Vrba and Hanck at the press conference on the preparation for the opponents or the health of Krejci Jr

Sparta fulfilled their opening goal of the season – they advanced to the 3rd round of the Champions League against Rapid. Now they will face AS Monaco as an underdog. What was said at the press conference before Tuesday’s game?

Pavel Vrba was joined at the conference by Sparta stopper Dávid Háncko. “The weight of fighting for Europe has been lifted from us with the game against Rapid, but there is no satisfaction for us. We want to advance. If we beat Rapid, we can beat Monaco. I believe we can do it,” Hancko said about the atmosphere in the club after the Rapid elimination.

“We are where we wanted to be. We are in the Europa League group, but I would like to play in the Champions League,” the experienced coach added briefly.

Compared to the second leg of the Champions League, Sparta’s defence will face a completely different type of strikers. “I always watch the opponents’ forwards and try to find out what could work on them. But it’s decided on the pitch who is more concentrated. That will be the key, that’s what I concentrate on,” the left-footed stopper described his preparation for the much smaller and more technical forwards.

Sparta have kept a clean sheet for two games in a row, which is not exactly the norm under Pavel Vrba. How did Hancko assess the defensive performance? “The coach puts emphasis on offense, but it is also important to keep clean sheets, not to score too many goals. It’s great that we managed to do that twice. It will be crucial tomorrow as well. We will be brave up front, but we have to close it down in the back.”

“We have dominated the last few games, our opponents didn’t get any chances. A good defensive performance comes from such dominance,” Vrba suggested that good defensive performance is also linked to good offensive performance.

Leiden’s opponents AS Monaco are yet to play their first competitive match, having played only preliminary matches so far. What does this mean for the match and what has coach Vrba observed from the opponent’s preparation?

“Monaco rotated the formation and players in the preparation. It would be more advantageous to play them after a few rounds of the French league, but on the other hand – they are so strong that individual names don’t matter. We are going for the whole team.”

“I don’t think the greater spacing will play a role, they had very good opponents from the Spanish league or Bundesliga in their preparation, ” he commented on the fact that Sparta’s season started earlier than the French team.

In the second league match against Slovan Liberec, Ladislav Krejčí Jr. was missing from the starting line-up due to injury and Michal Sáček did not finish the match.

“Sáček will be available, he had only five stitches. Krejda has a muscle injury and it will be a question of a few days when he will be 100% fit,” said Pavel Vrba when asked about the health of his charges.

The Spartans will start the double-header on home soil in front of the packed stands of the Generali Česká pojišt’ovna Arena, which already drove their team in the decisive home game against Rapid.

“It was an incredible experience and after the long period without fans it was great. I believe that something similar awaits us and we have to thank the fans very much because it was such a wind in our sails and it really helped us a lot,” commented Dávid Hancko on the atmosphere in the stadium during the match against Rapid.

Sources used: AC Sparta Praha