SK Slavia Praha - Arsenal FC MATCH PRESS KIT Evzena Rošického, Prague Wednesday 7 November 2007 - 20.45 CET Group H - Matchday 4
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SK Slavia Praha - Arsenal FC MATCH PRESS KIT Evzena Rošického, Prague Wednesday 7 November 2007 - 20.45 CET Group H - Matchday 4 Contents 1 - Match background 7 - UEFA information 2 - Match facts 8 - Match-by-match lineups 3 - Squad list 9 - Competition facts 4 - Head coach 10 - Team facts 5 - Match officials 11 - Competition information 6 - Domestic information 12 - Legend Match background It will not be hard for SK Slavia Praha to improve on their Matchday 3 experience. A 7-0 defeat in North London left the Czech Republic team shell-shocked while Arsenal FC were accepting the acclaim for equalling the record UEFA Champions League victory and need just a single point from their trip to Prague to seal their qualifying place from Group H. • It will be no mean feat should Slavia – who have three points and trail second-placed Sevilla FC by the same number – recover from the setback in time to get their own qualification quest back on target. After starting the campaign on a positive footing with a 2-1 home win against FC Steaua Bucureşti they have endured two heavy defeats with the Arsenal disappointment preceded by a 4-2 reverse against Sevilla. • They will want to avoid the start to the game witnesssed at the Arsenal Stadium two weeks ago when Cesc Fabregas fired the home team into a fifth-minute lead. It went from bad to worse with a David Hubáček own goal followed by further strikes from Theo Walcott (2), Aleksandr Hleb, Fabregas again and Nicklas Bendtner. • The game was Slavia's first in the UEFA Champions League against English opponents and they would have wanted more breathing space than the intervening two weeks before facing Arsenal again. They had previously met teams from England on four occasions in the UEFA Cup and managed just a single victory. • That came in the 1999/00 quarter-final when they beat Leeds United AFC 2-1 but as they had lost the away leg 3-0 it was not enough to remain in the competition. Last season Slavia went down 1-0 at home to Arsenal's north London neighbours Tottenham Hotspur FC, losing by the same score in the away leg two weeks later. • The critics queued up to shower lavish praise on Arsène Wenger's side after their goalscoring spree on 23 October, matching Juventus's mark against Olympiacos CFP in December 2003 which had previously stood alone as the biggest win in UEFA Champions League history. • It was Arsenal's third win in three outings – coming after a 3-0 success against Sevilla and a 1-0 victory away to Steaua – and a draw in this game would mean they could ease through the gears in their two remaining group fixtures knowing they were assured of a place in the knockout stage. Last updated 06.11.2007 00:10:52CET Match background 1 SK Slavia Praha - Arsenal FC Wednesday 7 November 2007 - 20.45 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Evzena Rošického, Prague • They have already won in Prague this season when late goals from Fabregas and Hleb in the Sparta Stadium yielded a 2-0 victory against AC Sparta Praha in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round first leg, completing the job with a 3-0 home success. Arsenal faced the same team in the 2000/01 and 2005/06 group stages and enjoyed wins in every fixture. In the first campaign they followed a 1-0 away victory with a 4-2 margin at home. The scorer of Sparta's second goal was Tomáš Rosický, who is now starring in Arsenal colours and who scored in the 3-0 second-leg victory against his former club mentioned above. • Five years later Thierry Henry's two goals in Prague secured another convincing group success for his team while taking him to a club record 186 goals in all competitions on his 303rd appearance. • In the other Group H fixture, Steaua host Sevilla. Match facts Slavia • Four Slavia players have appeared in all seven of their UEFA Champions League games so far this season, including qualifying: Martin Vaniak, Marek Suchý, Matej Krajčík and Stanislav Vlček. • Ladislav Volešák serves a one-match suspension against Arsenal having collected yellow cards in each of Slavia's first three games. • Slavia extended their advantage at the top of the 1. Liga table to six points on Saturday as Volešák's 30th-minute header enabled