The basic part of FORTUNA:LIGA reaches its peak: Sparta will present itself in Olomouc, Slavia will travel to Hradec

The thirtieth round will culminate on Sunday in the basic part of the FORTUNA:LIGA. Defending champion and certain winner of the regular season Sparta will present itself in Olomouc. Prague Slavia, which is four points behind its city rival, will play in Hradec Králové. With a victory over Teplice, Plzeň would secure the worst final third place in the table even before the superstructure. It will decide the last participant in the group for the title, four teams are fighting for the sixth place. All eight games have a 15:00 kick-off, only four of which will have a video referee available.

Thanks to first place in the regular season, Sparta secured the advantage of the home environment in the extension derby with Slavia, which will take place on May 11. Letenští have won six of the last seven games away from home in the league, and with 32 points they are the best team there of the season.

“It’s nice that we secured first place. It gives us a home advantage in the build-up. Olomouc showed great character. They haven’t been doing very well lately, but they picked themselves up and drew with Slavia last time. But everything depends only on us.” Sparta assistant coach Lars Friis said.

Eighth Olomouc won only one of the last five rounds, but scored points twice in a row and still has a chance for the group title. With the last 2:2 draw against Slavia, she helped Sparta dominate the regular season ahead of schedule. Sigma coach Jiří Saňák previously worked as an assistant on Sparta’s bench.

In the last two rounds, Slavia lost 0:1 in Pilsen and drew at home with Olomouc, thus complicating the fight for the title. In the past two seasons, she also lost it due to hesitation with Hradec Králové, where she lost twice in a row. “Of course, the last results are a complication. More than the situation in the table, I’m thinking about why we didn’t manage the last two games,” said the coach of the Vršovice team Jindřich Trpišovský. The nine “Invaders”, who have lost only one of the last 10 rounds, still have hope of participating in the group for the title.

Pilsen defeated Zlín 3:0 on Wednesday and advanced to the final of the domestic cup, in which they will challenge Sparta on May 22. With a victory over Teplice, they would already secure the worst final third place in the table before the superstructure, which would earn them at least a participation in the 3rd preliminary round of the Europa League thanks to progressing to the finals of the MOL Cup.

“Mathematically, we don’t have the third place yet, but in my eyes it is 99 percent. We have our level, we will still score some points, I firmly believe in that.” said West Bohemia coach Miroslav Koubek.

The fourth Ostrava will face the seventh Liberec. Due to four yellow cards, visiting Slovan will be without coach Luboš Kozel, who led Baník before his current appointment.

The sixth place is held by one point by Slovácko, which has not won six rounds in a row. The team from Uherské Hradiště awaits a duel on the pitch of penultimate České Budějovice. “In the last round of the regular season, we want to bounce back from the match against Plzeň, which was a good game for us, and to win in Budějovice. This would ensure participation in the superstructure in the group for the title.” said Slovácko’s assistant coach Jan Palinek.

The rescue battle will be seen in Zlín, where the last Karviná will arrive. “Shoemakers” belong to the first playoff position and only three points separate them from the newcomers of the competition.

Jablonec hosts Mlada Boleslav. While North Bohemia awaits a fight for survival, the Central Bohemians will present themselves in the elite group. Bohemians 1905 will face Pardubice. The two meet again in the rescue group.

After the 30th round, the teams are divided into three extension groups. In the first one, the teams will compete for the title, the 7th to 10th overall group is waiting for Europe. From the 11th to the 16th position, the teams present themselves in the group for rescue.