Czech champions Slavia are preparing to face Arsenal, while a grim record in the Champions League weighs heavily on them. The club has won only one match in 23 played in this competition, which was their debut against Steaua Bucharest in September 2007. Since then, across four Champions League campaigns, including the current one, Slavia have managed only eight draws and suffered 14 defeats. This long winless streak is becoming increasingly uncomfortable, as stressed by Slavia coach Jindrich Trpisovsky, who has led the team since 2017. He says the more this record is discussed, the more it bothers him.
Record holders AEK Athens went 24 consecutive matches without a win from 1992 to 2006, while Steaua, now known as FCSB, recorded 23 winless matches between 2006 and 2013. Slavia will host Arsenal, who come off a 1-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield, a result that would intimidate most sides. After that, Slavia will face Villarreal at home and Bayern Munich away in their next European fixtures. Trpisovsky stresses that European matches are extremely difficult and require great effort to win. He adds that in some matches the team was dominant but still lost, describing this as “the beauty of football”.
Slavia have faced Arsenal three times in the Champions League, recording one draw and two defeats, including a humiliating 7-0 defeat in London in 2007. Vladimir Smicer, former Slavia striker and Champions League winner with Liverpool in 2005, says Slavia are simply up against the best teams, whose quality is evident. He told AFP he believes Slavia have been unlucky on several occasions. One example was the opening match of this season against Lens, where Slavia, with 10 players, took a 2-1 lead in the 89th minute but wasted the opportunity and lost 3-2. Smicer, who played for Lens from 1996 to 1999, calls this bad luck, but stresses that the winless streak is uncomfortable in any case.
Smicer adds that Slavia are now facing teams like Arsenal and Bayern, matches they are not expected to win. He suggests Slavia should have won against lower-ranked sides, such as Sabah, whom they lost to 2-0 in Baku in October. The former striker notes that Slavia have great depth, allowing the coach to adapt to the style of the opponents, but ultimately everything depends on quality. He observes that in Baku the team simply did not perform as it should, as in several other matches, and this extended the winless streak. There have been matches Slavia should have won, but unfortunately they did not.
Slavia will host Arsenal on 4 November, exactly one year after losing 3-0 to the “Gunners” at home in the Champions League. Slavia defender David Zima described the competition as “a football university”, stressing that it is the highest level and you should not stress about having to win. He believes this is simply football and you cannot always win, adding that only a little luck is needed. Coach Trpisovsky concludes by saying everything must go Slavia’s way and the team must give 100 percent to have a chance against giants, believing that only then can they succeed in any match.
Taken from France 24 Live News