Slavia got off to a bad start in Greece, right from the start everything fell on their goal. “We turned the key in the ignition when we immediately let them into the dangerous center. It was hell, which would have happened anyway, but we added a detonator to it,” Slavist coach Jindřich Trpišovský looked back at the opening minutes, when two dangerous crosses flew into the visitors’ goal and after the first of them, the ball licked the post after Andraž Šporar’s finish.
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The atmosphere was stormy. “It was very difficult, but we were preparing for it. We communicated through the wing players and it was important that the players mainly communicated with each other. Even though the performance of some was not top-notch, they managed it excellently in terms of communication,” noted Trpišovský. In managing the team, stopper Aiham Ousou and central midfielders Tomáš Holeš and Christ Tiéhi were important to him.
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Goalkeeper Aleš Mandous had a lot of fun, catching the most boisterous part of the audience in the first half. “Many beers, plastic bottles or lighters flew at my back. But this is part of football, I like it. I enjoyed it,” Mandous smiled.
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He sweated in the first half. “The onslaught was great, especially in the first half. In addition, I was standing under their boiler, the boys and I practically did not hear each other. It was important that we didn’t concede until half-time,” added the Slavist goalkeeper.
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Slavia entered the second half better. “We changed the approach of the opponent,” Trpišovský pointed out one point. Although they conceded a goal, they did not give up. On the contrary, they gradually dulled the home team’s pressure and Václav Jurečka, who replaced Václav Jurečka, equalized at the set time to make it 1:1.
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“I have to say that sometimes I have trouble getting into the game. Now I felt fantastic. The goal was the icing on the cake. I’m satisfied and I’m very happy that we advanced. I think we deserve to advance,” stated Jurečka.
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But he couldn’t enjoy the goal celebration much, he was moving under the home boiler. “I enjoy it when the stadium is full. It belongs to football. But I couldn’t celebrate much. Everything started to fly, it was a bit dangerous,” recounted the Slavist striker.
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Slavia passed the difficult test. “It’s a great experience for our team. After all, many players played such a match away for the first time. I’m glad we made it. Hats off to Panathinaikos, it’s a great team with an excellent coach,” Trpišovský was satisfied.
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