January 12, 2021
The 2020/21 regular season of the Czech Fortuna liga is now on its winter break, with the final matches before the break being played on December 23rd.. The season is scheduled to recommence on January 15th , its shortest gap in living memory.
The Covid pandemic has caused havoc with the season. Typically, the Czech season starts in mid-July, takes a break from the first week-end of December until mid-February, before playing on to a finish in mid-May.
With all the delays and complications in finishing the 2019/20 season, the new season did not start until August 21st, but an increase in Covid cases in the country resulted in a suspension of all sports on October 12th. Nevertheless, Czech clubs were allowed to play their European ties in this period and the Fortuna liga eventually resumed behind closed doors four weeks later.
After the restart, several matches have had to be postponed as outbreaks occurred within a number of clubs to the effect that 6 matches of the first 14 rounds of fixtures are still outstanding.
The restart of the spring season was originally scheduled to be January 29th, in itself earlier than usual, but in order to further catch-up on the postponements and the three-week cancellation, it was decided to bring this forward by another 2 weeks. This of course risks more matches not being played due to the winter weather, particularly in the mountainous north of the country eg Liberec and Jablonec and the Moravian/Silesian region eg Ostrava, Opava & Karvina, although the snow can fall in any part of the country at this time of year.
In addition, there may well be more Covid related postponements with the number of Covid cases in the Czech Republic being on the rise again. At the time of writing the Czech’s have the worst number of cases per percentage of population out of all of the major nations in Europe, even worse than the UK’s performance. I suspect the Czech FA are just hoping to get some games played so as to reduce the backlog of fixtures a little bit, even if the league table ends up looking lop-sided for a while.
These diaries reviewed the season as at on October 5th after Round 6. The next week-end was blank due to the International fixtures but the subsequent suspension of the league led to three rounds of matches being cancelled. At this point of the season Sparta led the way with a 100% record after 6 matches, Slavia were second having drawn one match, with Viktoria Plzen and Sigma Olomouc joint third on 13 points. At the bottom, Ceske Budejovice, Pribram and Brno were all without a win, although the first two had only played 5 matches.
Since the resumption of the league, Champions Slavia Prague have taken a stranglehold at the top, leading the table by 6 points with a game in hand despite the sale of Vladimir Coufal to West Ham United, and they are currently looking invincible. They remain unbeaten and the only dropped points have been to the newly promoted sides. Slavia were surprisingly held at home to Brno, when the visitors snatched a late equalizer for a 1-1 draw, and at Pardubice in September. Only 4 goals have been conceded, with ever-present keeper Ondrej Kolar in outstanding form, and 6-0 away victories were achieved at Ceske Budejovice and Opava.
Their last match before Christmas was an important 1-0 win at Viktoria Plzen thanks to an impressive first half volley from ex-Anderlecht Romanian international Nicolae Stanciu, whilst Slavia were also triumphant at Sparta in the crucial Prague derby in early December, putting down an important marker with an emphatic 3-0 score line. Sparta had the chance to take an early lead, but their top scorer, Lukas Julis, fired his penalty straight down the middle only for Kolar to save with his legs. 19 year old Senegalese striker Abdullah Sima gave Slavia the lead with a towering header from a corner, and a sublime finish from him 8 minutes later meant Slavia went into the interval with a 2-0 lead. Slavia dominated the second half and could have scored a hatful but Lingr’s long range shoot was their only reward.
Sima is the top scorer for Slavia with 7 goals from just 8 appearances, and there are a clutch of players with three goals for the season. These include Stanislav Tecl, who was part of the Czech “C” team that played Scotland, Croat Petar Musa, Nigerian Peter Olayinka and Stanciu.
Whilst Jablonec were likely contenders for a Europa League finish, being second at the winter break is perhaps above their expectations. Despite trailing Slavia by some distance, and being overtaken by Sparta if the Prague side win their game in hand, the team from close to Polish border in Northern Bohemia are 7 points clear of the chasing pack. Although the first game after the restart was a shock 0-1 home defeat to bottom of the table Brno, the other 7 matches since have yield 19 points from 6 wins and a draw, including a comeback 3-2 home win over Plzen after being 0-2 behind at half-time, and 3-1 away wins at Liberec and Sigma Olomouc. Apart from the slip-up to Brno, all other home matches this season have been won. Slovak forward Ivan Schranz has scored 6 times and the experienced Martin Dolezal has 4 goals after mostly coming off the bench. Defender Jakub Martinec has featured in all 14 league matches.
