In addition to prestige (and a generous financial reward), there is a fairly clear mission for the stitched. One that has been talked about since the start of this year. Win – finally – the match and score three points.
After all, Slavists have been looking forward to a win for almost nineteen years, the last time they rejoiced at the Evžen Rošický stadium in Strahov. It was September 2007, and the Vršovice team had just played their first match of the Champions League against Steaua Bucharest… Since then, nothing.
The Sišivani have not achieved a triumph in eighteen consecutive matches. In 2019, they overpaid against tough opponents, while now they missed out on the victory celebrations immediately in the opening duel against Bodø/Glimt (at that time they were already leading 2:0 at home, the duel still ended in a draw).
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“We could already have the victory we want so much. It’s a weight that weighs on us. And it’s hard to get rid of it against Inter, Tottenham, Barcelona or Bilbao. We should have grabbed it against Bodø,” he admitted coach Trpišovský for Sport.cz at a campsite in Marbella, Spain. For the Slavist strategist, who otherwise collected trophies and prestigious scalps galore in Eden, this is a milestone he has not yet reached. And he wants her all the more.
After all, the desire for victory was also discussed in an interview for club television. “We have it for every match. It doesn’t matter if it is to be fulfilled with Barcelona or with Paphos. We dream of winning, we feel great lust and we will do everything to be successful.” said assistant Milan Kerbr before leaving for Cyprus.
However, stitching in Limassol does not only compete for prestige or the taste of victory. There is also considerable prize money on the table. For a triumph in the league phase of the LM, 2.1 million euros (roughly 52 million crowns) would flow into the club’s coffers.
It is also about points to the UEFA national coefficient rankingwhere Trpišovský’s team would score two points in the event of Wednesday’s win. According to an important metric, club places in European cups are allocated. The Czech Republic is currently ranked 10th ahead of Greece and Poland, followed by the Turks.
Pafos with a brand new coach
So Slavia did not fly to Cyprus to kick off a friendly “fun game”, but still an important match in the most prestigious cup event. However, this is even more true for Paphos itself. He has six points after seven games, twice as many as Prague. And he can still, wonder of the world, advance to the playoffs.
At the same time, right after the draw of the basic phase of the LM, Pafos undoubtedly belonged to the trio with the label of the biggest “exotics”, together with Karabakh and Kajrat Almaty. The Cypriots’ hope for progress is minimal, but it exists. Mančaft under the baton of the new coach Albert Celades must beat Slavia and hope that the results of the next matches will help him.
“I’m still getting to know the players a bit because I’ve only been in the position for a few days,” Celades saida former Spanish footballer who played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid and coached Valencia. He came to Cyprus after the New Year, when his predecessor gave preference to Russia. “We are trying to work on things to help us be even better,” he added as Pafos narrowly lost 1-0 at Chelsea last week.
A club owned by controversial Russian businessmen Roman Dubov and Sergey Lomakin (see infobox)has made a huge leap forward in recent months. Through three preliminary rounds, he sensationally fought his way into the LM and certainly did not embarrass himself in it. They drew against both Olympiakos and Kajrat, beat Villarreal at home and played 2-2 with Monaco. Defeats 1:5 at Bayern, 0:2 at Juventus and recently in London were to be expected.
“We respect all opponents, but if we fight we can achieve anything,” stopper David Luiz said some time ago. It is this former Brazilian representative who is the most famous name in the nationally diverse squad (although the fact that the former most expensive defender in the world is already past his best years cannot be hidden).
“Paphos have come a long way since I was there. But I still think that even if it’s an away game, it could be three points for Slavia.” football player Zdeněk Folprecht told Deníkwho played in Paphos. However, he said that right after the draw. The Cypriot team then proved that it is not just numbers in the LM.
Russian money and Cyprus sun
Where did Pafos FC, a club heartily detested by many proud Cypriot fans, even come from? It was created only in 2014 by the merger of two smaller local teams (Paphos is the fourth largest city in Cyprus and is located in the southwest of the island). The coat of arms features the likeness of Evagoras Pallikarides, a poet and revolutionary who was executed in the 1950s for participating in the resistance against British rule.
While Pallikarides, who died at the age of just nineteen, is considered a national hero, the two men behind the club with the river portrait are causing more controversy and, at times, backlash. The club from Paphos is owned by Total Sports Investment, controlled by Roman Dubov and Sergey Lomakin.
Both are Russians, but with a wide scope: Dubov was born in Hungary and has British citizenship, Lomakin, for a change, had a Cypriot passport, but it was recently revoked. It is not surprising, because for years this billionaire has been surrounded by scandals and various suspicions of unfair business practices and connections to Russian oligarchs.
Paphos itself benefits from his money, after all, it was able to advance to the Champions League. “When I first came to the city, it was a simple idea. To build something that would last. Not just a football team, but a sustainable football project and business. Cyprus offers sun, passion and football-mad people, and we saw the possibility of creating a professional and competitive club that the city could be proud of.” Dubov told The Athletic.
It is Dubov (former co-owner of English Portsmouth, where he left behind debts and bad blood) who most often appears as the club’s boss, but most of the money is said to come from Lomakin. He has become an unwanted person in Ukraine and the Baltics, and football is a chance for him to improve his reputation in Europe. He is no slouch: he also owns Riga FC (Sparta recently played with him in the preliminary round of the Conference League) and FC Rodina Moskva in the second Russian league.
He knows European football well the so-called “multi-club ownership” phenomenonwhen one entity owns two or more clubs. Fans rebel against him, UEFA tries to regulate him (somewhat). In the case of Paphos, it also has the exotic flavor of dubious money from dubious business.
