Slavia under Jindřich Trpišovský has experienced several successes in Europe, but none of them beats the promotion over Sevilla. The magical night in Eden ended with a goal at 118:53 will forever be in the heart of all Slavists.
Memorable Moments is a special Ruiku project that commemorates the most iconic moments that have happened in football. Today we look back at Slavia’s progress over Sevilla.
March 14 will forever be written in golden letters in the history of Slavia Prague. On that day in 2019, the seamers completed a fascinating turnaround against the strong Sevilla in the last minute and provided the fans with one of the best memories associated with Slavia.
It was Trpišovský’s first year in cup Europe, Slavia did not yet have such a name, it only came after this match. In the 1/16 finals, they got past Genk, but in the round of 16 they faced the toughest possible opponent. The Spanish Sevilla, who is the record holder of the Europa League, has already dominated this competition six times.
But from Ramón Sanchéz Pizjuán Slavia brought a promising result 2:2, which allowed Slavia to progress even with a 0:0 or 1:1 draw with the still current rule about goals scored away from home. But there was no chance of a draw in Eden.
Ngadeu opened the scoring in the 14th minute, Ben Yedder equalized from the penalty spot in the 44th minute. Right after the change of sides, on the other hand, Souček gave Slavia the lead with a penalty, but in eight minutes, Munir equalized at 2:2 with a wonderful volley. And so it went into overtime, which started in the worst possible way for the Staples.
Extension
Franco Vázquez scored, and because of the away goals rule, Slavia had to score two goals, for which they only had 20 minutes left. However, a glimmer of hope was created in 4 minutes by Mick Van Buren after a wonderful combination.
In the second part of extra time, Slavia pounded the opponent, but Sevilla resisted. Thus came the 119th minute and a direct kick from the middle distance. Too far for a shot, difficult for a cross from the middle. Nevertheless, Jaromír Zmrhal decided to try his luck, but his attempt ended only in the wall.
However, Souček got hold of the deflected ball and sent it into the box, where Olayinka was waiting. He stuck the defender, passed under him, where Traoré barely kicked the ball. The ball bounced around a small area, Kjaer had the opportunity to kick it away on the line. But a mole climbed out of the lawn in Eden, Kjaer missed and the ball bounced into the goal.
Slavia thus completed a fantastic turnaround in the penultimate minute, one of the best in the club’s history. Eden erupted in utter ecstasy, if there were any cardiacs present in the stadium they must have been having major breathing problems. The entire bench ran under Tribuna Sever, a better atmosphere than in the following minutes probably never existed in Eden.
For most Slavia fans, the duel with Sevilla is the best they have experienced. Not to be outdone, the red and whites won the incredible respect of the whole of Europe with this turn, which they continued to build in the following matches.
Source: SK Slavia Prague
