I just saw Tecl after forgetting that he is even on the field all half, so probably a good choice for a first sub. Frustrating half we had 3 good chances and blew all of them while Dortmund got basically their 1 after the first 5 minutes.
The 9 spot, and really having a composed goalscorer is still the big weakness. That said, much more creative attacking play than in the Inter match, but also more dangerous opponent.
I almost wish that we were either getting dominated or keeping matches closes by being scrappy. We should be cruising to 6 points in our first two matches on performance, but just aren't taking our chances.
Dortmund have more or less dropped back and challenged Slavia to get through. Also probably mindful of the fact their only good efforts were counterattacking
Hakimi puts this one away. Slavia really should have won this, but don't have the composure, inexperience at this level is clear.
That was a foul leading into that break, but I didn't see us equalizing with how things slowed down anyway.
The city of Prague is now in a open disagreement with the mainland Chinese government, which of course has Slavia executives trying to "both-sides" the situation. Slavia actually are fully self-sufficient this year due to Champions League and increased ticket/merchandise revenue. Still that success was built on international investment. It will be interesting to see if this leads them to seek new ownership. If it does, probably the best time for it since the clubs value has risen sharply in the last 3 years.
Actually, yes there was news on this today. Essentially the chairman said Chinese sponsorhip is still committed to their investment, and went on to confirm negotiations with a "general partner from the Arab peninsula", and it is more or less confirmed to be Qatar Airways according to media reports. Honestly, if they keep the Chinese sponsorship and get a significant Qatar deal they will be operating on a different playing field than the league financially (right now they and Sparta are fairly even budget wise). It's modern football, but must say some dubious partnerships from an ethical standpoint.
Wow that would be a huge turnaround from possibly needing new ownership. I wonder if with a Qatar affiliation if we'd get some loans from other teams they have a stake in, might put us over the top in Champions League competitiveness.
I doubt it, I think Qatar Airways is just money and sponsorship more than hands on ownership. Still its a massive gap in ambition if Slavia winds up with an internationally known airline that also sponsors Bayern and Roma while Sparta has online gambling...
Barcelona jumped on an early Slavia error, but since then Slavia have arguably been the better team. Masopust did his trademark get a 1-v-1 with the keeper and blow it, but ter Steegen has been actually tested twice and they are picking up momentum.
Slavia have achieved a remarkably high level in all aspects but finishing, you can't have the number of chances they've produced in 3 Champions League and have 1 goal to show for it. Hovorka is excellent, for a signing that produced minimum attention (he was the backup while they found a real replacement) he has gone toe-to-toe with some of the best attacking players in the world and come out ahead most times. Shame he missed getting a debut for the national team due to injury.
LMAO, Boril from leftback beaks their goal-drought to equalize, stadium is going nuts. Masopust can't shoot but he has decent passing vision. Well worked team move all around.
Barcelong get a goal against the run of play, I think it came off Olayinka as Suarez tried to put the ball back across goal. Slavia still overall playing better and there is time, but again its a lack of efficiency scoring. Barcelona gets 3 chances they score 2, Slavia gets 7 chances they score 1.
Won't be able to see the end of the match, but as of now there are about 15 minutes left and it seems that slavia and the referee are starting to lose their grip on the match. Most likely another missed Champions league opportunity for Slavia.
Champions League has been very draining. I would almost rather we get dominated, winning every match stat except the score is depressing. We desperately need a true striker, against Czech league teams if we only convert 1/12 chances we can still expect at least 3 goals at this point, but against Barcelona 1 goal from 24 shots, many of them good chances is ridiculous. I also feel like we are going to have a lot of pieces to replace after this year, Kolar and Soucek probably the biggest, but we were supposed to be doomed when Deli, MNN, Zmrhal and Kral left yet we can still compete in Europe. I think as long as we have our manager things are fine.
The big match of last weekend was Slavia traveling to Plzen, with the league leaders leaving with a hard fought 0-1 win. Unfortunately during the match David Hovorka, the revelation of the season and only promising Czech defensive prospect, tore his ACL and will be out for about 6 months.
Slavia's U-19 team defeated Barcelona 2 - 3 in Spain today in UEFA Youth League. They are now level on points with Dortmund in the race for 2nd place. Good chance for a team of mostly young Czech players to play elite youth teams. Senior team will most likely have a tougher time without Hovorka and playing away.