LIMASSOL – In the last eighth round of the Champions League in Limassol against Paphos, Slavia’s football coach Jindřich Trpišovský wants to cross off the wait for a premiership win in the main stage of the competition and not leave him for further participation.
The 49-year-old coach of Prague would like the biggest star, Brazilian defender David Luiz, who was suffering from health problems, to join the Cypriot champions. He said this at a press conference before the final performance of the red and whites in the competition.
After seven rounds, Slavia remains one of the three teams without a win, and with only three points for draws, it no longer has a chance to advance to the knockout stages. It has been a long 18 games since its premier participation in 2007 for the only victory in the main stage of the Champions League so far, when the team was led by Karel Jarolím as a coach.
He wants to finally rejoice in the triumph
Trpišovský has not yet achieved a win in the regular part of the prestigious competition with the team. “Of course, I would like to cross it off, not leave it for the next seasons, for our next participation in the Champions League. It’s a Champions League match, we all talk about it, we dream about it. We want to finally win.” the club website quoted Trpišovský from the press conference.
Unlike Prague, Pafos has not yet lost hope of advancing in its Champions League debut, although the chances are not great. “It’s an away match against a team that has shown quality. They made it to the Champions League, got solid results and a good number of points. Moreover, with interesting teams. We perceive their characteristics, what they did well in Europe, where they can lose. We will try to react to it in our way of playing.” remarked Trpišovský.
“Pafos’ strongest points are football, dynamism and technical equipment. They are all more experienced players around 30 years old. Many of those players have big clubs in their CVs, at least in the academies. I am looking forward to (midfielder or defender) Semu, who we watched a lot when he was in Östersund. We liked him, we had him high on the list, but then he ended up in Watford.” said the coach of the Czech champion.
He wants David Luiz back
The stopper Luiz, a 38-year-old Brazilian known for his involvement in Chelsea, Arsenal and Paris St., has been playing for the Cypriot champions since the summer. Germain missed the last two competitive duels due to injury. “I think that if it goes just a little, he will be available for Wednesday’s match, because the player in his position is cleared. I personally would be happy if he played. A lot of boys watched him in big clubs, it would also be interesting for the fans.” said Trpišovský.
“We experienced him for Chelsea when we played a double-header against them in the Europa League. He is a legend of many clubs, you can see from him that he really loves football. Despite his age, he is excellent physically. I like that about these players, when they still play to their full potential at the end of their careers. He was a player who, from my point of view, was a little ahead of his time. Even though he played very defensively, he excelled in attacking play.” praised Trpišovský.
Due to an injury from the last meeting a week ago against Barcelona (2:4), three players will be missing – one of the captains Tomáš Holeš, defender Tomáš Vlček and midfielder David Moses. “It’s always unpleasant when at the beginning of the season you need to play after training and you lose players. The league starts on Sunday and we wanted to keep it in a similar lineup. Other players who haven’t played for a while, for example, will get a chance. It will be a game test for them before the start of the league.” the coach remarked.
- Author: © List/
- Source: CTK
