I didn't see the Slavia - Dynamo 2nd leg but the impression I get is that it was a bit controversial. Dynamo's 2nd goal was scored by a player that was at least 1.5 meters offside and Slavia had a goal disallowed for an offside player not directly involved in the play (debatable).If those calls went Slavia's way it would have gone to extra-time > penalties Dynamo's goal in Prague also happened while Slavia's defense was distracted by a 2nd ball on the field with no whistle... so the close calls were definitely not on their side. Still, they had several chances throughout and just weren't clinical or calm in front of goal and their lack of Champion's League experience showed, especially compared to their opponent (who played a more withdrawn and patient style). The bad news is Slavia won't get Champion's League money, the good news is they'll play in Europa League where a team of their ability can actually do some real damage.
There is over a half to go, but Olomouc looking comfortablly in control with a current aggregate lead of 3 - 0 including an away goal in Europa League Qualifying round 3. Sigma have played the best in Europe of any of our teams so far, which I don't think anyone expected much from them. A Kazakh league opponent isn't normally a great benchmark but Kairat beat AZ in the previous round so clearly they aren't too bad (although if European results in recent years are a good indicator the Dutch league is more or less a sad parody of it's former self). Edit: I also just saw more complete Slavia - Dynamo highlights during this halftime... I would say Slavia have a right to feel a bit robbed even more so than I thought.
FT Sigma are through with a 4-1 aggregate result, they could easily have had more as they where playing very well and hit the post + several near misses. They will play Sevilla or Zalgiris for a spot in the group stage. Sevilla kept a clean sheet in Spain, but only managed 1 goal, the return leg in Lithuania is today.
Slavia are the first of the big 3 to drop points this season losing 0-2 to Jablonec. Slavia created chances but had terrible luck with finishing especially Skoda's terrible penalty, but Jablonec are 1) a fairly good team (probably 4th best in terms of talent) and 2) came out tactically ready switching from their usual 4-3-3 to 4-5-1 to better absorb Slavia's midfield pressure. Other results so far: Mlada Boleslav 6 - Opava 1 Liberec 1 - Bohemians 1 Zlin 1 - Teplice 0 Dukla 1 - Slovacko 2 Tomorrow Sparta vs Pribram Karvina vs Plzen Monday Olomouc vs Ostrava
Plzen are still winning, but also still not looking very convincing offensively. Karvina have been arguably the worst team in the league so far, and they could only manage a 0-1 win.
Sparta and Pribram In reality it's Matousek vs Sparta, and the way he's playing hard not to think Matousek could win. In fact he just got an assist with a well weighted cross on a counterattack, not sure I've ever seen a Czech player with his direct pace.
Sparta 2 - Pribram 2 Matousek with another big impact for Pribram, and Sparta still underachieving. Plzen now the only perfect team remaining.
Final result of the week: Sigma Olomouc 1 - Banik Ostrava 4 Starting to feel pretty good about my prediction that Ostrava would be much improved. No doubt Olomouc having a bit of Europa League hangover/look-ahead to next round contributed. Dame Diop netted a hat-trick, he's generally been a forward that does many things well for Ostrava but not finish. If he finds the scoring touch paired with Baros (who missed the match with a knock), they can be very dangerous.
Article about Matousek's sudden rise from with some insight from Barak (another recent Pribram breakout youth player). https://fotbal.idnes.cz/jan-matousek-pribram-0r4-/fotbal.aspx?c=A180821_182358_fotbal_rou There is another young player for Pribram named Roman Kvet that has also had an intriguing start this season, he has tremendous technique striking the ball. I don't know who is running Pribram's youth development program, but they seem to be having a good few years.
Have Olomouc - Sevilla feed up in the background at work. Olomouc are actually playing fairly well in Europa League again, despite being terrible so far domestically. Still 0-0, but they've created chances and could easily be up 2-0 with better close range finishing. Vaclik looking fairly sharp for Sevilla so far although no major interventions needed as Olomouc's best chances have been off target (he looked to have one covered though).
Big save by Vaclik , while I credit Olomouc for playing well... if this is Sevilla's defense then he has a busy year ahead of him. Like seriously, Oloumouc have more or less walked it into the box with minimum intervention 4-5 times and really should be ahead. Sevilla a lot of possession, but not much danger other than winning corners by comparison. Edit: I expect Sevilla to advance on the return leg, but Olomouc have only themselves to blame. They've failed to put the ball on net at least 3 times from within 8 meters.
