Disrespect to the players, Priske complained on the lawn. Budejovice agrees

Sparta did not do very well in the meeting between the first and last team in the table. She didn’t seem fresh like in the other duels. Priske admitted that not everything went well, but three points and a clean sheet count in the final. In addition, he mentioned the low-quality lawn.

“Our performance was influenced a lot by other circumstances,” the Danish coach began. “You know how we want to play, but it wasn’t possible. The grass lacked water, it was not sprinkled and the players could not show their qualities. Great footballers came in and they all know what else they can do,” he continued.

Sparta probably deployed the best they currently had at their disposal. Veljko Birmachevič, who even with the contribution of the erring goalkeeper Martin Janáček, Jan Kuchta and Lukáš Haraslín, were at least in the attacking trio. Midfielders Qazim Laci and Kaan Kairinen operated below them.

But it rubbed off on Sparta. Maybe because of the lawn, but overall she didn’t seem active and hungry.

“I am proud of the players that they were able to adapt to the terrain. The field was against a good match. It is up to all of us, coaches, officials and journalists, what the final product of Czech football looks like. Even the viewers on TV saw a bad game, which we all have to evaluate,” added Priske.

Jiří Kladrubský, the coach of the home team, also made a comment afterwards. First, he agreed that the area was definitely not in ideal condition. And he clearly said: “It was definitely not the intention of the club.”

So what happened? “On Saturday, we wanted to have the pitch sprinkled, but the pump stopped working. The maintenance guys were trying to fix it. They called the company about it, but they didn’t make it to the match,” revealed Kladrubský.

At a time when it’s getting warmer in the Czech Republic, people went to football in short sleeves and shorts, and the Czech Republic is plagued by dust from the Sahara, and the rain didn’t help either. “The pitch prevented faster football. But the conditions were the same for both teams, although probably worse for Sparta,” commented Kladrubský.