Ugly football with the desired result. After 10 long years, the footballers of Slovan Bratislava advanced to the play-offs for the main stage of the Champions League. After a 2:0 home victory over FC Apoel, the Slovak champion was able to play a 0:0 advancing draw on hot Cypriot soil.
Photo: TASR, SAKIS SAVVIDES
Slovan captain Vladimír Weiss Jr. led the Slovak champion to the Champions League playoffs.
That’s how Vladimír Weiss’s men coped with the stormy atmosphere in the stands, the 30-degree heat, and a tenacious opponent. Slovan thus secured a reward of 8.6 million euros from the European Football Union.
Slovan received 4.29 million euros for the playoffs of the Champions League. For already certain participation in the main phase of the European League, in case of elimination from the elite competition, he will receive 4.31 million. In addition, Slovan will face up to eight attractive opponents in the Champions League or European League this fall.
The Whites’ opponent in the playoffs will be the Danish champion FC Midtjylland, who eliminated the Hungarian Ferencváros Budapest. After a 2:0 home victory, he was able to draw 1:1 with our southern neighbors.
In just one week (20/21 August) Slovan will play against the Danes on the opponent’s ground, they will play the rematch at home on Tehelno poli (27/28 August).
The club from Tehelné polě will appear in the playoffs of the Champions League after ten long years. The last time he played in the final preliminary round was in the 2014/15 season and was eliminated in it with the Belarusian BATE Borisov.
return match of the 3rd preliminary round of the LM:
APOEL Nicosia – SK Slovan Bratislava 0:0
Judges: Stegemann – Dietz, Wünsch (all German), ŽK: Cheabake, Petrovič – Tolič, Wimmer, Weiss, Kucka, Zuberu, Kašia, ČK: 81. Petrovič (APOEL) after the second ŽK
/first match: 0:2, Slovan advanced to the playoffs/
APOEL: Belec – Sušič (90.+3 Cipriano), Dvali, Petrovič, Quintilla – Ndongala (69. Dražič), Kostadinov, Sarfo (69. Meyer), Cheabake (69. Donis) – Marquinhos (76. Corbu), El-Arabi
Slav: Takač – Blackman, Kašia, Wimmer, Zuberu – Kucka, Bajrič, Tolič (62. Szöke) – Mak (85. Savvidis), Strelec (76. Barsejgan), Weiss (76. Marcelli)
The head coach of the “Whites” made one change in the starting line-up compared to the initial meeting at Tehelno polí. On the right wing, Mak got priority over Barsegghan. Slovan was expected to face the offensive onslaught of the Cypriots with a two-goal lead.
This was confirmed from the opening seconds. APOEL threatened already at the beginning of the second minute, when El-Arabi finished with a header from the center and blocked Ndongala. In both cases, the goalkeeper Takač flashed with excellent saves, but the first finisher was offside.
Slovan was stunned even in the 10th minute after Tolič stepped on an opponent’s player and saw a yellow card. The home team had the ball much more often, but they did not get into dangerous areas. After half an hour, Marquinhos pushed his way to the end, who jumped ahead of Zuberu, but sent the ball over the goal. The Cypriot master continued his activity from the wing areas, in the 40th minute, the cross again found the head of Marquinhos, and Takač was helped by the post.
Slovan’s more defensive formation after the change of sides clearly indicated that the “Whites” will mainly focus on defending the lead. Nevertheless, in the 47th minute on the opposite side, Strelec threatened, but his ball direction ended up on the side net.
In the 50th minute, Mak found himself in the box, but the placed shot was pushed onto the Belec post. After an hour of play on the opposite side, Kašia replaced Takača on the goal line and sent Petrovič’s header into the corner. Time was running out for the home team and they did not look convincing in the attacking phase. Slovan’s situation was greatly facilitated by the dismissal of Petrovič in the 80th minute, who went to the showers after the second yellow card.
Barsejjan, who was active three minutes later, was fouled when he escaped the home defense, linked up with three players, presented the ball to an uncovered Bajrič, but he shot over the goal. The main referee added up to 10 minutes, but the “Whites” did not allow drama, they sealed the progress and are one step away from participating in the LM.
actors’ voices (source: STVR Šport):
Vladimír Weiss senior, head coach of Slovan: “Difficult match against an excellent opponent. We were lucky to survive the opening, we counted on the pressure. The fantastic Takač held us up several times. The draw is excellent. We had two or three clean chances, but we came for the promotion, which we have and we are happy for that.”
Vladimír Weiss Jr., captain of Slovan: “We are tired but very happy. A difficult match awaited us, which was confirmed from the first. We knew they were strong on the ball, it cost us a lot of energy. Our performance wasn’t the prettiest, but we accomplished the goal and advanced.”
Dominik Takáč, goalkeeper of Slovan: “Even when we went to the warm-up, we felt what the match would be like. There is a fanatical type of people here and they cheered even before the game. We counted on that, including the weather. Maybe because we were prepared, we managed it. The key was to keep the start, especially the first half. We could have closed the match even earlier, then the red card came.”
Róbert Mak, winger of Slovan: “It’s a fantastic, surreal feeling, it can’t be described in words. It was a very difficult match, which perhaps many people could not imagine in front of the TV. We knew APOEL would play like this, the heat was terrible. We played as one team, we defended and we were compact.”
Source: sportweb.pravda.sk
