Expert on Sparta’s next disappointment: In Zagreb, it lacked more than just a leader

The first big disappointment came after the third preliminary round of the Champions League, Copenhagen was not an insurmountable obstacle. And Zagreb? Everyone knew it would be a tough match. Dinamo also fell out of the Champions League, but unluckily. Honestly, I thought that Sparta would gain stability after the leading goal, but the exact opposite happened.

Dinamo managed to equalize before the break and then decide within less than four minutes.

Sparta made mistakes that we haven’t seen in recent times, and Dinamo was able to take advantage of them. It played smart and was very strong in combination. If Sparta lost 1:2, the rematch would still be open, but with a two-goal deficit it will be very difficult.

⏱ END OF THE MATCH

We are returning from Zagreb with a defeat and in the rematch we will make up for the two-goal deficit. Thank you to all the fans who came to Croatia to support us! #acsparta #UEL pic.twitter.com/cv7ClZwysx

— AC Sparta Praha (@ACSparta_CZ) August 24, 2023

So what would have to happen for the Spartans to avoid relegation to the Conference League?

First of all, they have to play much better defensively. In Zagreb, it became clear that Dinamo can score from more or less any situation. And Sparta must ideally score a contact goal already in the first half. It’s not done yet, but it must look completely different on Letná than it did on Thursday.

Elimination with Copenhagen, defeat in Zagreb… Doesn’t the title season come with sobering up?

I wouldn’t talk about getting sober. Even if you are the champion of the Czech Republic, you cannot tell yourself that now everything will be easy and you will easily get to Europe. It doesn’t work that way. It turned out that the Champions League is still high for Sparta, but they should not give up and try to get there in a year. The Champions League should be the goal of every big team: you play tough games there against the best opponents and the players have a great opportunity to prove themselves. You can’t settle for the Europa League or the Conference League.

Still back to Zagreb: coach Brian Priske regretted that the players were not 100% concentrated in the most important passages of the match. As you mentioned, even the leading goal did not help Sparta. Is the psyche her biggest problem now?

Psyche and lack of cup experience. Not everyone has played in such a stormy environment before. On the other hand, this cannot be an excuse either. Since then, there are coaches in the team who have already been through something in football, and older players to prepare and retain the less experienced ones. It didn’t happen in Zagreb, the team lacked a leader. Someone who would command the team to pack up and fight at the right moment.

How can Black Thursday affect players’ confidence? It’s not just about Zagreb, before that there was an unexpected draw in Teplice.

Spartans should be confident, they won the league after all. It’s in the players and their legs, now he wants to switch it to Sunday’s match with Karvina and move on. Everyone must keep in mind that the league is about the title and places in the cups. At best, the Champions League I talked about a moment ago. Nothing ends with one defeat.

But the odds have changed, haven’t they?

Sure, thanks to the two-goal lead, it’s 60:40 or rather 70:30 for Zagreb. A lot will depend on how Dinamo approaches the rematch. If it was frivolous from the start, Sparta could take advantage of it. In this case, the rematch will depend on the opponent’s game, while Slavia and Pilsen have it in their hands.

After a 2-0 win over Luhansk, Slavia is very close to a ticket to the Europa League, don’t you see?

It could easily have ended 5-0 or 7-0, there were a lot of chances. If you concede a goal in the second leg, you can become uncertain and think that another one may come. However, if Slavia builds on the performance from the first match and is honest defensively, they will not have a problem with Luhansk. I am 80 percent convinced that the Slavists will advance.

Editing of the European League football match between Slavia Prague and LuhanskVideo: O2 TV Sport

What about Pilsen? Will the 2:1 lead from the Tobolu Kostanaj arena be enough to advance to the Conference League?

It’s a shame the conceded goal at the end of the match, Plzeň could have been in an even more advantageous position. However, I think she is capable of learning from it and not getting a goal at home. Overall, she went up in the last month: just remember the embarrassing start of the second preliminary round with Drita (0:0). Pilsen spoiled the spring, but managed to get back on track and that’s why I believe that the Czech Republic will have three teams in the cups.

2023-08-25 18:37:20
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