Aberdeen’s interminable road to a £2m bonus on making the group phase of the Europa League came to an end in Portugal last night.
Tiago Tomas’ first half goal was enough to see Sporting through to play Austrian outfit LASK for a place in the group stages of the Europa League.
-Match report: Aberdeen equalise in injury time to draw 3-3 with Celtic
McInnes frustrated by referee
“I thought he was a real source of frustration. He was whistling at almost everything.”
It’s been a tough two games for the Dons with a surprise defeat at home to Motherwell, losing their star defender in the process, then coming to Portugal to face a team ranked a 100 places ahead of them in the UEFA coefficients ranking.
But McInnes came away proud of Aberdeen’s performance, his side only just edged out of a game played under difficult circumstances.
After the game McInnes said: “It was a very good and organised performance but we didn’t take full advantage of it.”
Interpretation of the rules can be lost in translation as they cross the Channel. McInnes was left frustrated by a referee he felt was getting too involved in the match.
Of referee Nikola Dabanovic, McInnes said: “I thought he was a real source of frustration. He was whistling at almost everything.”
Complex system of making the group stages
To get to the group stages of the Europa League can seem like trying to get to the trove of treasure at the end of the rainbow.
This reporter thought beating Sporting would be enough for Aberdeen to finally make the group phase but no, they would have next gone into a ‘play-off round’ against LASK if the Dons had got through.
The road into Europa is long and winding. Aberdeen have to play three qualifying rounds then a ‘play-off round’ against one of the teams knocked out of Champions League qualification (which is just as complicated with a ‘champions’ path’ and a ‘main path’ to traverse in order to enter Europe’s premier football competition).
And these trips across Europe aren’t cheap at the moment. Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack aired his grievances on Twitter saying the club was having to charter flights in order to meet social distancing guidelines for the players.
Pre-covid chaos in Lisbon
All the talk before the game was about a coronavirus outbreak in the Sporting camp which left nine players and the manager having to isolate and miss the game.
But McInnes felt the only real advantage the Dons had gained from the outbreak was Sporting being unable to play their first league fixture against Gil Vicente last weekend.
McInnes said: “The only advantage we had over Sporting was they hadn’t played. They had every other advantage over us.
“When you haven’t played you have to find your strength, but you could see they are a very good side.”
Match recap – Dons outclassed but not out-fought
Even though they got the wrong result Aberdeen gave a good account of themselves in Lisbon. It was Sporting’s class in telling moments that was the difference.
When Ross McCrorie lost the ball in the centre of the park at the beginning of the first-half, Sporting flashed their brilliance. Luciano Vietto slipped in Argentine forward Tiago Tomas who finished neatly against Joe Lewis.
Sporting, while not dominant, kept penetrating Aberdeen in bursts of quality. The closest they came to a second goal was after half-time when Jovane Cabrel found himself one-on-one with Lewis. The Dons’ skipper did well, saving at the striker’s feet.
Aberdeen enjoyed good spells of possession and the chance they thought they needed to turn the game around fell to Ryan Hedges with ten minutes to go, but the Welsh international fired wide of Lewis Maximiano’s post.
Up next:
Aberdeen are back in action in the SPFL in a North East/Highland battle against Ross County in Dingwall. KO 3pm Sunday.
Harry Jamshid Reporter Sports Pages 