Trpišovský would prefer the Irish to start the thorny qualification. Last year, however, they knocked out the Danish team and fought with the Portuguese

On Wednesday, Slavia learned the possible opponent for the second round of the European Conference League, they will play either Northern Ireland’s Larne or Gibraltar’s St. Joseph’s. How did the Red-Whites’ manager Jindřich Trpišovský evaluate the draw?

Slavia finished second in the league last season, which, unlike in recent years, did not guarantee them a Champions League qualification, but only a Europa League qualification. Three difficult preliminary rounds await them.

In the first, she will face the winner of the Larne FC vs. St. Joseph’s double header. Slavia was the only one of the three Czech clubs to be lucky in the pool, getting one of the easiest pairings, with a clash with unpleasant Danish side Viborg in play.

“We followed the draw, the possibilities were varied. There was not that much difference in the possible pairings, we are satisfied. Personally, I wanted an Irish or Northern Irish opponent. I like the Islands, we have played in England many times, but not in Ireland yet. We’ll see who gets through, we’re favouring Larne, ” Trpišovský told the club website.

And Larne will indeed be the favourite. They finished fifth in the Northern Irish League last season and subsequently managed to qualify for the Conference League. The team is made up of mostly home-grown players, Irish, Scots and there are two Australians in the squad.

A year ago, Larne were not far from qualifying for the group stage of the ECL. They made it all the way to the third round from the first preliminary round, knocking out the rather sound Danish side Aalborg on the way and once beating Portugal’s Ferreira. In total, however, they lost 1:4.

“We’ve looked at the rosters so far, we know that in Ireland we would be facing classic island football. Very strong, aggressive, with a lot of fights,” continued the coach of the Sešiovans.

Larne’s squad has a market value of a little over two million euros, which is the price of every average Slavia player. Gibraltar’s St. Joseph’s is even valued at just 1.19 million euros, with the club’s most expensive players being strikers Juanfri and Boro with 100,000 pounds.

The St. Joseph’s squad overall is very much Spanish, which is only disturbed by the Gibraltarians and one Argentine. The club has been in the top three of the league each time during the last five years, but has only once passed through the first preliminary round of the cups.

“On the other hand, if it were Gibraltar, the teams there are made up of older Spanish players, plus they would probably be playing on artificial grass. Forthis reason we will be rooting for the Northern Irish team, ” Trpišovský added.

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