Sparta football coach Brian Priske believes that his team’s Slavia showed respect in the 23rd league round at Letná by changing their game philosophy compared to previous derbies and focusing mainly on defending.
He regretted the exclusion of right back or midfielder Ángel Preciado, but he praised the head referee Ondřej Pechance for the way he officiated the match. The 46-year-old Danish coach said this at a press conference after the goalless draw, after which his side maintained a four-point lead over their city rival at the top of the table.
“Slavia showed us the respect we deserve. They respect us so much that they changed the philosophy compared to the previous derbies that I experienced here as a coach since coming to Sparta. In them it was the opposite. They pressed high and went into one-on-one fights. But today they left all the initiative to us,” said Priske, whose team knocked out Slavia in Eden in the quarter-finals of the domestic cup on Wednesday after a 3-2 victory in extra time, despite losing by two goals.
In today’s league derby, Preciado in the 84th minute in the corner of the field, at first glance, easily bent his leg over Slavist captain Jan Bořil. The video referee entered the game and Pechanec sent off the Ecuadorian representative after watching repeated footage. Sparta received the seventh red card in the league season, which is the most of all teams.
“Ángelo has been playing excellently in recent weeks. From this point of view, I’m sorry that we can’t use him in the next match,” regretted Priske, whose players will play in another match in a week at the stadium of the third team in the Pilsen table.
“I don’t think it was a crazy, hard tackle. Ángelo gave the referee the option of a red card. You have to respect the referee’s decision, he did a very good job today. I hope you journalists appreciate him too. Derby was under control. It’s good that here are referees who believe in themselves. They serve as an example of how such matches should be managed. He deserves a lot of praise,” said the former coach of Midtjylland or Antwerp.
On Thursday, Letenští will play the opening home match of the round of 16 of the Europa League against the leader of the English league, Liverpool.
“It’s a big game and a challenge. We’re facing an iconic team and stadium. We’ve got work ahead of us, we’ll try to win. With all due respect to Liverpool, we’ll try to play our style and try to win and progress,” said Priske.
“If the players want to see Anfield, they can buy a ticket after the season or get there after their career, it doesn’t matter to me. We will not go there as tourists, we will try to win. The first step is to win at Letná. But at the same time, I expect they will try the same. Liverpool is the favorite,” added the former defender of Brugge, Portsmouth or the Danish national team.
2024-03-03 21:35:05
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