Thursday’s match in Bilbao football club Slavia did not work out, but he can still return there. The San Mamés stadium will host the Europa League final on May 21, 2025. “A beautiful dream,” smiled Slavist coach Jindřich Trpišovský in an interview with Nova Sport. Otherwise, he spoke of sadness: the Czech vice-champions beat the favorites in his arena, but still lost 0:1. It was their first defeat in the Europa League. “It’s sad and it’s a shame,” said Trpišovský.
“What was missing? Maybe a bit of luck that the opponent had. The result is not good, but I dare to say that we were better in everything. We got the goal after our car and a point shot. Otherwise, the boys did a great job defensively. The opponent did not have a single goal threat from the game, our defenders deserve a discharge,” explained Trpišovský.
He was shaking his head and throwing up his hands at the switch. 0:1? It was not supposed to end like this in Bilbao, but the famous team remained clean for the third time in the season. “We had chances, but we lacked a better solution. Excellent performance, but we don’t have a point. It’s bittersweet. I think the team couldn’t have done much more. Sometimes football is such that it doesn’t give you anything, even if you do your best.” remarked Trpišovský.
Have you wondered why Mojmír Chytil was given priority over the hot Tomáš Chorý at the tip of the attack? “There were more things. Choras left training on Wednesday: since the match against Ukraine, he has had a problem with which he can start, but in Jablonec he finished with the fact that he was fed up. And the second thing: we wanted to get Mojma into the game. He played well and their substitution in the second half was planned,” explained Trpišovský.
He had to deal with other problems when putting together the lineup – he was forced to leave out defender Tomáš Holeš completely. “He and Zimič (defender David Zima, editor’s note) they had intestinal problems, they both threw up at the hotel. It fell on Holi in such a way that he did not leave the room for 20 hours. Zímič lay down during the day and said he wanted to try as much as he could,” described Trpišovský. Let’s add that Zima lasted until the 88th minute in Bilbao.
Trpišovský did not win even on the third attempt against the successful coach Ernesto Valverde. “We lost 1:2 at home to Barcelona, it was a similar game to Bilbao. Sometimes details and quality decide, but the boys gave a great performance.” praised Trpišovský. “If we play like we did in Bilbao, we don’t have to fear anyone and we can go far.” Perhaps in May again to Bilbao?
A hearty performance was not enough for points. Slavia takes a narrow loss from Bilbao:
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