Unbelievable, Liberec were down 2-0 and reduced to ten men, but have stormed back to make it 2-2. The round is tied as of now 4-4. Wait, scratch that, Dnipro got another 3-2, but still a goal for Liberec would put them through against all odds. And they just hit the post! Then Dnipro gets the counterattack goal to put the round away. Good fight on Slovan's part, but they are really missing Theo and a healthy 1-year younger Stajner this season.
Just over 30 minutes into Sparta -Feyenoord still 0-0 although Sparta has come close a couple of times. Just showed a stat, Sparta have all of the matches shots on goal so far. HT 0-0 Sparta had more chances, but Feyenoord have shown flashes of attacking creativity. Krejčí was cleared to play this morning, but is on the bench, so Sparta do have arguably their best player back from injury if they decide to push for an insurance goal. Plzen's match just kicked off a few minutes ago.
Penalty for Sparta, and Kadlec converts 1-0. The first ten minutes of the 2nd half Feyenoord applied a lot of pressure, but Sparta started taking control again leading to the penalty (a kind of harsh handball to call in my opinion). And looks like Krejčí is coming on. More good news, Plzen just went ahead 1-0 and lead on away goals. Sparta got another 2-0, abysmal marking by Feyenoord on the corner and Jarosik with the goal on a header. Very nearly just made it 3, shot of the post, then Krejčí played back to the middle and Kweuke put it over the bar.
And that's the final whistle, Sparta 2 : Feyenoord 0. Now it's up to Plzen to make it 2 teams in the group stage. Rajtoral has missed just wide of the post twice in the last 6 minutes or so, and overall Viktoria look to be in control. Could use an insurance goal. The 2nd time he really should have played the ball into the middle, there were two unmarked teammates. Rajtoral hits the post this time...
5 minutes remaining and Plzen are playing with fire. They've had chances to put it away, but unable too. Darida with some smooth work to keep possession. Then some less smooth work to pick up a yellow card. Rajtoral will have nightmares if they concede a late goal, another missed opportunity on his part. FT 1-0, Viktoria through on away goal advantage! Our 2 best teams make the group stage.
Some Czech's on other teams had good days as well: Dockal got an assist on Rosenborg's first goal, (and the American Mix put them through with a 2nd goal). Kozak took advantage of a rare start, getting a brace in Lazio's 3-1 (5-1 agg)win over Slovenian side Mura.
The Group Draws: Group B: Atletico Madrid, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Viktoria Plzeň, Academica Group I: Olympique Lyonnais, Athletic Bilbao, Sparta Praha, Ironi Kiryat Shmona I think Plzeň has a very good chance to in that group, but Sparta have a tough draw (including my Lyon team), although I didn't really see Sparta taking out Feyenoord as convincingly as they did so they may get a result against one of the favorites (hopefully it's Bilbao). Motivation is also big thing, Europa League isn't financially lucrative at all for teams from the top leagues, so some of the big clubs don't take it seriously. Other Czech players: Young Boys Bern (Lecjaks) is in the toughest Group with Liverpool, Udinese, and Anzhi Makhackala. Bordeaux (Plašil) are with Club Brugge, Newcastle, and Martimo. Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (Mazuch and Laštůvka) are with PSV, Napoli, and AIK Basel (Kováč) are in the weakest group with Sporting CP, Genk, and Videoton Lazio (Kozak) are with Tottenham, Panathinaikos, and Maribor Bayer Leverkusen (M. Kadlec) and Rosenborg (Dočkal) are in the same group, rounded out by Rapid Wien and Metalist Kharkiv.
Cech starting for Chelsea today (against Juventus) and Hubschman for Shakhtar (against FC Nordsjaelland) Other than that Rosicky and Ujafulusi are injured, Twardzik not on the Celtic bench, and Baros not on the Galatasaray bench (It seems they are trying to push him out, but he stayed since his guaranteed salary at Gala is higher than what MLS or China offered).
I didn't tune in until the 2nd half, but a very impressive showing by Plzen. Currently 3-1 in the 85th minute, the Portuguese side has barely touched the ball in the last 30 minutes. Can't comment on the first half, may well have been different as Academica was ahead 0-1 at halftime apparently. Every time that I see Horvath play for Plzen, in addition to being impressed at what an overweight 37-year-old midfielder accomplishes, I think of what might have been. He has such tremendous technical ability and field vision. Had he been a bit more health conscious and less of a punk, the sky would have been the limit.
OL 2 : Sparta 1 Lyon should have put the match away long before Sparta made things nervous in the final 20 minutes. Krejci, who didn't start due to fitness following his injury, scored the goal for Sparta (a nice goal around). Dockal got an assist in Rosenborg's win over Rapid Vienna.
Sparta impressively defeated Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Viktoria Plzen will also take on a Spanish side this afternoon, traveling to Madrid to take on Atletico.
Tough loss for Plzen as Atletico score an excellent goal in 2nd half stoppage time to get the 1-0 win. I like their chances of advancing from this group though, and our league defeated the Spanish league on aggregate today.
Good day for Gambrinus Liga teams, Sparta defeated Kiryat Shmona 3-1 and Plzen won at Hapoel Tel-Aviv 1-2. These same 4 teams will play again (although with Sparta away and Plzen home) in two weeks. As of right now, both Czech teams look likely to advance from the group stage.
Sparta Praha and Viktoria Plzen both advanced to the knock out round of Europa League yesterday. Sparta managed a 1-1 draw at home against Olympique Lyon, a result that suited both teams. Plzen also got 1-1 draw in Portugal against Academica, conceding a late penalty to the hosts, but still holding on for the decisive point. This is the first time since the 03/04 season that multiple Czech teams will be alive in continental competition into the new year.
I have been keeping up to date with Plzen because I am liking Darida. Looks like he will be a really good player.
Thursday results: Plzen 1 - Atletico Madrid 0 Athletic Bilbao 0 - Sparta 0 Plzen's win means that they are group winners and will be seeded in the round of 32 draw. The draw will take place on 20 December.
If both teams advance an additional round we have a decent chance at moving into the top 15 in the Coefficient Country Ratings for next season. We are currently at 18, but the 3 leagues directly ahead of us (Israel, Austria, and Denmark) are all completely eliminated from continental competitions. This would be significant since it would give us two teams in Champions League qualifying.
The draw for the next round of Europa League has been made: Viktoria Plzen will play Napoli. Sparta Praha will play Chelsea. Very tough opponents, but very attractive match-ups for the clubs' fans.
Maybe Cech can throw the game so a team that will actually care about the competition can go through.
Nice, Vydra increased his season total at Watford to 16 last weekend, and is on tremendous goal scoring form the last few weeks.
He is indeed. 8 goals in his 4 last starts. It might sound mean but he could have actually scored more. He is a superb finisher one on one always plays on the shoulder of the last defender and is always moving looking for an opportunity. He is still perhaps a bit fragile physically and not aerially dominant. He has been rotated because of the knee injury he picked up last year in Belgium and they are still careful with him. Daniel Pudil has been relatively solid but as a wingback he does get caught out from time to time and has picked up a large number of yellow cards. Super Matty Vydra is a crowd favourite and will either sign for the club this week according to his agent Chovanec or be recalled to Udinese this summer depending if we get promotion or not (and at the moment under Zola it look's a good bet that we will). Needless to say his performances have attracted a lot of attention. Several PL clubs offered bids of £3M but Udinese having paid £3.5M are looking at £10M and I think their owner Giampaolo Pozzo wants to see us promoted for the £90M a club gets for being in the PL. Opposition clubs are terrified of him as are their supporters. We're very happy to have him at least for the time being.