Painful defeat in Prague ends Champions League journey

The team’s arrival in Prague had all gone smoothly ahead of our vital second-leg tie in Champions League qualifying against Sparta, and then suddenly we suffered setbacks before a ball had even been kicked. Planned captain Maxi Hofmann had to drop out late on in the build-up with a knock, Christoph Knasmüllner wasn’t fully fit to start, and although he took up a place on the bench, teammate Robert Ljubicic fared worse, missing out altogether through illness. The omens weren’t good at such an early stage, and Head Coach Didi Kühbauer was forced into changes in three areas: Leo Greiml moved into the centre back position alongside Kevin Wimmer, Lion Schuster lined up in defensive midfield with Dejan Petrovic, and Taxi Fountas was in up front next to Ercan Kara.

The heat was on from the very first minute in the stadium in the Czech capital, and the atmosphere from the stands was playing its part, as well as the weather. After Ullmann made the first foray into the attacking third (6’), the hosts were forced to take action going forward, given the fact that Rapid were leading 2-1 on aggregate. Our defence was dealing well with any danger, until a sudden penalty call fell Sparta’s way. Goalkeeper Richard Strebinger appeared to punch a high cross away to safety, but the referee deemed that he had caught both ball and opponent, and therefore the hosts were gifted a soft spot kick. Karlsson took his chance and levelled the tie overall at 2-2 (16’).

With the tables suddenly turned, our boys had difficulties finding space to attack, and the Czech record champions were taking control. Our two banks of four allowed very little room for Sparta to create either, but Ullmann did have a fortunate moment late in the half when his clearance from a precisely-played cross almost ended up going into his own net. 1-0 it sat at the break, and with no more away-goals rule in Europe, it was all to play for with honours even at the start of the second half.

After a change of ends, Rapid got back into the game a little better. The first chances of the half fell to Fountas and Kara, but neither could score from promising positions. Just before the hour-mark, we welcomed Christopher Dibon back after more than a year out injured, as he replaced Greiml in defence. His first duty was to thwart a dangerous Prague attack, but soon after, his teammate Strebinger would have been unable to thwart a close range Hlozek shot, but thankfully the post was there to do that for him. At this point, some fans will have begun thinking about extra time, which appeared to be looming.

At the start of the Rapid quarter-hour, coach Didi Kühbauer brought on the match-winner from last Tuesday, Christoph Knasmüllner. Two dangerous chances followed: for one, a Grüll shot was deflected crucially away, and with the next big play, Fountas failed to tee up an optimally positioned Knasmüllner. At that point, the hosts in their dark red shirts brought jubilation to the 9,000 or so fans in the ground. The reason, a late goal after Pesek’s finish. 2-0 on the night, and less than 10 minutes to play.

Rapid now needed something desperately, and the reaction was clear to see. Petrovic pushed forward at pace into the area, his shot was parried but Ullmann was able to fire it back across the box, yet agonisingly two Rapid teammates were unable to get a touch at the far post (84’). Our final push was once more dangerous, but there was to me no rescue, and after 95 minutes, the final whistle sounded the end of our Champions League adventure for the season.

There’s little time to dwell despite the painful defeat with LASK awaiting in the Bundesliga this weekend, but the good news at least is that European group stage qualification hopes are not over yet: as soon as next Thursday we will welcome Famagusta in the UEFA Europa League qualifiers.

Fotos: GEPA