Ostrava very quickly putting themselves in position to advance, and I could see them going further if not for the fact they have a terrible draw in the next round with FC Coppenhagen.
I was so disappointed when I searched them up and discovered their jerseys weren’t littered with sponsors the way I imagined. Talk about a letdown.
Yeah, they looked fairly normal from a terrible youtube stream at least. If you take away the team names Mlada Boleslav might be the more conspicuously corporate team, since their stadium, team, and, honestly, city seem to all be based part of the Skoda parking lot. I saw some of the first half, really poor that Mlada Boleslav didn't build a bigger cushion for the 2nd leg against what looked like a bad 2.Liga team. Only player that really stands out on Mlada Boleslav is Kusej, well Matejovsky stands out because its always jarring to realize he's still playing...
With Hubschman and Michal Kadlec retiring recently, I believe Matejovsky would be the last remaining active player to have featured in the Bruckner era. Just looking at the Mlada Boleslav roster and realizing Suchy is now 36 and how fast this last decade went..
Sparta were fairly unconvincing in the 2nd leg, beating Shamrock Rovers 4-2 at home. Yes, the margin was safe, but they gave up 2 equalizers to an Irish league team in Prague. The next round for Sparta is against Romanian side FCSB, a much more equal side in terms of resources, so they will need to be better. Slavia will also start their Champions League qualifying next round against Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise. Both teams half tough but playable opponents, which is about what you can hope for this far in a Champions League qualifying bracket. Plzen already starts their Europa League journey next round, playing Ukrainian side Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih. Plzen had one of their noteworthy signings promptly get a long term injury, but I think they may have a solid chance in this round. Big thing today is for Ostrava and Mlada Boleslav to get maximum points while they are still playing weaker teams as anything past this round is unexpected bonus from them.
6 wins from 6 matches in this round of qualifying. Urartu 0 - 2 Banik Ostrava (Agg 1-7) Convincing advancement for Ostrava. They will be the underdog next round against FC Kobenhaven, although the Danish side hasn't been especially convincing against a week opponent from Gibralter this round so who knows. Still they would much rather have Ml Boleslav's draw. TrainINVEST 0 - 1 Mlada Boleslav (Agg 0-3) Never threatened but also never really convincing. I just don't see enough quality in this Mlada Boleslav side, but their next opponent will either be Hapoel Beer Sheva or Cherno More, which are probably about the same level... those potential opponents are tied 1-1 on aggregate with 45 minutes remaining
HT 0-0 Sparta looked the better side overall from about minute 15-44, then went in to half under some pressure. Even when they were playing well it was easy for me to see why they gave up 2 goals to Shamrock Rovers, they leave a ton of space between midfield and defense when they lose the ball. I think to feel safe they need a 2 goal win, and right now I'm not seeing it.
Sparta starting the 2nd half slow as well, nearly gave up a goal on a lazy pass from the keeper and in general are being too easily knocked off the ball. Frankly, I've seen a little bit of each qualifying match, and my conclusion is this team isn't very good. And FCSB just scored on a corner.
Olatunji equalizes also on a corner, but in general he has been an upgrade from Kuchta since coming on in this match. 10 minutes + probably a fair amount of stoppage to go.
Sparta just had a stoppage time winner nullified by a VAR check, it did look like Vitik pushed the defender in the lead up so probably the correct call. Very close to FT now
Sparta are often poor defensively. For a league champion, they really struggle to keep clean sheets consistently and are very undisciplined. I’ll credit their open style for its entertainment value, but it leads to many bad turnovers and missed defensive assignments. It’s one of the reasons I’m backing to Slavia to reclaim the title this season. They’ve proven over the years to be the more resolute defensive unit. Their problem is a lack of dynamism in attack compared to Sparta. To put it simply, Sparta have better individual players, but Slavia have the deeper roster to where it’s almost excessive. With all that said, if Slavia fail to win the league again, I think at least one of Trpisovsky or Tvrdik are out, maybe even both. The club is clearly operating on nepotism and is due for a shake up regardless.
What I mostly took away is Sparta needs an enforcer in midfield, or someone that bridges defense and midfield... basically they need Krejci back, but since that's not happening seems like a fairly clear transfer need that is being left unaddressed.
Slavia have grabbed a 2nd late in the first half, Chory again this time from a corner. I would say Slavia get one more and they care safely through to the playoffs (honestly even if they just don't concede).
HT Slavia 2 - 0 Union Saint-Gilloise Not as dominant as the scoreline might look, but still in control. HT FC Copenhagen 0 - 0 Ostrava Banik actually holding their own pretty well in the first half by all accounts. If they can take it back to Ostrava even might have a chance, but long time before thinking of that.
Slavia have definitely come into the 2nd half looking to put this away, almost a complete golazo by Diouf, but in general much more in control of overall play these first 10 minutes.
And the Belgian side breaks under pressure, bad give away and Oscar Dorley makes it 3. I wouldn't be surprised if this turns into a complete route.
Oof, Slavia had let their foot off a bit, but weren't being tested when Buzek puts in a completely unforced own goal on what should have been a standard clearance. Honestly, the right side of Slavia's defense sort of collapsed when they made the double subsitution. 15 minutes left and this now is not as decisive.
FT FC Copenhagen 1 - 0 Ostrava A bit rough for Ostrava, while the home side had more chances prior to the stoppage time goal you could argue that Banik had the better chances. This Copenhagen team looks pretty bad, so not necessarily counting them out in the return leg. Slavia 3 - 1 USG The comically inept own goal gives the opponent a chance in the return leg, but Slavia certainly favored.
Yeah, too bad about the OG but still, Slavia looked the better of the two sides and should be able to win on aggregate.
Mlada Boleslav 1 - 1 Hapoel Beer Sheva Fair play for not losing and getting at least some coefficient point. Since this team is fairly worthless at this level I had no expectation, but see in some reports the blew a late chance to win.
FT Krvybas 1 - 2 Plzen Plzen win the away leg, although due to the war I believe this played in Kosice. Strong position to be in coming back to Plzen. 16-year-old Jiri Panos scored an excellent goal too.
I remember the days when Plzen were an entirely Czechoslovak roster full of aging veterans with no real long term outlook or modern approach to their operation. It’s been quite the turn around in recent seasons, to now have a substantial foreign presence with an emphasis on youth, highlighted by a 16 year-old playing in Europe. As long as they don’t sell Hranac or Sulc for now, I think they’ll narrow the gap and can challenge for the title further into the season. They already proved to be a disruption last season for both Slavia and Sparta. Credit to not only Koubek but upper management for being proactive in changing the direction of the club despite winning the title rather recently.
Sparta and Slavia matches both kicking off soon. I would say Sparta is about 45% chance to advance, very even sides so the tilt is home field for FCSB. Slavia about 85% chance, clearly the more efficient side in the first leg, but not keeping the 3 goal difference knocks down what would have been a sure thing.