“He was a big, huge guy. I received instructions to try to speed through him, but after a few minutes I found out that nothing would come of it,” current Olomouc forward Juliš recalls Van Dijk. That’s the story of the outdoor encounter. At that time, Letenský did not enter the European League at all well. “I replaced myself at half-time,” recalls Juliš of the three-goal allotment.
Van Dijk emerged victorious from the first September matchup. The November rematch brought a completely different story. “He fouled me and we scored a goal from a set piece. Bořek Dočkal crossed and Costa finished. Then we mainly defended, but we won 1:0,” Juliš describes. With the triumph, Sparta secured promotion from the group, which, in addition to Southampton, also featured Inter Milan and the Israeli team Hapoel Beer Sheva.
But back to van Dijk, who about a year later, in January 2018, transferred to Liverpool for an astronomical 2.19 billion crowns. The Reds made him the most expensive defender in football history at that point. “Sure, the boys and I talked about it. In addition, in the 2018/2019 season he was the best player in the Premier League. He was almost unplayable one on one and in the air. He was showing what was in him. You could guess what kind of career he would have. Captain, leadership radiated from him,” continues Juliš.
Photo: Profimedia.cz
Southampton captain Virgil van Dijk (in red) leads his team to a Europa League match at Letná in 2016.
Liverpool also dominated the Champions League in 2019, and van Dijk narrowly missed out on the Ballon d’Or. He finished second, six points behind Lionel Messi. Today the Dutch stopper is 32 years old. “For me, he is still among the top five stoppers in the world. He has a huge influence on Liverpool itself. When he is injured, their performances go down,” states Juliš. How does he know? “I’m a Liverpool fan, I watch a lot,” he admits with a smile.
And so he is relatively close to the team where Van Dijk is the captain. On Thursday, Liverpool will test the new Sparta under coach Brian Priske. The team that passed Galatasaray and is not going to back down even to the English giant. And it doesn’t matter if Van Dijk will be in the lineup, or if coach Jürgen Klopp spares him in the busy schedule.
“Kuchťák (striker Jan Kuchta, editor’s note) can get past Van Dijk, for example, by timing. Sparta are on top now, but Van Dijk has also moved on. He has already dealt with the best footballers in the world. On the other hand, I suspect there is a chance to advance. Liverpool have very difficult games and we will see who will start at all. It’s hard to estimate, but I think that at least at Letná, Sparta could torment the favourites,” believes Juliš.
Liverpool is waiting for a clash with Manchester City at the weekend, if they win they can take a step towards the title. In addition, a fairly extensive mess. “Maybe Sparta can take advantage of this and knock them out,” Juliš sneers. “However, Liverpool is a club that wants to win everything. Premier League, domestic cups and Europa League. Even with the fact that Klopp is retiring after the season,” the Czech striker recalls the recent turn of events, when the German coach announced that he was taking a break from his craft at least for some time.
“Nobody expected it, but I understand him. He is in the most important position, there is enormous pressure on him and he may already be tired. He has the right to leave and we’ll see how he says goodbye. They have a season set for all possible trophies,” states Juliš, who came to Sparta in 2009 at the age of less than 15. He fought his way up to the elite team, guested at Bohemians or Olomouc, and left the club in the summer of 2023.
Photo: CTK
Striker Lukáš Juliš was in Sparta for more than 10 years, he is currently scoring a goal for Sigma Olomouc.
Juliš remembers the mentioned year 2016 a little differently. “I played quite a lot, but the autumn was not very good outside the Europa League. We lost at Southampton and then the derby. Coach Zdeněk Ščasný left and was replaced by David Holoubek. I was young, the change affected me a lot. I won’t let Mr. Ščašy go. But I also started under Mr. Holoubek. The memories are also good, after all, we beat and eliminated Inter in the group. Only at the beginning of the spring came the draw with Rostov, a 0:4 loss away from home, and all hope was gone. And we didn’t make the title. Now Sparta is more successful,” he says.
Maybe that’s why he definitely doesn’t underestimate Letenské in the extremely difficult doubleheader with Liverpool. “I will definitely be rooting for them. I used to have a crush on Liverpool, but I still have a lot of friends in Sparta. The main thing is to make it fun and exciting for people, so that the guys don’t get two quick goals, for example.”
And a final piece of advice, who to look out for in the star-studded squad? “Everyone criticizes striker Darwin Núñez, but he already has 14 goals and 11 assists in all competitions. Serves Mohamed Salalah, now decided the match against Nottingham at the weekend. And I like central midfielders. They exchanged older players like Jordan Henderson and Fabinho for younger ones, the world champion with Argentina Alexis Mac Allister and the Hungarian talent Dominik Szoboszlai came from Brighton,” Juliš enumerates.
2024-03-07 11:54:50
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