Plzen start Europa League today, specifically in about an hour and a half. They're coming off a very contentious league match against Sparta that they lost, and traveling to Hungary to play Ferencvaros, their Pot 2 Away match. A point from this would be an okay start, 3 points a great start, but it's not as crucial as Slavia's opener was to their full chances. Plzen's remaining Schedule: H - Malmo (Pot 4) A - Roma (Pot 1) H- Fenerbahce (Pot 2) H - SC Freiburg (Pot 3) A - Panathinaikos (Pot 4) H - Porto (Pot 1) A - Basel (Pot 3) Fairly tough lineup considering some of the other teams they could have drawn. I might be paying more attention to the Lyon match that happens at the same time, but will be checking in on both occasionally.
Plzen have taken an early lead, and by all accounts fully deserved as they nearly scored in the opening minute and have held the pressure up. And it was quite a goal for Durosinmi who took a flick on from Doski about 40 yards out, rinsed the centerback twice and great finish from the top of the box.
Ferencvaros down to 10 men with 6 minutes of the first half remaining. Real opportunity for Plzen to get 3 points from an away match.
Plzen did a Slavia impression in Europa League and conceded a cheap goal late to lose 2 points. That isn't quite a tournament killer for them, but I think Plzen are in a bit of a rebuild this season so still not sure what to expect. In fact the first step of rebuild will be a new manager as Koubek decided it was time to retire after the disappointing Europa result followed by a loss to Zlin this weekend. It's also possible they will be making some big investments in the winter window as they've now officially been taken over by Michal Strnad, by some estimates the wealthiest of Czech billionaires. This is the 2nd billionaire take over of the last few weeks, as Pardubice were bought by Karel Prazak after his attempt to take over Plzen himself was unsuccessful (he also had tried to acquire Sigma Olomouc). I'll be interested to see where this new found interest in domestic football by the country's wealthiest people goes. I could see it being very good or very bad depending on the owner. I say this as a Zbrojovka Brno fan, and we've gone from nearly broke and dead to one of the richest clubs in the country, with an owner that is talking about building the new stadium fully out of pocket.
Considering all the remarkable ways that Slavia have blown points in Europe the last year, it's almost nice to just see them just get completely outplayed by a stronger opponent. The away fixture at Inter was always going to be among the toughest, so no real surprise or impact on their chances here... unlike when they full on blew it last time.
Tentatively a decent week in Europe. Plzen with a big away win against Roma greatly bolsters their chances of advancing (and a big early cap feather for Hysky), Slavia with an away draw against Atalanta, and Sigma with a rare point against Rakow. I say tentatively, because Sparta's match was abandoned early due to weather, so they would need to win for a good week.
Sparta lost, it was a road match so probably not a big hit to their overall chances. The clips I saw from yesterday make it seem like the first half of the match probably shouldn't have ever happened in the first place, massively water logged pitch.
Minus a few make up matches, the 2.Liga has reached it's midway point, and it feels like Zbrojovka are starting to pull away with it. The team that has done the most to keep up with is Taborsko, and while they have played well I just don't think they have the squad to sustain a whole season (and they've dropped 4 points in their last 2 matches). Artis Brno and Opava look more like they could contend on paper, but have been inconsistent (indeed Opava are borderline in a collapse). I don't really see any team but these 4 (maybe even 3) having an impact on the promotion battle. In fact the drop off not just in points but even more so goal differential is staggering after the top 4. I of course will have a lot of time to think about the rest of the season as Brno are about to enter that excruciating 3 month break after 1 more match each in league and cup.
It's crazy how much the last few years have skewed the expectation on UEFA coefficients. Frankly we've dropped a lot of points that would have made this an unambiguously great year, but even in this meh year we are on pace to have at least 2 teams advance (Slavia was always a reach Champions League, and Olomouc have been completely unpredictable), we will likely get to around 10 pts again (in line with last few years) and will have stayed in the top 10. (Plzen and Sparta are very likely through. Slavia is more or less out and Olomouc is?)
Final matchday in conference league league phase. Sparta are currently cruising to a place directly leading Aberdeen 2-0 in the first half at home. Olomouc just went behind against Poznan, this would be a remarkable choke job on their part to be in a strong position with 2 matches left then lose against a team from Gibralter and at home against a Polish league team. As results stand now they would just barely advance unseeded to the knockout playoff round, but I doubt that holds for 60 minutes, they need points.
Sparta are through the round of 16, and with it a nice coefficient bump. Sigma lost, but still managed to hold the last advancement place. Considering 2 matches ago they looked like they had a favorable draw to at least be seeded for playoffs they are now stuck with either Lausanne or Crystal Palace. Greece is no longer our main challenger for the top 10, Poland have had a massive season and now are in 11th place. I think we're still clear though.