Sparta’s 100% record fell in their first fixture after the suspension, playing poorly in going down 1-3 in Plzen. Whilst this result may not have been too unexpected as Sparta have not won in Plzen since 2011, the next outing was an extraordinary 2-4 loss at home to Ceske Budejovice to leave Sparta 5 points adrift of Slavia. Their problems were compounded by losing the Prague derby, and the final game before the break saw more points squandered in a 1-1 home draw with Liberec, where it was captain Borek Dockal’s turn to miss a penalty. Sparta did concede the most ridiculous penalty of the season in this match though. After keeper Nita stopped a ferocious shot with his head and lay motionless on the ground still clutching the ball, a Sparta defender concerned for his welfare turned his body over and in the process touched the ball with his hands. As the referee had no interest in the stricken keeper nor head injury protocols he hadn’t stopped play, and so awarded a penalty to Liberec !
Lukas Julik is the league’s top marksman with 10 goals and both he and Dockal have started every game. Confusingly for the commentators, Sparta have two players named Ladislav Krejci, one a left winger with 40 Czech caps, and the other a 21 year old midfielder ! In English the name could be Walter Taylor…………
Only 2 points separate 4th and 10th place in the table. Viktoria Plzen were tipped by some pundits to be potential contenders for the championship and after their 3-1 victory over Sparta, which should have been more emphatic, they sat just three points off the lead. However, only 4 points have been taken in their last 7 matches, which included a 7-0 win over Teplice, whereas defeats have been suffered in Zlin, Jablonec and a 0-4 humiliation at Slovacko. At home, Karvina and Slavia have left with all three points. When they are good they are very good, but when they are bad………….
Plzen have scored 28 goals though, with midfielder Ales Cermak and Frenchman Jean-David Beauguel leading the way with 6 each. Unsurprisingly head coach Adrian Gula is reported to be under pressure, and unless an immediate turnaround in form occurs a change of management can be expected.
The early season promise shown by Sigma Olomouc under the management of local hero and ex-Schalke and Czech International Radislav Latal has continued, but 6 draws in the 8 games played since the restart have stopped them making more of a challenge for a top three place, and the final game of the year saw them go down 1-3 at home to improving Jablonec.
Banik Ostrava were another side fancied to do well this season, having achieved 5th and 6th place finishes in the previous two seasons, but had started the season poorly to be languishing in 13th place on just 5 points at the unscheduled break. Perhaps that gave Banik the opportunity to re-group, as since the restart they have won 5 and drawn one of their 6 matches played. Admittedly all the wins were against sides in the bottom half of the table but they still have to be beaten, and the draw was with Sigma. Although they are current 7th in the table they have two matches in hand which could potentially put them clear in 4th place. Brazilian attacking midfielder De Azevedo has 6 goals for Banik.
Slovan Liberec hopes to play in Europe again next season will require an improvement in their consistency, and in particular their away form, where they have recorded only 2 wins. Jablonec are the only side to have won in Liberec though. Slovan have taken 7 points from their last three matches, and last time out they drew at Sparta. Michael Rabusic has 6 goals.
Newly promoted Pardubice are the surprise package in the Fortuna liga with 5th place to date. Despite having to play all their home games this season away from Pardubice as their own stadium was deemed not to be suitable for the top league, Pardubice have turned their adopted home at Bohemians’ Dolicek into a fortress. They remain unbeaten there with a 4-3-0 record, with both Slavia and Sigma being held.
After a 9th place finish last season, Slovacko are on track for a higher position this season, with the highlight so far being the 4-0 thumping of Plzen whilst Karvina, having only escaped a relegation play-off last season when these were scrapped by the Czech FA, have made the most of their reprieve to be 10th and well clear of the danger zone. They possess an impressive 4-2-1 away record, with wins chalked up at Opava, Brno, Plzen and Pribram.
