Slavia Prague, four-time champions in the last five years, lead the Czech top flight level on points ahead of Viktoria Pilsen and prevailed in the ECL Round of 16 after back-to-back 3-2 wins over Fenerbahce Istanbul. In the group stage of the Europa League, Union Berlin was left behind and second behind Feyenoord with ex-LASK captain Gernot Trauner. The squad also includes an ex-athlete player, Mads Emil Madsen.
“Fighting against the Czech leaders is a great challenge for us. We’re looking forward to two great knockout duels. Because the distance isn’t too great, the draw is also ideal for our fans,” said LASK trainer Andreas Wieland after the draw.
Short arrival
For the people of Linz, who remained undefeated in the regular season and got the most of all participants with 16 points, the travel strains are at least limited. It’s just over a three-hour bus ride to Prague, where Slavia resides at Sinobo Stadium, southeast of the city center. The homestead, which can accommodate almost 20,000 visitors, bears the name of the Chinese conglomerate that has been the majority owner of the seven-time Czech champions since winter 2018.
The Red and Whites owe their recent successes in the domestic league, where city rivals Sparta and Viktoria Pilsen were at least temporarily slowed down, to their financially strong partner from China. In 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 Slavia won the title, in 2018/19 and 2020/21 they even achieved the double as cup winners. Well-known current players in coach Jindrich Trpisovsky’s team are Czech team player Michael Krmencik, Romanian Nicolae Stanciu and Nigerian striker Peter Olayinka.
In the other duels, Trauner meets Feyenoord against Partizan Belgrade, Heinz Lindner with FC Basel against Olympique Marseille and Adrian Grbic, who had the upper hand with Vitesse Arnheim against Rapid on Thursday, against AS Roma. Philipp Mwene is in action with PSV Eindhoven against FC Copenhagen. The first final in the new competition will then be held in Tirana on May 25th.
Barcelona in EL round of 16 against Galatasaray
In the round of 16 of the UEFA Europa League, FC Barcelona will face Galatasaray Istanbul. Eintracht Frankfurt with coach Oliver Glasner and the ÖFB legionnaires Martin Hinteregger and Stefan Ilsanker has to deal with Betis Sevilla. RB Leipzig (Konrad Laimer) meets Spartak Moscow and Bayer Leverkusen (Julian Baumgartlinger) meets Atalanta Bergamo. Aleksandar Dragovic is battling with Red Star Belgrade against Glasgow Rangers for a place in the quarter-finals. The games will also take place on March 10th and 17th, with the final taking place on May 18th at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Seville.
