Group of Death, every point will be good, we are shocked: How do Viktoria Plzeň players react to the Champions League draw?

FC Viktoria Plzeň has successfully made it through the Champions League preliminary rounds and can now look forward to the Champions League group stage. The lot of this most prestigious football competition has given Plzen very attractive opponents – Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Inter Milan. So what are the reactions of the players themselves?

German champion, Spanish vice-champion and Italian vice-champion – that’s the shape of Group C or Group Viktoria Plzeň. After the Champions League draw, the Czech champion is an integral part of the group, and this participation has naturally provoked a lot of reactions from the players themselves.

However, the view of the players was also complemented by assistant coach Pavel Horváth, who said the following in an interview for the club’s website.

“We got probably the toughest group that was available. With the idea of the most beautiful stadiums that are in Europe, which is in Milan, Bayern and Barcelona, we are probably going to have a lot of beautiful experiences to remember.”

Players’ reactions

So how did the players themselves react to the Champions League draw? Viktoria Plzen will play in the group of death without exaggeration, where every point will count.

“The group of death with everything, I wished that we would be the first to be drawn in that pool, but it was nerve-wracking until the end. We had a lot of fun in the cabin. I personally wanted Paris more, but it would have been beautiful wherever we went. This is such a cherry on the cake and every point will be good,” said Jan Kopic.

“I’m rather shocked and terribly surprised that the lottery gave us a beautiful group. The last two groups, I guess it didn’t matter anymore, because there were a lot of great big clubs that we all wanted. I am shocked and very happy,” continued Tomas Chorý.

Thanks to such a lottery draw, Jan Sýkora, who has already fulfilled one dream in the recent past, also had his dream come true. It was to win the championship title with Viktoria Plzeň.

“I had three dreams. To play in the Champions League, to play against Barcelona and to win the title with Viktoria. Now all three have come true or will come true. The whole year I’ve been here has been amazing and this is the crowning achievement,” he revealed.

Václav Pilař, who already has a lot of experience with the Champions League, also commented on the very sound opponents.

In the jersey of Viktoria Plzeň, he was present at the first participation of the West Bohemians in the Champions League and was also present at the memorable 2:2 draw with AC Milan, which was scored by Michal Ďuriš in the last seconds. In that group Pilsen also had Barcelona, then AC Milan and Borisov.

“We were almost the whole team in the cabin and it was beautiful. It was exciting until the end. Half of them wanted the group with Paris and half wanted ours. It’s amazing, there were great emotions in the cabin. We really wanted this group. Once again we have to say that we appreciate it a lot that we got here,” said Pilař.

Sources: UEFA, FC Viktoria Plzeň