Four sides are in a close group contesting 11th to 14th places, 4 points adrift of the top 10 but currently comfortably clear of the bottom four. Teplice appeared to be in a bit of a crises after crashing 0-7 at Plzen, another club under cloud, but that turned out to be their only loss in their last 5 games, as they took 10 points to move out of immediate trouble. This run coincided with the appointment of new manager Radim Kucera.
Dynamo Ceske Budejovice have proven difficult to beat on their travels, with the only defeat coming in their last away game at Jablonec. They have won at Sparta and Brno, and registered four draws.
Zlin have dropped into the bottom half of the table after taking just a single point in the last 4 matches, whilst Bohemians have faltered after a reasonable start to the season. Losing 4 of the last 6 games, a 2-1 win over Pribram has ensured the Kangaroos have some breathing space from the sides below.
Opava are rock bottom on 6 points and just one win, 2-1 over Teplice. Since the restart they had taken just one point from 6 matches, but they do have two games in hand. After their bottom placed finish last season Pribram are struggling again. After losing the first two restart fixtures, they went on a 4 match unbeaten run including home wins over fellow strugglers Mlada Boleslav, and Zlin although they were beaten in their last two games before Christmas.
Zbrojovka Brno began the restart by picking up their first win of the season, at high-flying Jablonec, and followed this up with a home draw with Pribram and a very creditable draw at Slavia. However, two more defeats lead to the sacking of coach Miroslav Machalek and the appointment of former Slavia legend and ex-Brno player Richard Dostalek. The new manager bounce yielded a 1-0 home win over Slovacko, but the year ended with two more defeats.
Mlada Boleslav lost a play-off for a Europa League place last season and were expected to be at least top half this season, but they are currently in real danger of relegation. They have taken only one point from the last 6 games, conceding 15 goals in the process. Head coach Jozef Weber was sacked in December, and although replacement Karel Jarolim earned a point at Opava in his first game in charge, the final three matches were lost.
Next Matches :
Friday 15th January
FK Teplice vs FK Jablonec
Saturday 16th January
FK Mlada Boleslav vs FC Zbrojovka Brno
Slezsky FC Opava vs FC Fastav Zlin
FC Slovacko vs MFK Karvina
FC Slovan Liberec vs Bohemians Praha 1905
SK Slavia Praha vs SK Sigma Olomouc
Sunday 17th January
FK Pardubice vs FK Dynamo Ceske Budejovice
1 FK Pribram vs FC Vikoria Plzen
FC Banik Ostava vs AC Sparta Praha
European Competitions
Slavia will be the only side flying the Czech flag into the New Year in Europe, after qualifying as runners-up from their Europa League group. All three home matches were won, Bayer Leverkusen ( 1-0 ), Nice ( 3-2 ) and Hapoel Be’er Sheva ( 3-0 ). Their campaign begun with a disappointing 1-3 in Israel, but a 3-1 win in Nice meant the 0-4 loss in the final game in Leverkusen was academic with both sides already having qualified. Slavia will next play Leicester City in February for a place in the last 16, with the first leg in Prague.
Sparta’s Europa League efforts were memorable for two enjoyable 4-1 wins over Celtic, in which Julis scored five times against the Scots. However, defeats in their other 4 matches ( Milan 0-1 & 0-3, Lille 1-4, 1-2 ) meant only third place and elimination. Down to 10 men in a must win match in Round 5, Sparta took a 1-0 lead in Lille which they held onto until 10 minutes from the end. However, two late goals confirmed their elimination.
Slovan Liberec also finished third in their group. Despite opening with a 1-0 home win over Gent, successive 5 goal away drubbings in their two next matches ( Red Star Belgrade 1-5, Hoffenheim 0-5 ) made progress unlikely, and their exit was confirmed after a 0-2 home defeat to the Germans. The subsequent 2-1 win in Gent and a 0-0 home draw with Red Star merely restored pride and help with the Czech’s UEFA co-efficient rating.
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