Plzen look the better side but Hruska nearly gifted the visitors an early goal, out-of-form Brabec actually the one to calmly save the situation. With Ondrasek signed, keeper is probably the position that could most easily be upgraded for Plzen at this point. Maybe more accurate than saying Plzen look better is that Plzen are the team making more passing moves while Sonderjyske is playing very direct. The directness creates nervous moments with Plzen's slow back-line.
Well after bashing Hruska earlier he did just make a good save on a bad cross-turned-great shot situation. On the other hand some good passing leads to Kopic hitting the post, it bounced to Ondrasek who got decent contact, but no placement. A goal is coming, I think it will be Plzen, but its actually a decent match of contrasting styles. Penalty for Plzen following a corner, Ondrasek put it away. Didn't get a good look but thought it looked like a harsh call.
Plzen really looking to finish this off before halftime now, and they just did. Ba Loua the benefit of a save landing right at his feet. Plzen now almost certain to advance.
The ridiculous spectacle in Bucharest has begun. This is essentially a club match version of the Nations League match against Scotland. On paper Liberec should have it easy, but its hard to prepare for a team that you couldn't scout.
FCSB down to 10 men, one of their defenders took down Mosquera as the last man. Probably should have been a penalty too, but just a free kick. A really good free kick too, but a better save. Still 0-0
Considering every advantage they have, Liberec are playing inexcusably poor. Still 0-0 as we approach the 60 minute mark. It's been corner after corner for Liberec and finally one turns into goal. Yusuf in the 64th minute.
Makeshift FCSB seem to have run out of steam around the 60 minute mark despite a valiant effort (that UEFA shouldn't have allowed). Liberec scored an insurance goal in the 82 minute, but never really had one of the sports of offense they normally produce. Best players for Liberec were Mosquera (who would be in my Czech league team of the season so far) and Yusuf. In general, Liberec are frustrating, they can look brilliant one minute and barely string passes together the next. They got the win though, and will have home field for the playoff round. Liberec's opponent is yet to be determined as the favored APOEL is actually deadlocked 2-2 with Bosnian side Zrinjski late in their match. If they play at their best they should advance to the group stage, if they play in spurts they may advance, if they play like they did in the first half today they will get to watch the Group Stages on TV. Plzen will be away against Hapoel Be'er Sheva of Israel, and should advance to group stages even though this is a long trip to make in a year like this.
We can't break down a defense without involving Coufal & Boril and they beat us on the wing. We lack creativity and Stanciu disappears in big matches the same way Stoch used to. I actually like our chances best if they come out and attack us, we can win an open match, I would also put Olayinka up front and give the left midfield back to Provod. Tecl is not cutting it and Traore needs to be on the field.
Our lineup today is a big experiment and chance to rest some players ahead of Champions League. Hope to finally see something from Oscar considering he was highly rated. I feel we keep overpaying on players that just get loaned out like Matousek and Jusuf. 👥 | Our starting XI against @1_FCS ⤵Kolar; Karafiat, Kudela, Zima, Oscar; Takacs; Malinsky, Traore, Lingr; Kuchta, MusaDebut starts for Karafiat, Malinsky, Lingr and Kuchta!#slaslo pic.twitter.com/bhO4VslMkc— SK Slavia Prague EN (@slavia_eng) September 26, 2020
Sigma Olomouc are off to a good start. They probably have the best CB pair outside of Slavia but they are also producing solid goal scoring numbers. The experiment is off to a fast start I see.
We could be up by 3 goals already with a bit better timing/finishing. Slovacko were trying to play bold and wound up playing stupid, we can't breakdown a tight defense but we can run a weaker team's naive press out of the stadium.
That was a pretty good first half considering all the changes, I still want to see more in from at least one of our forwards.
Great attempt by Petrzela on the lob, he gets a bit more dip and Kolar was beaten. Slovacko are getting some chances in this 2nd half.
Nice freekick from Provod, and I have to remind myself we were resting many players as we weak stretches. Still 3 points and a fresh squad for our trip to Denmark is good.
I would say the result reflects what I saw, overall Slavia looked the much better side outside of a short spell by Slovacko. That said, Slavia do have big problems up front though, its one thing to miss chances but they also don't add much to build up.
Plzen 4 - 1 Brno It was nice to be able to watch a Brno match as all Plzen matches are easily streamed, but the match unfortunately went completely as expected. Plzen just a completely different caliber of team than us and honestly could have probably beaten us worse were they not saving some energy for Europa League. The gap between the top 3 and the rest of the league is still very wide. Now that they are back on form, I can say again that I respect and envy Plzen, they more or less achieved everything I want Brno to have: consistent good team that plays in Europe and a nice modern stadium in the heart of their city with a good fan base. Speaking of teams saving themselves for Europa League, Liberec got absolutely wrecked by Pardubice. It seems Liberec are in a dip in form, but hopefully they can bounce back this week as they have a very doable path to the group stages.
Sparta remain perfect and lead the league after five rounds, but still don't appear as complete as I would've thought going into this season. I thought they looked quite sloppy yesterday against a hopeless Pribram side from what I watched (lost interest once Hlozek came off), and definitely have imbalances within their lineup. Offensively, they are without question a force that will likely finish the season with the most goals for, but defensively there are still reasons for concern. Obviously with a healthy Stetina and Hancko, this likely isn't an issue, but to be competitive in Europe they'll to need upgrade over Plechaty and Lischka. I also think they're still thin at full/wingback regardless of the formation they play.
I think Sparta's best with the 3 CB formation, it's mostly just not having Hancko and Stetina. They do have some surplus players that could be unloaded to free up wages and sign a additional reinforcement, most notably Travnik who has been a bust for them but still has some value from his time at Jablonec. Finding quality defenders seems to be the toughest position for Czech teams, even the big 3, which sort of mirrors our problem at the national level. Slavia still have easily the best defense with international level fullbacks and a solid center back trio of Zima/Hovorka/Kudela, also boosted by having Kolar as keeper (although all indications are this is his last season before going abroad). That said, in on way are any of those center backs as good currently as their previous pairing of Deli and Ngadue-Ngadui.
Ah, I see Slavia is realizing (like they did last year in Champions League) that none of their strikers are good enough for this level and putting Masopust up front to run at the opposing defense.
I think Musa may not be fit enough to play 90 minutes, and Tecl is a waste of space the last few weeks. I suspect Masopust, Provod and Olayinka will swap out positions on occasion. I have no idea why Holes is starting over Traore.
My exact thoughts as well, and not surprised to see them lineup like this. As mentioned, I also think Traore needs to be in that midfield, but Stanciu and Sevcik were basically invisible in the first leg, so they need to be better regardless of whose playing behind them. I do feel confident that Slavia will manage and get the job done here.
I am just not very hopeful about this match. We are the better team, but something seems off with us lately. I want that Champions League money though.