Losing to Barcelona? We have nothing to be ashamed of, we played honestly and were dangerous up front, said Pilař

Viktoria Plzeň gave a good performance against Barcelona, but lost 2: 4. They had plenty of chances, but they didn’t convert them, so they didn’t get a single point in the group. What did Václav Pilař say after the game?

It was his first time in the Champions League in the starting line-up. Václav Pilař played the 87th minute of the home game against Barcelona and despite the defeat he is not disappointed with his team’s performance.

Viktoria were active and although Barcelona players had more of the ball on the ball, it was more Viktoria who shot and even created a higher xG than the players of the Spanish big club.

“It is true that we had a lot of chances and some 24 shots. The difference was that the opponent scored from their chances, while we didn’t. Defensively, Barcelona were not 100%, which is probably why they finished third in the group.

On the other hand, we have nothing to be ashamed of, we played honestly and were dangerous going forward. Only the conversion of chances…” said the offensive wizard Pilař in an interview with Sport.

However, if we look at the table, Viktoria didn’t get a point and almost became the worst team in the Champions League history. That’s just one goal behind Scottish Rangers FC, with Viktoria third behind Dynamo Zagreb from the 2011/12 season.

So the European Cup is over for Viktoria and now they need to use the experience gained in the league season. Viktoria has a lead over Slavia and possibly Sparta and is now the favourite to win the title.

Bayern, Inter, Barcelona… Notice how confident they are, how strong they are on the ball. Plus the runs in behind the defence and the work rate. That’s how we can present ourselves one day. These opponents are somewhere else, but we can definitely be this good at least in some phases of the game,” Pilař added.

Viktoria will need a good performance already on Saturday, when Sparta Prague arrive at their stadium. The latter did not play this weekend, in their last match they fell ignominiously to Slavia 0:4.

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