There is nothing else but progression, says captain Hejda before Helsinki

Viktoria Plzeň will play their first game of the season on Wednesday, when they will face HJK Helsinki in Finland in the second round of the Champions League. How does Viktoria’s captain Lukáš Hejda view the clash between the champions of their respective leagues?

Hejda was the cornerstone of Viktoria’s defensive wall last year. In his old age he was perhaps the best stopper in the league, in Plzeň he was the clear number one stopper and besides his reliable defending he also helped the team with important goals.

In the summer preparation, he traditionally played alongside his teammate Luďek Pernice, in the dress rehearsal with Besiktas he was given a rest and in the middle Filip Čihák, a summer signing from Pardubice, was given a chance and was replaced by Filip Kaša in the second half.

“I was given four or five days to get into optimum condition. So far I feel good. We’ll see how it looks on the pitch during training. But I believe I will make the start and it will be fine,” said Hejda at the press conference.

While Pilsen was only winning in the first part of the preparation, the second part was not nearly as successful. After a 1:3 loss to Belgium’s Sint-Truidense, it was followed by goalless draws against Romania’s Botosani and Besiktas.

However, the Victorians need to get back on the winning and scoring track quickly, as they will play against HJK in Helsinki on Wednesday. The Finnish champion knocked out Riga of Latvia on penalties in the first preliminary round.

“Our perception is that they are more spread out and have some advantage. But our goal is to succeed in Europe. We want to make it through this double-header, so there is nothing else for us but qualification,” continued the Pilsen stopper.

Moreover, the season is in full swing in Finland and Helsinki will go into the double-header with their game in hand. Also playing against Plzeň is the fact that, like a large percentage of Scandinavian clubs, they have artificial grass on their home pitch.

The league season will start after the return leg with Helsinki in Plzeň and the Victorians will go into it as last season’s winner. The start of the league is usually crucial for overall success and Michal Bílek’s charges benefited from a good start last year.

“Of course, the results were not ideal. But in my experience, the results in preparation often look like everything and in the season it can be the opposite. For me, I am satisfied with the training camp and we will see what happens next,” added Hejda.

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