Houštecký: The starting position is fantastic, but we want to win again, also for the coefficient

In the first match against LASK Linz, Slavia made a great lead, beating the Austrian opponent 4:1. In the rematch, the team is in a comfortable position, but Susians want to win again, as assistant coach Zdeněk Houštecký says.

Slavia has six wins so far in this year’s European Cup. It has beaten Ferencváros, Union Berlin, Maccabi Haifa, Fenerbahce twice and LASK Linz. It added draws against Legia, Feyenoord and Union. This way, it again adds the most points to the coefficient of all Czech teams.

And even though she is in a good position for the rematch with LASK and only needs to lose by two goals to advance, she is definitely not going to Austria with this goal.

“We would be alibi if we said we are not going for promotion. The starting position is fantastic. We’re going there to win again, we play every game to win and if we do that, it’s good for the Czech coefficient as well,” Houštecký told Slavia TV.

In the coefficient, Czech teams are competing against Greek, Danish, Turkish and Norwegian teams. They all want to reach the dream 15th place, which guarantees the participation of two teams in the Champions League preliminary rounds.

Fifteenth place is currently held by Greece. PAOK Thessaloniki defeated Gent on Thursday and since Greece is only separated by four points this year (since four Greek clubs played the qualifiers), somewhat surprisingly the Greek Superliga has jumped to fifteenth place.

The Czech league, however, is only 0.1 coefficient points behind, which equates to one draw. So it would be advisable for Slavia to advance and ideally win the rematch.

Denmark is still in the game, relying on Copenhagen FC. The Nordic side are 0.525 points behind in their opening game at Eindhoven, where they drew 4-4.

Turkey also has a chance to move into 15th place. Galatasaray drew 0:0 at the Camp Nou and will be looking to knock out Barcelona in the return leg. A win would help erase the current 0.510 point deficit.

It is also necessary to watch out for Norway, which is led by Bodo Glimt. It beat Alkmaar 2-1 in the first leg and is currently 1,200 points behind, which equates to two wins and a draw.

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