Yeah, this match could easily be 8-0 Slavia, this is a thorough domination despite the borderline respectable scoreline. Trpisovsky's record in European knock-out rounds is rather amazing when you think about it. Yira Sor has some potential. Hope Bah is okay.
Wow, Hovorka is returning from his seemingly endless injuries to start for Slavia in the derby today.
Stick a fork in Sparta, their title aspirations are done. Slavia and Plzen are now both 10 points clear after Slavia's 2-0 win in the derby. Hlozek should have jumped ship last summer honestly, his potential is going to rot away if he doesn't get away from that mismanaged organization. While the first division is now a two horse race, 2.Liga seems to be a battle for 2nd as Brno are starting to distance themselves from the field. I'm so used to us backing our way into promotion via technicality that actually being a dominant force in the second division is a welcome change.
Slavia more or less secured advancement in the first leg against LASK currently 4-1, and they are starting to look a lot more like the teams of the last few years.
Over the last few weeks Plzen has reverted to the team of lucky 1 goal wins that they were a couple of years ago. I still suspect Slavia wins in the end. Plzen are more a of a conference league level team in terms of ability, but will probably beat out a beleaguered Sparta for 2nd place. One thing that is interesting is Liberec after a disaster start are now back in the top 6. In 2. Liga, Brno are entering countdown to promotion territory as they didn't miss a beat from the winter break and are winning with ease in recent weeks. There are 12 matches left and we are 12 points clear of 2nd place. We are still neck and neck with Greece for the top 15 coefficient space, but I would guess Slavia will do enough to drag us over the finish line as they are already clear through while PAOK has a tough return leg to Gent. To go any higher than 15 then Slavia will more or less need to win the ECL, which is possible but not likely.
Slavia will play Feyenoord in the Quarterfinals, their group stage matches were excellent so as a neutral this will be fun, but their were better options from a coefficient standpoint. The winner will play either Marseille or PAOK in the semi final. Slavia will be without Ousou and Plavsic who were both sent of in the 2nd leg against LASK... the former deserved it but Plavsic's was a bit suss honestly. Honestly, the conference league has probably delivered exactly what was wanted in terms of access to competitive matches to 2nd and 3rd tier leagues, their are still 7 countries represented in the QF of which only Leicester City and Roma are from traditional Big 4 leagues.
Slavia should at least be healthier overall by early / mid April, so can definitely challenge if not advance here. Definitely an exciting match up for neutrals. Now are Slavia able to update their roster and register ineligible players such as Hovorka and Jurasek? Or is it already finalized for the entire knockout phase?
The first leg in Rotterdam finished 3-3 and frankly what could be a boring and repetitive matchup after 2 previous matches just keeps delivering entertainment. Slavia have a decent chance taking an even result back to Prague, but very much an even match up.
Slavia dismantling Pardubice isn't news in iteslf, but Provod picking up a brace is a promising sign that he is picking up where he left off before his injury. It was massive performance by 19-year-old Daniel Fila as well though, Slavia have a lot of young players that show flashes but not many that are consistently breaking through.
In 2. Liga, Brno is still looking like a different level than the rest, and are 12 points clear of 2nd place with 8 matches to go. It should be considered more or less done, but if there was any team that could blow it....
Slavia - Feyenoord off to another fast-pace start, Slavia get a good attempt in the first minute that is saved and then concede on the other end right after (a fairly standard situation, but complete screw up on defense and weak save attempt).
14' 1-1 What a matchup these teams have been, and can they out do the 3-3 in the first leg. Traore saves his goals for Europe. Feyenoord with the poor defense this time.
Slavia are looking the slightly better side today, although for as much excitement as there was in the first half it's not a particularly high quality performance by either side.
A unbelievable screw up by Mandous gifted Feyenoord a lead with a half-hour remaining. All goals today have really been the result of crazy basic mistakes.
And the collapse is complete, Slavia can thank both of their keepers for not getting passed the quarterfinals this time around.
I actually missed that the last round of leagues game with the end of the main season, and that we now have our super structures in place. The Title group: I appreciate that Hradec Kralove could win every match and at best move up 1 spot (that would give them nothing since only the top 4 go to Europe), the league is increasingly lopsided. Our European commitments for next year will be: League Champion - > Champions League qualifying 2-4 -> Europa Conference League qualifying Cup Champion -> Europa League I don't think that is necessarily bad, there is a huge disparity in how professionally run Slavia is than the rest of the league and a 2nd gap after Sparta and Plzen. For our coefficient purposes it is important that Slavia win the league as Plzen are experts at shithousing to victory domestically but not good enough + Sparta are going to finally be cashing out on their best player so it will be a rebuilding year. Slovacko have genuinely punched above their weight for a few years now both in men's and women's football, and seem to be in general very well run club. That stupid mid-table playoff is a little less stupid with no European qualification involved. The winner will just receive a seeding in the domestic cup and a cash prize: I couldn't care less about this one, but my gut says Liberec have the form and tradition. Considering they started as a complete disaster they are just happy the relegation scare is behind them. Relegation contenders of this bloated and oversized league: I suspect that Karvina will be the only team to drop, although if Pardubice is 2nd bottom they may be vulnerable in a playoff. Brno is almost secured promotion, the playoff spots are still being contested in 2. Liga
As surprising as this would have sounded a year or two ago, Slavia really need to spend some money on a new #1 Goalkeeper. If for no other reason so Mandous and Kolar don't waste a national team spot any longer.
Brno secured the FNL title today (well really 2nd place team not getting 3 points did) and are promoted for next season.
I am starting to think that Plzen are actually going to win the league, and the more I think about it that's okay (actually I'm kind of for it). Slavia aren't making Champions League group stages with their current squad so they are probably not focused on it next season, therefore the coefficient impact really shouldn't. Incredible season honestly, most people thought they were going to fade from keeping up with the Prague clubs. Sparta have sacked Vrba just a few months after giving him an extension. I don't know what it will take for Sparta to ever be legitimate contender again, but the pace at which they change managers is getting comical. Since they last won the title under Lavicka in 2014 they've had 11 managers (and that is including another season under Lavicka after the tournament).
Sure enough Slavia drops 2 points and Plzen wins, meaning that with one match to be played: Udělali jsme chybu, tady je grafika kompletní. ❤️💙 #fcvp pic.twitter.com/weFFViu9Rh— FC Viktoria Plzeň (@fcviktorkaplzen) May 11, 2022 Viktoria Plzen have won their 6th Czech league title, and this is arguable more surprising than the first one they won back in 2011. They finished 5th last year and the prevailing wisdom were that their future was less as title contenders and more fighting for the remaining European spots. Even during season despite consistent results (though at times not performances) I don't think anyone seriously believed they would hold off Slavia until a few weeks ago.
Adam Hlozek had 2 criticisms that followed his ascendency in recent years: 1) He's never one a title with Sparta That was never going to happen, Sparta are just the bad in this era 2) He never shows up against Slavia or other big matches Well about that.... Adam #Hlozek masterclass! 🚀🔥🇨🇿 https://t.co/kiVEAAvokV— Venca Jareš (@VencaJares) May 15, 2022 As he prepares to leave, he got one last shot in against the 2nd point. Of course Sparta still aren't very good so it didn't really matter other than for pride.