In the locker room reserved for visitors at the Letná stadium, the same one where the Brestois will in turn settle this Wednesday evening with the hope of singing just as joyfully at the end of their fourth Champions League match, the players of the Baník Ostrava celebrated their victory at the expense of Sparta on Saturday evening at length and loudly in a match which, due to the rivalry between the two cities, is undoubtedly among the hottest that Czech football offers each season. It must be said that the wait had been particularly long since it had been 16 matches, since the spring of 2018, since the flagship club of Moravia-Silesia had last beaten the Sparta that its supporters love to hate so much. And even ten years since he last won in Prague…
Before another exciting European week, which will first see Sparta host Stade Brestois in the Champions League on Wednesday, then Slavia and Plzeň will take on the Germans from Eintract Frankfurt and the Spaniards from Real Sociedad in the Europa League respectively. Thursday, the 13th day of the Chance Liga, the Czech football championship, offered a rare scenario during the past weekend. None of the three leading teams managed to win, and only Slavia, who returned with a draw (1-1) from their trip to Eastern Bohemia on the lawn of Hradec Králové, limited the breakage.
Although this sharing of points ended its streak of eleven consecutive victories in the league, it nevertheless allowed Slavia to consolidate its leadership position. Still undefeated on the national scene since the start of the season, with only four goals conceded in thirteen matches, the Prague side now have an eight-point lead over Viktoria Plzeň, defeated (0-1) on the pitch of FC Slovácko, in Moravia. of the South, and respectively two and three more units on their great rival Sparta and Ostrava. Despite this comfortable mattress and the strong impression of domination that emerges from Slavia's performances, Lukáš Provod, its international midfielder, refuses to see too far ahead and make plans for the comet:
Lukáš Provod|Photo: David Taneček, CTK
“The questions about the championship title or a championship that would already be folded are ridiculous in my eyes. The season is still long and each team can experience a downturn. The fact that we are in good shape and on a good run at the moment does not mean that the deal is in the bag. We're still only in the fall and haven't even played half the regular season games. The most important thing is to finish the year well before the winter break and then be able to continue next year. But as for the title, the die is still far from being cast. »
An optic tinged with caution which is not, however, that of Sparta. After a solid start to the season marked by seven victories and a draw during the first eight days, to which was added the long-awaited qualification (the first in 19 years) for the regular phase of the Champions League, the club owned by the billionaire Daniel Křetínský therefore suffered his fourth defeat in the league.
Already dominated by Slavia in the traditional derby (1-2) at the beginning of October, then in Plzeň (0-1) last week, the double reigning Czech champion once again disappointed against Ostrava, both in terms of accounting and in terms of that of the quality of play. Deprived of its three most dangerous players, the Slovak wingers Lukáš Haraslín and the Serbian Veljko Birmančević, as well as the Ecuadorian right-back Angelo Preciado, all victims of muscular injuries, Sparta became an ordinary team again, literally out of ideas.
But in addition to the absences of its key players, it is also a mental problem from which the people of Prague are suffering who, after two years of success, had lost the habit of losing. Also out of the picture, the central defender and captain of Sparta, Filip Panák, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Saturday and who was one of the rare players to speak after the meeting, easily admitted that he and his partners were well immersed in deep doubt:
Filip Panák (left)|Photo: Roman Vondrouš, CTK
“The title is now a distant thing for us. Let's not even talk about the title anymore and look no further than the next match. The most important thing is to first get out of this negative spiral. Things are clear and it is even quite simple to define what we should do differently. The problem is first in our heads. We know perfectly well what is wrong, what we are currently doing wrong and all the mistakes we are making, but knowing this is not enough to make things work out, because the head is in charge of the rest. »
An upside down head that the people of Prague will absolutely have to turn around if, two weeks after their heavy defeat (0-5) conceded against Manchester City, they intend to resume their march forward against Brest in the Champions League.
