for the second time having entered the UEFA Conference League at the same stage in 2021/22, when the Azorean outfit played six preliminary matches before eventually losing the playoff against Partizan Belgrade.

Facing the team that finished fourth in the Croatian league, hopes were high that Santa Clara could follow Vitória’s example of last season and reach the league phase of Europe’s third club competition.

Santa Clara have retained virtually the same squad that finished fifth in Liga Portugal in 2024/25. They began with same starting XI as their usual lineup last campaign, apart from Australian centre-forward Anthony Carter who was brought in from Alverca in the close season.

However, it was the hosts who looked the more settled team in the first half. As one would expect from a Balkan team, the home side showed a good mix of aggression and technical proficiency, Petar Bockaj and Matej Vuk especially catching the eye with their neat passing.

Early setback

The raucous crowd were in full voice in the 10th minute when Mamut took a tumble after tangling with Lucas Soares and the referee signalled for a penalty. It looked extremely soft but with no VAR at this stage of the competition, the decision stood. Mamut picked himself up and lashed the ball into the middle of the net.

Varaždin thought they had doubled their lead midway through the first half when their energetic pressing paid off and Mamut had the ball in the net again, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

Although the visitors were enjoying plenty of possession, it was the home team who were creating the chances, with Santa Clara goalkeeper Gabriel Batista producing the first of several excellent saves to keep out a firm Leon Belcar header.

Second-half improvement

Vasco Matos probably had some choice words for his charges during the interval as Santa Clara came out reinvigorated in the second half. Anthony Carter had a chance right after the restart, but his shot on the turn was too close to Zelenika.

Varaždin hit straight back and it needed another sharp save by Batista to deny Mamut.

But Santa Clara were now asking serious questions of the Croatian defence and duly equalised in the 55th minute. Lucas Soares did well to win the ball near the corner flag, his cut-back completely missed by Gabriel Silva, but the ball fell to Adriano Firmino who smashed a half-volley into the corner of the net from 25 yards out.

The islanders now had their tails up, although Gabriel Batista was called into action again when he saved from Mamut after a dangerous counter-attack.

Chances go begging for Santa Clara

But Santa Clara were well on top now, with substitutes Wendel Silva and Serginho bringing new zest to their attacks. Gabriel Silva missed a great chance when he shot weakly from the centre of the box, and only a fine Zelenika save denied Wendel Silva after great work from Serginho.

Just when it seemed Santa Clara had a real opportunity to build an advantage to take back to São Miguel, Varaždin retook the lead completely against the run of play. A breakaway led to a free kick 35 yards out. Marko Dabro’s speculative effort took a big deflection off the wall to wrong-foot Batista and bounce into the net.

Matheus Pereira and Adriano were shown yellow cards as Santa Clara lost their cool in the closing minutes, but no further goals were scored.

The Portuguese team may feel hard-done by given the nature of the goals they conceded – a non-penalty and a deflected free-kick – but the Croatian side showed they are no mugs and it will need a better all-round performance in the Azores next Thursday to turn around the tie.

Santa Clara: Gabriel Batista, Sidney Lima (Miguel Pires, 91’), Luís Rocha, MT (Frederico Venâncio, 73’), Lucas Soares, Pedro Ferreira (Serginho, 64’), Adriano Firmino, Matheus Pereira (Paulo Victor, 91’), Vinícius Lopes, Anthony Carter (Wendel Silva, 64’), Gabriel Silva