Halftimes like night and day, Sparta will have to catch up at home

The Spartans entered the new season with their first Champions League qualifying match against Rapid Vienna. While this was the first live game for Sparta, Rapid had already had the opportunity to test the players in the cup at full speed.

In front of a packed stadium in Vienna and a few hundred supporters of Letná, Sparta went on the attack right from the opening minutes. And right in the third minute, the Prague players could rejoice when Bořek Dočkal centred after a standard situation played by Casper Højer and Ladislav Krejčí Jr. scored with his head.

Despite the fact that the away goals rule was abolished before this season, it was definitely a great psychological moment. Rapid tried to get back into the game very quickly, as evidenced by the quality pressing and time spent in the opponent’s penalty area.

In the first quarter of an hour, Sparta were the much better team, which could be seen and heard, as the Vienna fans booed loudly. In the 18th minute, Rapid did get an interesting standard, but it was deflected by Dockal and the opponent’s shot was not converted.

Halfway through the first of four halves between Sparta and Rapid, the game was already level, but the home side could not get into the action. It was not until the 26th minute that goalkeeper Nita broke into a sweat for the first time when he had to pull a shot from Robert Ljubicic. After half an hour Sparta were still leading 1:0. Nothing significant happened in the last 15 minutes and even a corner kick at the end of the half did not change anything.

The opening ten minutes of the second half saw some good activity as Ercan Kara’s attempt had to be pulled over the crossbar by Nita. But in the 63rd minute, the Romanian goalkeeper capitulated. The 29-year-old midfielder Knasmüllner beat him with a spectacular lob. In the 71st minute, the game was turned around.

In the second half, Sparta played tens of percent worse than in the opening half and when Knasmüllner once again swam past the sleeping Sparta defence, the players were able to rejoice again in front of a full house. And the pressure from the Vienna players continued. In the 74th minute, a standard situation for the home side was turned away by the Letná defence.

Sparta were not getting any more chances, they were simply groping. And in the end it will be a tough job for Spartans in the rematch. Rapid held on to their 2-1 lead and will be in a great position for the rematch next week.

Source: UEFA