We are halfway through, Boss says
“We are halfway through. We haven’t conceded, Ondřej Kolář kept us afloat with several perfect saves and that gives us chance to the second leg. It is similar to our game against Genk last year. Goalless home, then we were losing away, and one goal just changed everything. The result is important for us, gives us chance to keep fighting for the qualification and the pressure will be now on our opponent. Every conceded goal would be problem for them now,” Trpišovský said.
David Hovorka and David Zima played as centre-backs against Midtjylland. Moreover, it was a European debut for 19-year old David Zima. “He did great, as well as the whole defence line. There were two or three goal chances for Midtjylland, two of them after a set piece, one of the after a duel with Kaba which we lost. Concerning his experience, his performance against players like Kaba, Evander or Cajuste was great. Those players in the centre of the pitch are extremely strong, so we opted for this defensive line, to be 100% sure in our decisions, not to concede. That’s why we started David instead of Kúdela, he has different typology and we needed big players,” Slavia manager continued.
Both teams were losing many balls, especially in the opening minutes. Nervousness or just good tactical preparation? “I think both. But if I had to choose, it would be the first option. Both teams know how much is at stake and bot team’s performance was different than in the league. We know what we are playing for, the team was isolated at the hotel and the expectations from the game were big. We know that - similarly to the game against Cluj last year - one moment, one detail can decide everything. The players were extremely focused, they did not want to do any mistake. That’s why they may opt for more simple solutions. In the opening twenty minutes we could see how nervous both teams were. In the second half this got slightly better, but the game got slower, there was more space on the pitch as the players got more tired,” the Boss concluded.
