HT Ostrava 2-1 Austria Vienna The visitors scored early, but Ostrava were the slightly better team so far as the score reflects. I still say this is a very even matchup, so if they can an insurance goal ahead of the return leg it would very helpful.
Wow, Banik have come out ready to play in the 2nd half and have quickly added a 3rd. I think the dam might break if their opponent doesn't adjust.
FT Banik Ostrava 4 - 3 Austria Vienna The 2 halves more or less mirrored each other in terms of one team grabbing an early goal then getting pushed back over the course of the half. The difference is Ostrava managed to grab the lead back after being equalized. This is a very even matchup, I felt Ostrava needed to win the home tie to have a chance and they did. Sparta meanwhile are behind at home early in a match they need to win decisively. (Equalized soon after I wrote this)
HT Sparta 2 - 1 Ararat-Armenia Tuning in after the Ostrava match it denies logic that Sparta had a chance to concede since this has been one way traffic during my time watching.
FT Artis Brno 2 - 2 Zbrojovka Brno We thoroughly out played them in the first half, but only netted 2 (and conceded the first one early). The 2nd half was poor in general, but they did equalize. Great crowd (8200, and realistically about 7,800 were Zbrojovaci) as expected and exactly the kind of ambition the league wants to see in 2nd division teams. Zbrojovka stay in 1st as several teams that started strong faltered today, I think the packed schedule (5 matches in just under 3 weeks) is starting to get to teams that can't afford much depth.
Plzen were cooked after the first leg in Glasgow, but at least finished their Champions League qualifying journey with a respectable 2-1 home result to lose 4-2 on aggregate. They will go in the Europa League league stage as a Pot 2 team, so even though I don't really rate them as much this year (have lost way more than they've reenforced), the right draw might still be there for them to compete.
Speaking of Plzen, their is discussion that one of the richest (by some estimates the richest) people in the country is planning to buy a majority stake in the team. It feels like as a league we may be moving towards the billionaire clown-show that is modern football, for better or worse.
All eyes on Vienna today as Ostrava have bring 1 goal aggregate lead to the return leg. Apparently Austria (the club not the country...) are missing their best central defender, although defending isn't really something the first leg had much of from either side. Sparta have a 3 goal advantage as they prepare for a match in Armenia, which is safe barring a complete collapse, which would be a very Sparta thing to do. I just realized both are playing teams with the name of the country as part of the club... it least Ararat-Armenia is fairly distinctive, but having a club called Austria Vienna feels like a bizarre search term optimization ploy even though I know it has a very long history (apparently the stadium they play in was once known as Ceske srdce, since it was built for a Czech immigrant club in the imperial era)
Rrahmani scored to put Sparta up and then Rynes just a few minutes later concedes a penalty (one that was fairly soft on contact, but even more just unbelievably stupid on his part) to get the leg back to 1-1 at about 30'. Sparta still very clearly ahead for the overall tie, but they really should be winning this outright. Honestly Rynes is playing like crap all around, so with a yellow he should be an easy first sub out choice.
FT Ararat-Armenia 1 - 2 Sparta [Agg. 2-6] Sparta controlled the last 1/3 of the match and got the deserved winner late. Good to get the full points, and Sparta should be heavy favorites in the next round as well. Coming into today it seemed sure they'd play Riga FC who won their first leg against Beitar Jerusalem 3-0, but the aggregate lead has been cut to 1 goal within the first 25 minutes so it's very up in the air now.
Sparta will play Riga. The first 25 are done in Vienna with the match still 0-0. Fairly cagey match so far, but the home side enjoying an overall edge in possession.
Ostrava actually took control of the half a bit from 30 minutes on and just won a penalty right before halftime... Prekop converts. A 2 goal aggregate lead and momentum into the locker room. Still a long way to go.
FT Austria Vienna 1 - 1 Banik Ostrava [agg. 4-5] Banik advance to the qualifying playoff round where they will play Celje of Slovenia. I suspect Celje are a half step behind Banik and Austria in resources, but should definitely still be a competitive round.
So in summary Done: Slavia -> Champions League (Pot 3) All kind of comes down to draw to see if they can compete... although they had an easy draw last season and completely blew it in Europe. Plzen -> Europa League (Pot 2) I remain unconvinced that they are still competitive at this level overall, Sulc & Kalvach were huge losses that I'm not sure they can replace. The draw they get being in Pot 2 will say a lot about their prospects. Playoff rounds: Europa League Sigma Olomouc vs Malmo (Sweden) Tough ask for Olomouc, but also one of the more manageable opponents they could get at this level. Still most likely heading for Conference Leage. Europa Conference League Sparta - Riga FC (Latvia) Their tour of the former Soviet Union continues, should be an easy match-up and much easier journey than Kazakhstan and Armenia. Sparta probably hold the biggest key to our coefficient points this year as even in suspect form they are one of the stronger teams in this competition. Banik Ostrava - Celje (Slovenia) Playable, probably even slight favorites, but Celje's results so far in qualifying have been fairly good. Banik is also in a position where several of their best players are on the radar of bigger clubs (Rigo - interest in England and Spain, Sin - AZ in Netherlands and the Prague S, and now some reports of Prekop even being on Slavia's short list)
I haven’t been able to watch really any of these qualifying rounds live, so I appreciate all the updates and insight. A few of my thoughts on the big three so far: Slavia are still my favourites to win the league, and it’s due to their stellar defensive record that they’ve maintained year-over-year. Overall, their roster is better than Sparta, but I’d argue that their biggest advantage (midfield) isn’t even being fully used to its potential with how they play. I think they definitely will be more competitive in the Champions League, but their forward group inspires no confidence at that level. Slavia have continually been let down by goalscoring inefficiency in Europe, and they simply have not addressed this. Sparta’s roster has flaws for sure and they’re always prone to conceding cheap goals, but Priske returning is bigger than any signing they could’ve made. I think this season’s title chase will clearly be another two-horse race as a result. I don’t dislike Plzen’s roster, I just think they’ll understandably take a step back after losing Kalvach and Sulc. I’m more skeptical of Koubek’s ability to manage a team full of younger, unproven players than anything. He’s done a great job without question, but I’m not convinced he’s still a good fit for them going forward as they try to rebuild for the long-term. Unfortunately, all Czech coaches seem to have this same gene that makes them allergic to young players.
