Slavia lost “only” 1:2 to Raków Czestochowa in the Conference League playoffs, so they only need to make up for the loss by a single goal in the return match in Prague.
But from what the supporters of the red and white colors saw in the small stadium for 5,000 people, depression fell on them.
They saw a team with great game organization and a sophisticated press. A team made up of players without extraordinary talent for loops and shots, but with great inner strength and determination. A team that had the match and the opponent completely under control. The problem was that this team was called Raków Czestochowa.
And in many ways, his characteristics reminded him of Trpišovský’s original Slavia. Here with Souček, Coufal, Bořil… It was not for nothing that data analyst Jakub Dobiáš coined the nickname “Trpišovský from Poland” for the Czestochowa coach Marek Papszun.
As if Slavia saw herself in a mirror. That is, how she looked three years ago. She also saw where she herself had moved in those three years. And that now he practically doesn’t know how to deal with his role model.
Raków started the match with a high attack, a really high quality press. And Slavia practically did not get to any of their own games. A completely alone Lingr blazed on the tip, which Ševčík practically did not complement from the tip, the distance between the two was truly insurmountable.
Slavia lacked its own engine, had no idea, spark, quality, inner fire. It was empty.
Average players were enough for Raków, but passionate and perfectly organized. Plus, as a superstructure, the twenty-eight-year-old Spanish footballer Ivi López, who at home was on the border between I. and II. leagues. Ponferradina, Huesca, Gijón, Valladolid… These were his places of work before coming to Poland. But he is now the king in the league there, and his skill was just fine at Slavia.
Slavia did not present any counter-weapon of a similar level in the match. Stanciu scores goals in the Chinese league, Ewerton’s technician is injured, Sor’s express misses.
And none of the players who have already started showed any superstructure. Perhaps with the exception of captain Holeš, who, however, kicked with luck and scored by accident.
At least their cup experience helped Slavia in the past matches. Even now, it didn’t work too well, when after Holeš’s goal to make it 1:1, she lost her concentration and let herself score a cheap goal to make it 2:1 for the home team.
Oscar and Plavšič made desperate mistakes when conceding goals. And many Slavia fans rightly, but in vain, looked for the reliable David Jurásk in the lineup, but coach Trpišovský did not fit into his concept for Czestochowa.
The dazzle of Trpišovský’s genius is slowly disappearing. There is bitterness. As a mixer, he mixes a huge number of players in ever-changing lineups, he keeps talking about the typology of the match, but the axis of the team has disappeared from him, it is as unreadable as the game face.
What is missing the most is the inner fire that Souček, Coufal et al. Those who say that he disappeared due to the great internationalization of the lineup are probably right. Holeš doesn’t pull everything out on the court by himself and doesn’t even have optimal form, similar to, for example, another greaser, Olayinka.
Conductorship and spark are missing from Hovorka, who is still plagued by injured knee joints. For example, Santos is an excellent footballer, but match after match he makes fundamental tactical mistakes that bring Slavia down.
The biggest foreign currency that Slavia can rely on before the rematch is its fans, who will drive it forward in Eden. And thus provide a basic premise for the idea that the Prague match will look completely different and will move Slavia into the group.
Otherwise, there would be extreme disappointment in Eden. Let’s believe that the match in Poland offered a warning and will sound a loud horn calling for a solution to the situation, which maybe Trpišovský’s coaching staff can still manage effectively.
Bílka’s tight-knit team is reaching for a miracle
Already on Tuesday, the whole of Pilsen will be like thorns. If Viktoria can do it with Karabakh, it will reach the Champions League for the fourth time in the club’s history. From Azerbaijan, she brought a good prerequisite for this in the form of a 0:0 draw.
Hand on heart: before this year’s qualifiers, I would not have thought that this essentially inconspicuous Bílka team could get this far. Or rather, so close to a millionaire contest.
All attention was focused on whether he would at least play something in the preliminary rounds and thus help the indebted club coffers. And here it is… After Helsinki and the fights with Tiraspol, 90 minutes are worth 15 million euros and other amazing bonuses from the Champions League.
An unspectacular, inconspicuous team, this time on the pitch without stars like Horváth or Darida. True, just like years ago, at the first start in the Champions League, again with Václav Pilař, now 33 years old.
The biggest star of today’s Viktoria is clearly the goalkeeper Jindřich Staněk, who also caught several difficult balls in Baku. The forced card absence of key stopper Lukáš Hejda remains a warning against retaliation.
Viktoria rolls on and on mainly thanks to a really brilliant defense, thanks to the often mocked and questioned concept of Michal Bílek. Anyway, the concept is functional and effective.
He adds goal threats especially from standard situations. And precisely that team fire and determination, aspects that were missing so much in Slavia’s performance. This spark burns in Bílkov and Horváth’s Pilsen. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for her to make it to the Champions League. Even such miracles sometimes happen, and Viktoria is really close to a miracle.
Slovakia is dancing!
A wonderful evening was also experienced by football fans in Slovácko. It was not so long ago that they enjoyed the final victory in the MOL Cup over Sparta in Uherské Hradiště. And now, thanks to this, they have reaped the sweet fruits in the UEFA competition as well.
The Fenerbahce team in the preliminary round of the Europa League still appeared to be beyond the strength of Svědík’s team. But the Moravian team already played the play-off for the Conference League against AIK like a partes.
The Swedish opponent went home to the suburbs of Stockholm with a 3-0 beating. And although the decision has not yet been made, it would be reprehensible to waste such a lead.
Slovácko played a great performance, in which another witness of Vrbo’s first golden Pilsen era reigned supreme. While Viktoria once again bet on the experience of Václav Pilař this year, Milan Petržela is still flourishing in Slovácko, even at the age of 39.
He even scored a goal for the AIK team, surpassing Pavel Horváth as the oldest Czech cup scorer, who according to the Twitter account CSFotbal he once scored against Estonia’s Kalju at the age of 38 years and 107 days.
Even Petržela and Michal Kadlec in Slovácko confirm that men do not age. But Svědík’s team has many more faces.
Marek Havlík is key to his performance. Whether he is playing or not depending on his health, he is the alpha and omega for Slovácko. And he should get much more opportunities in the national team, he deserves it.
In addition, under Svědík’s hands, some summer reinforcements are also playing very interesting performances. Especially the Estonian Sinjavskij really shined this time, hats off.
Slovácko has played its game with a three-goal lead. Plzeň is sure that even if it doesn’t work out with the Champions League, it will fall into the Europa League at worst. The biggest question mark hangs over Slavia before the rematch.
