Slavia departed for Villarreal
18.10.2017, Redakce
CASTELLÓN/SPAIN – Slavia have arrived to Castellón airport in the Wednesday afternoon to face Villarreal in the third game of their Europa League 2017/18 campaign. The Spaniards are favourite of the Group A so far gaining four points – the same number as Slavia. “Three points would be great, but if we will return home with one, we would not be angry,” say Slavia players unanimously.
Cameroonian midfielder Michael Ngadeu still did not recover from his injury and remained in Prague. So did Bosnian striker Muris Mešanović and two defenders Dušan Švento and Per-Egil Flo. In contrary goalkeeper Jan laštůvka is ready to play and so is midfielder Jaromír Zmrhal.And what are the odds for Slavia? “We have played both Europa League games good so far. I know there is a difficult opponent ahead but we are going to Villarreal to play for the best result and to fight for the qualification from the group stage,” says midfielder Jan Sýkora.
“Everybody who saw Villarreal play can say that we are not facing an easy opponent. They play very demanding football with much running and combination. But if we prepare, as we did in Astana, we can make it,” Sýkora added.
Slavia did not win an away European game since 2007. “It would be great because it is the highest time to break the series and to win away in the Europa League. But I also think that a single point will have a great value,” centre-back Jakub Jugas says.
“The attacking strengths of Villarreal ale immense. Their biggest star – Bakambu – is big and very quick, often running behind the defensive line. But they have more players. It is not just about him but about the way he is getting the balls. We need to take care about them so that Bacambu would not receive such crosses,” Jugas added.
