My losing the fight was crucial. Towards the end we were running out of strength, says Saczek

A week ago against Rapid Vienna, he played at number one, against Monaco it was not so glorious. Michal Sacek had one of the biggest games of his career so far, what did he say in the post-match interview about the 0:2 loss?

The game was obviously broken by the first goal. Until that moment Spartans were an equal opponent to Monaco, they probably had more chances, but after the goal the home players ran out of confidence.

“The first half was not completely bad from our side, we had one chance there. There were passages when we kept the ball. In the second half it was the other way around, we ran after the ball, we tried to make ourselves available, but they have such quality that they always came out of it. Towards the end we were running out of strength, it was difficult,” Michal Sáček assessed the match for the club’s website.

On the other hand, the French team confirmed in the second half that although they have a rather young team, their backbone are experienced players who can finish such matches.

“When they were leading, you could already see how confident they were, they knocked it well. They didn’t make too many mistakes at the back, so it was difficult to get the ball at all,” added the Letenske midfielder.

Both of Monaco’s goals came after losing aerial duels, which hurts twice as much in important matches. Kevin Volland’s goal in the air was not enough for Sacek.

“We knew that we couldn’t make standards, that they have great players for that and it was confirmed, they struck right from the first corner. The second goal, there was a break, the ball in the air and I lost the duel. That was the key, unfortunately,” Sacek took the blame.

The match against a team that plays regularly in cups will be useful in the future, also with regard to experience. Even without Ladislav Krejci Jr., Sparta started with three really young players.

“I think so, we have a lot of youngsters and these are very difficult games. But that’s the way it is, we have quality and we need to gain experience. And only matches against such tough opponents can push us further,” concluded Sáček.

Source: AC Sparta Praha