The rescue work goes aside for a while, the Zlín footballers are waiting for the semi-final of the domestic cup after six long years. Ševci will face the favored Pilsen in the Doosan Arena on Wednesday from 6:00 p.m. The winner of the MOL Cup final will challenge Sparta at home, who already won in Opava at the beginning of April. The motivation is thus clear for both teams.
Football players from Zlín (yellow jerseys) presented themselves in Pilsen in the 22nd round of FORTUNA:LIGA.
| Photo: Deník/Jan Zahnaš
“The fact that we are in the semifinals is already a success for us. You don’t get this far every year. We take the match seriously. We will go into the match with the strongest possible composition and at full strength. We will want to succeed and fight for the final. Everything has to come together for that,” said Zlín’s assistant coach Lukáš Motal.
Both teams know what triumph in the domestic cup tastes like. The West Bohemians rejoiced in 2010, the Cobblers lifted the trophy above their heads in May 2017, when in a dramatic final at the Andrová Stadium in Olomouc, they defeated the second division Opava 1:0 with a goal by Robert Bartolomeo and found out that they were directly participating in the basic group of the Europa League.
The people of Zlín would like to repeat a similar success.
“Pilsen is a quality club, top of our league, successful in European cups. In the era when Zlín won the cup, they won against Slavia in the semi-finals. Now it’s such a similar match. We are going out, again to a big favorite. Even then it became clear that it was not impossible to advance. We will want to repeat this,” said Motal.
Šveči reached the semi-finals a year later, but it was not enough for Jablonec, to whom they lost 0:1 at Střelnice. The match was then decided by Lukáš Masopust.
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In the following years, the Moravians did not do so well, they slipped into the top four teams again only this year.
On the way to the semi-finals, they eliminated Lanžhot from the division (1:0), Uničov from the third division (2:1) and Baník Ostrava from the first division (1:0), all three matches were played away.
At home, they hosted Liberec in the quarter-finals, which we defeated 2:1 after extra time. Now they will challenge Pilsen.
The West Bohemians first succeeded in the fall in Mariánské Lázně, then they dealt with Olomouc and Jablonec away from home.
Pilsen have a great motivation to succeed, because in the fight for the title they are already fourteen points behind the leaders Sparta from third place and they would like to win at least one trophy.
“We want to bring the final to Pilsen for the fans and we believe that we will succeed. We know that if we progress, we would have Sparta at home. That’s the goal we have now in front of us,” said the assistant coach of Viktoria Plzeň Jan Trousil.
Horého et al. can practically direct any progress through Zlín to participation in the next year’s Europa League qualification.
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Even if they then lost to Sparta in the final, participation in UEFA’s second-best club competition would pass to them, as they would almost certainly now be the third team in the league.
The West Bohemians made history in the European Conference League in the fall when they won all six games in the basic group and equaled the record set by West Ham in London from last season with eighteen points.
Last Thursday, they ended their crazy journey through Europe as the last domestic representative, when they were eliminated in the quarter-finals against the Italian Fiorentina, who lost 0:2 in extra time in the rematch.
“They made a name for Czech football, gained points for the coefficient. We all cheered for them,” said Motal.
The people of Zlín do not rely on the possible fatigue of the West Bohemian opponent from the demanding program of the last weeks. “Pilsen has a very wide staff. The players are used to it, now they often played three times a week,” said Motal.
Pilsen footballers drew 1:1 at Slovácko in the 29th round of the first league at the weekend and extended their unbeaten streak to ten games. The line-up will certainly undergo major changes, the usual mainstays will play.
However, the Cobblers are not afraid, they have a decent form, even if the opponent is a huge favorite also because they have won the last seven league duels between them.
In February, they beat Švec 3:0 at home, and in the autumn they triumphed overwhelmingly 7:1 at the opponent’s stadium.
“Zlín is a tough and dangerous opponent. In the league, he is now aiming to be at his best before the extension and to be in a good position in the fight for the rescue. Anyway, he’s gotten better lately,” notes Trousil.
Jablonec is still within reach, Červenka is pleased. Why didn’t midfielder Slončík play?
Zlín coach Bronislav Červenka cannot use the services of Libor Holík in the semi-finals of the cup. The returnee to Letné is visiting us from Pilsen, so he will not start after the agreement of the clubs. On the other hand, Filip Žák and David Tkáč are fit.
The match between Pilsen and Zlín will start on Wednesday at 18:00. The date of the final has not yet been determined, Wednesday 8 or 22 May is considered. The game will be played at the stadium of the worst ranked team in the cup coefficient for the last five years, so last year’s finalist and leader of the league table Sparta will present itself outside.
