The derby this time was more about football than war, which didn’t surprise me. Both teams have improved tremendously compared to last autumn’s meeting, I wouldn’t completely compare it with the spring matches from last season, because there the league is already going to the finish line, there is some point difference and there is a lot of tactics. Therefore, for this particular duel, it was assumed that it could be more open, more football, and the players delivered us exactly that. We saw an excellent match at great intensity with a great atmosphere.
Slavia knocked down their arch-rival right from the start of the match and managed to decide the match in the first twenty minutes. Sparta got out of it in the second half, when they lowered the score, had chances to equalize, but the seamers already managed to take care of it. At the end of the match, emotions were running high again, which is understandable given the importance of the match and the tense situation between the two clubs, and it clearly belongs to the derby. But I’m glad that the emotions were kept within certain limits, not like last year.
A big topic is also the failure to deploy Lukáš Haraslín in the starting lineup, we can also talk about the fact that Rrahmani also remained on the bench. When they both stepped up in the second half, they definitely raised their game. However, I don’t see inside the team, I take it that coach Friis made a decision and went into the match with a specific tactical plan. Of course, it is a great luxury to leave two such players only on the substitutes, it only proves that Sparta is a team of European format and can sometimes afford to prepare such players until the match is underway. In Slavia, the same could be turned over to Ondřej Lingro.
Editing of the match Slavia – SpartaVideo: LFA
One more name charmed me, namely Tonda Kinský. Twice in the match, he embarked on a very risky play, from which coach Trpišovský had to be embarrassed. However, it worked out in both cases, especially in the first situation David Zima solved it perfectly. What I really like about Tondo is his composure, both passing and catching. You can see that the confidence of the players is huge. You can see in Zim that he believes in himself for the first time since coming to Slavia, and it seems to me to be the definition of how comfortable Slavia is.
Although the cushion at the top of the league table has increased to six points in favor of the red and whites, we still cannot talk about the fact that it is decided anyway. We have only finished a third of the regular season, together with the superstructure there are still 75 points in the game, so from Sparta’s point of view there is no need to panic.
Before the match, there were voices from both camps that neither of them agreed with the choice of the head referee. However, Ladislav Szikszay managed the duel, in the year before he whistled that infamously memorable derby, he moved on. As Jindra Trpišovský said, especially in the first half it was impossible to know about him at all, which is always the worst business card for a referee.
Towards the end of the match, in the period from the 86th minute until the end of the match, although he awarded eleven cards, including two reds, all but the second yellow and subsequent red for Vitík were the right decision. In addition, the second yellow was due to a foul, it’s just a shame that VAR can’t fix it.
And I’ll jump straight to the second derby that was played at the weekend. The beating of Liberec is a huge shock for me. The owner of Slovan admitted that the product was ahead of its time. Some of his statements were too grandiose for how (in)experienced he is in football. I think that even Honza Nezmar was not enthusiastic about some of the outputs.
I understand that Slovan wants to do football and therefore marketing differently, but maybe it would like to choose something less radical. I’m rooting for the project, but sometimes more humility is needed. It’s a huge slap in the face for Liberec, but they can’t get out of it except with hard work. On the contrary, for Luboš Kozl, whose breakup with Liberec was not entirely correct, it is a great satisfaction. It can be seen that the staff of Jablonec is very strong and experienced.
Ondřej Kania bemoaned the fact that his team lacked leaders. I see two there, but both of them did not intervene in the match and are among the oldest players. Honza Mikula, who was on the substitutes’ bench, and the injured Michael Rabušic are the leaders, but it is true that it would need someone else, for example, in the midfield. Someone who can cheer you up in moments when you can’t get up.
Last year, for example, Lukáš Červ was there, who would be a great fit for them now. For Liberec, the key will now be to get over it as quickly as possible, pick yourself up and move on. They probably realized a few things under Ještěd, right after the reprieve they will go to Sparta, where three points can’t be fully assumed, but for Slovan, game face and determination will be important.
Hats off to Ondřej Pechanec for how he stood up to his performance after a botched match. He didn’t hide, sprinkled ashes on his head and stood up to his poor performance like a man. We’re already used to the fact that the players or the coaches recognize the mistake, it’s something completely new for the referee. This kind of honest self-reflection is rare and should be appreciated. Referees are often unavailable, Ondra may have set a new trend of what to do when something goes wrong. Respect.
Another pivotal moment of the past round was the early dismissal of the league’s top scorer, Jan Kliment, who saw red in the ninth minute in the home match against Bohemians. This weakened Sigma tremendously, fundamentally reduced the chances of Olomouc to gain any points, and Bohemka was able to take advantage of this. In addition, it will also have an effect in the form of another distance, we will see how the Commission of referees will decide, but I would see it as 3-4 matches. There were some provocations from the green and white players, but a fighter like this has to bite, not get carried away.
Too bad for him and for Olomouc. Honza Kliment is the type of player who brings a lot of emotions to the match, whether positive or negative, but what would the current Liberec give for such a player.
The last topic I would like to open is Viktorka Plzeň. In the duel with Pardubice, she seemed tight, tired. Which is partly understandable, they have a lot of matches, last week I thought she was running out of steam in the match against Boleslav. I think that if she was in top form, she would beat Ludogorets.
The fight with East Bohemia was about will and morale for Pilsen. The time that Viktorka got is incomprehensible to me. Sunday at 1 pm after they played on Thursday night is the gallows program. A lot of people will say that if they moved it to 16 hours, it’s only three hours, but it’s three extra hours for regeneration, which will show. They were up against Pardubice, who played actively and did not give their skin cheap.
I’ve been saying since the beginning of the season that Pilsen has a wide squad, but compared to Prague S, the quality is not that good. Coach Koubek keeps more or less the same lineup. Now they will rest during the national team break, I think that they needed it a lot, especially from the psychological point of view.
We have a representative break ahead of us, I wish the boys success and win back the trust of the people after the last unsuccessful meeting. I was a little surprised by the nomination of Jan Bořil, but I think that performance, not age, is the deciding factor, and I understand the nomination from this point of view. Maybe he is the player that the national team was missing, whether on the field or in the cabin, where he is willing to say anything, even if things are not going well.