Olomouc's finishing has been poor, but Luis Muriel just put on a masterclass of ineptitude in front of goal for Sevilla on that counterattack. Olomouc are looking worn-out so they'd do well to just hold on now. Nevermind, Sevilla with a better counterattack to make it 0-1. Edit: And that's how it ends, to there credit Olomouc woke back up a bit after going down. It really just came down to not doing what they had to for an upset as they had at least 6 good chances and only even forced 1 good save, Sevilla had 2 good chances and took 1. Don't expect them to do much in the return leg being down an away goal, but having seen them in Europa League there is no reason for Olomouc to be struggling in 13th place in the league right now.
Sparta have been punished (again) for their fan's behavior during the Europa League qualifications. 100,000 Euros in total fines (2 separate 50k fines for fan behavior both in the away and home legs) and a closed stadium match next season. Additionally, Josef Sural is banned for 4 match UEFA ban. I don't know the exact reasoning on banning Sural as it is due to a red card/dispute with the official that occurred after the final whistle, but during the fan incident he seemed to be trying to defuse the situation with the idiot ultras.
Bohemians 1 - Sparta 1 Boring match with an exciting conclusion and great atmosphere. Bohemians equalized in the 87th minute. Sparta still look a bit lost, a lot of expensive talent was brought in but never developed any cohesion. Hopefully before next year's European contests they can find the right manager to put it together.
Slavia are back on form this week, leading Teplice 0-3 away early in the 2nd half. Banik another strong performance 2 - 0 against Dukla. Karvina gets there first result 1 - 3 at Opava (which is really at Brno because Opava are for some reason playing home matches several hours from home). Opava looked very spirited the first few weeks but the simple reality is they aren't a 1. Liga side. Pribram 1 - Slovan Liberec 3, was actually a very open match but the better team overall won.
Early 2nd half Plzen 3 - Ml Boleslav 1 Plzen finally playing a bit like the old Plzen after a long string of 1 goal victories. Some really nice passing sequences and walking the ball into goal more or less. Krmencik with a hat-trick, although outside of his excellent goal scoring ability he's still seems kind of limited (more so when considering him as a national team player, his passing is quite poor, very much a goal facing striker).
Final match of the week isn't quite over yet, but the result is quite clear as Zlin currently lead Slovacko 0-4. Zlin and Ostrava are really adding some depth to the league this year with how they've started. The later game yesterday ended with Jablonec 3 - Sigma Olomouc 0. Sigma have been playing fairly well in Europe, but are near bottom of the table domestically. Next week has the first match between big 3 clubs as Plzen travel to Prague to play Slavia.
Champions League Group draw is today, Plzen will be in pot 4 having just narrowly missed being in pot 3 (which would have given much better group options). They've finished 3rd their previous 2 trips to that group stage, and that is probably the goal again unless they get a very favorable draw (which doesn't really seem all that possible looking at the teams).
Plzen would have ideally wanted Group D for competitiveness, with it gone they probably just want the most entertaining opponents. Draw will be done shortly. Group G with Real Madrid, Roma, and CSKA They'll be trying to steal enough points from the latter 2 if they want to make it to 3rd.
After blowing a countless chances in the first leg an Olomouc player finally finds the back of the net... unfortunately, his own. Sevilla on cruise control up 2-0 at home, Sigma missed their chance (repeatedly) in the first leg. This means there will be 3 Czech teams playing in European Group phases, not bad a few years ago would be considered great, but Sparta's complete collapse was really damaging for coefficient purposes as they would've had better seeding for Europa League than Slavia and Jablonec. I do think that Slavia can do well in that competition, not as sure about Jablonec but any points they get are bonus.
Europa League Groups Group C Zenit St Petersburg, FC Kobenhaven, Bordeaux, Slavia Praha Group K Dynamo Kyiv, Astana, Rennes, Jablonec
Zlin are playing really well. I was always a bit critical of Bilek as the national team manager, but credit where it's due he has Zlin looking firmly like a contender for the championship group.
Slavia lead 2 - 0 over Plzen in halftime. Great atmosphere. Unfortunately, the official has no control.
Slavia 4 - Plzen 0 Slavia were better from the beginning but the officiating was quite poor from the start and unraveled the match a bit following the series of events leading up to Hubnik's dismissal. My impression since week 1 has been that when Slavia is at their best there is no team that can match them in terms of talent at every position.