PREVIEW: Slavia are in Bordeaux, hoping for early qualification
28.11.2018, Redakce
Slavia left Prague to face Girondins de Bordeaux on Thursday. What to expect from the French side and how does the mood among our players look like?
Even though Bordeaux is no longer in relegation zone in Ligue 1 and it occupies quite calm 12nd place, they still haven’t found the winning recipe as the French side failed to secure a single win out of the last 7 games. On the other hand, Slavia are in much more pleasant situation as they lead the league table by 4 point ahead of Champions League contender Viktoria Plzeň. If Copenhagen fails to win in the parallel match at Zenit, Slavia could end up celebrating qualification into the knock-out stage of the Europa League on Thursday night. The French side could be out of the competition even if they win. Thus, for both sides it will be a “must win” game on Matmut Atlantique.
Before the departure Slavia assistant manager Zdeněk Houštecký gave us an insight to the tactics and a hint of what to expect from the game: “We want to play our football, to keep the ball at our feet. We’re aware that Bordeaux defence is not on the same level as for example the Copenhagen defence-line. They have some individuals, who are great up front, such as Briand, Kalu or Kamano. But they have troubles recovering after losing the ball, so we’d like to take advantage of that,” Houštecký revealed.
Ondřej Kúdela, who impressed Slavia fans by a run of solid performances in Czech league, confirms that the red-whites know what is in stake. “We know the game won’t be easy, even though their performances have not been the best lately. Qualification to the next round is very close yet far away. The last step is always the most difficult one but everyone at the club hopes we’ll go through,” Slavia centre back said.
