I scored that goal while injured, says Kliment about the most important goal of his career

Viktoria Plzeň won their Champions League play-off rematch at home 2-1 to qualify for the Champions League group stage. How did coach Michal Bílek and players Jan Kliment and Jan Kopic evaluate the match?

Plzeň wrote their fairy tale from the second preliminary round. It successively knocked out HJK Helsinki and Sheriff Tiraspol, winning all four matches, 11:3. Karabakh was clearly supposed to be the toughest match and indeed it was.

In the first match in Baku Viktoria was held to a goalless draw by Jindřich Staněk, and even in the rematch it did not look like a promotion in the first half. In the end, Michal Bílek’s half-time substitution was decisive, Jan Kliment changed the situation.

“I am very happy, we did very well in the preliminary round. Five wins out of six matches, I think the promotion is well deserved. We managed to do what we dreamed of, what we wanted. It’s a huge achievement that Pilsen and a Czech club will play in the Champions League group,” Bílek told Premier Sport 2 after the game.

Pilsen had a good start to the rematch, with two promising chances not converted by Lukas Kalvach and Jhon Mosquera. But then the visitors took the initiative and took the lead in the 37th minute with a beautiful shot from the edge of the box.

Karabakh kicked the goal and kept the Pilsen defence in check until the end of the first half. Plzeň was saved by the first dangerous chance after the change of sides, which was also helped by a bad run by the visitors’ goalkeeper. Jan Kopic hit the half-empty goal from the edge of the area.

“The stoppers didn’t even go into the penalty area, I moved behind Choras. The goalkeeper made a bad run, he didn’t estimate it. He knocked it in front of him, I saw that the goalkeeper wasn’t there. I kicked it with my left, I saw a player running in. I thought he was gonna smooth it out, but he was a little short. So it was a goal,” Kopic commented on his goal moment.

Pilsen completed the turnaround in the 73rd minute, when Mosquera kept the ball in play and then found Jan Kliment in the whitewash. He scored between the goalkeeper’s legs and was substituted immediately afterwards due to a muscle tear.

“I scored that goal already injured. Three minutes before, I had a muscle tear and I couldn’t run anymore. I was about to show that I would have to substitute. Then the unexpected happened. By chance it bounced to me and fell there,” Kliment described the most important goal of his career.

After four years, Viktoria is looking forward to the Champions League and will find out their opponents on Thursday. The draw will start at 18:00 and the Czech champion will go into the pool from the fourth basket.

Source: Premier Sport 2