I was at a conference so no idea really besides the scores, but the scores look about as expected. Malmo 3 - 0 Sigma Olomouc Again, don't see them as Europa League level so on to the Conference League Celje 1 - 0 Ostrava This is a coin flip and a one goal difference in the return doesn't change that Sparta 2 - 0 Riga Sparta not quite decisive but still strong favorites to advance.
The Riga - Sparta 2nd leg is today. I feel reasonably confident Sparta will advance, hopefully with another win, but this is definitely the biggest fixture as far as our coefficient this year goes. Currently we are in 10th place, basically 3 points behind Turkey and 3 points ahead of Greece with each league having the same points so far this season. Turkey is the only league we could potentially leapfrog as Belgium are 10 points clear of them, and we are most likely clear of the leagues immediately behind us except maybe Greece and Norway (both have already had a team eliminated.
Riga 1 - 0 Sparta (1-2) aggregate Not the most emphatic advancement, but Sparta are in, meaning we will have at least 4 teams in the league phases. Ostrava has a 1 goal deficit to overcome at home tomorrow.
Brno reportedly on the verge of a uniquely big signing for a 2nd division side, as we have reached an agreement with midfielder Martin Gjorgievski described by many as the "biggest young talent in Macedonian football"... admittedly a statement with some qualifiers to it, although he was linked to several teams in European top flights, most recently Dundee. Would also ease the sting of losing out on the other big 2nd division signing, Jean David Beauguel is returning to Czech football, but chose other Brno instead of Zbrojovka. Admittedly, he's 3 years removed from being the league's top goalscorer with Plzen, but have to imagine he can still absolutely be a top player in 2. Liga. After being beat out we signed the very tall Rigino Cicilia from Slovacko... who I must say I've always seen as the forward that does everything fairly well except goal contributions, but perhaps he'll do better at this level. The other potential big Brno news is all stadium related, but admittedly until there are shovels in the ground I'm remaining cautiously optimistic.
Vladimir Darida may actually still be out best central midfielder, he absolutely cooked Sparta in Hradec Kralove's 2-1 upset yesterday. But in matches that truly matter, Zbrojovka bounced back after a slow couple of weeks and a disease driven match postponement to win 4-1 against Viktoria Zizkov in Prague. It's early but so far the best looking teams are us and Taborsko with Artis Brno (after a slow start) and Opava probably next.
Slavia's champions league journey begins today with probably one of their most crucial matches at home against Bodo/Glimt, one of their Pot 3 opponents. The Slavia U-19s in Youth league beat their U-19 like a drum winning 5-0, but wouldn't expect that for the senior teams. Slavia's complete schedule for Champions League after today is: Away: Inter Milan (Pot1) Away: Atalanta (Pot 2) Home: Arsenal (Pot 2) Home: Athletic Bilbao (Pot 4) Away: Tottenham (Pot 3) Home: Barcelona (Pot 1) Away: Pafos (Pot 4) I would say this along with home vs Athletic Bilbao and Away at Pafos are probably the "must wins" if Slavia wants any chance of getting anything from this competition except money. Last year 11 points was the cut off for making the knockout playoffs, and would expect around the same this season.
Better atmosphere than match so far, and not sure how much I'll be able to watch now that lunch break is over. Basic summary is Bodo/Glimt are prioritzing toothless possession while Slavia is looking more direct. Holes picked up a knock that finally forced him to be subbed off, which isn't great considering he's the veteran leader and Mbodji has been a defensive disaster so far.... but he did just score a goal so. Slavia take the lead on a fairly standard bit of direct play and cross from Provod. Looking at the replay, Oscar who started on the left flank seems to have moved back to help the defense, and his ball over the top to Provod was excellent. Always amazed how long Slavia have managed to hold on to such a versatile player.
A controversial no penalty decision that would have benefited Slavia apparently occured, but I'm not watching at this point so can't comment. HT 1-0 I think 1 more goal puts this away for Slavia, but not over yet. Don't think this style of defending will work at all against better teams, but I think they also know they need to win not just get a point in this kind of match.
Slavia conceded a penalty, but Bodo's attempt is poor and Stanek saves. Mbodji has the goal, but he is more or less responsible for all of Slavia's shakiest defensive moments including conceding the penalty.