them to defeat second-placed FK Teplice 1-0. • Victory came despite coach Karel Jarolím resting six players. Krajčík, Daniel Pudil and Zdeněk Šenkeřík all came off the bench in the second half though there was no appearance for Vladimír Šmicer, as he returned after a two-month absence. The midfielder injured his thigh against AFC Ajax on 28 August and then a calf problem postponed his return. • Vaniak's replacement, Michal Vorel, helped ensure the points with an outstanding save in his second appearance of the season to keep out a close-range effort from Martin Fenin. • The 20-year-old midfielder Tomáš Jablonský earned only his second ever start while Erich Brabec returned to the lineup after recovering from the knee injury suffered on Matchday 1 against Steaua. • Vlček injured his calf midway through the second half and limped off, scuppering Jarolím's plans, with the coach saying: "I am satisfied as it was the most important league game of the season for us. Erich Brabec strengthened the defence markedly. I wanted to test Vladimír Šmicer in the second half but Vlček's injury changed my plans." The striker faces at least two weeks on the sidelines. • Petr Janda underwent knee surgery last Wednesday and will be sidelined until after the winter break. • Only 5,000 fans turned out for the encounter between the top two in the Czech Republic, but Slavia have announced that the game against Arsenal is an 18,000 sell-out. • Six days after their record-equalling defeat at Arsenal, Slavia returned to 1. Liga action on 29 October with a 1-1 draw at FC Slovan Liberec. Slavia were reduced to ten men just before the half-hour when Krajčík was sent off for a second bookable offence, but nevertheless took the lead in the 35th minute when František Dřížďal headed in David Kalivoda's free-kick. The Prague club were denied victory 12 minutes from time, however, when Petr Papoušek's free-kick from the edge of the penalty area was deflected in. Last updated 06.11.2007 00:10:52CET Match facts 2 SK Slavia Praha - Arsenal FC Wednesday 7 November 2007 - 20.45 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Evzena Rošického, Prague • "We did not want to think about Arsenal today," said Jarolím. "There were two different parts of the game, before the red card and after. Having only ten men we had to focus on defending and counterattacking. We even managed to score but the home side dominated possession in the second half and scored an equaliser from a set-piece. Nevertheless I am satisfied with the point." • The draw reduced Slavia's lead at the top of the table to three points as second-placed Teplice defeated FK Viktoria Žižkov 4-1. • The goal against Liberec was Dřížďal's first ever in the league. • Jarolím made three changes to his starting lineup after the Arsenal defeat, with goalkeeper Vaniak making way for Vorel while Theodor Gebre Selassie – who is ineligible for the UEFA Champions League – and Dřížďal came in for Mickaël Tavares and Milan Ivana respectively. Arsenal • Three Arsenal players have appeared in all five UEFA Champions League games so far this season, including qualifying: Kolo Touré, Gaël Clichy and Cesc Fabregas. • Emmanuel Adebayor is within one booking of a suspension having collected yellow cards on Matchdays 1 and 2. • Jens Lehmann celebrates his 38th birthday on 10 November, three days after the Slavia game. • Arsenal have scored eleven goals in their first three games, more than any other team. • The London club are also yet to concede a goal, a feat matched only by FC Barcelona. • With three goals so far, Fabregas is the UEFA Champions League's joint top scorer after three games along with Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo. • Adebayor has been caught offside nine times, more than any other player. • Arsenal preserved their unbeaten start to the season – and stayed top of the Premier League – as William Gallas's added-time equaliser rescued a 2-2 draw at home to second-placed Manchester United FC on Saturday. The Arsenal captain had given the visitors the lead with an own goal on the stroke of half-time and, although Fabregas turned in a Bacary Sagna cross two minutes into the second half, United looked to have taken all three points when Louis Saha and Patrice Evra combined for Cristiano Ronaldo to restore the visitors’ advantage with nine minutes left. Gallas, however, scrambled an equaliser in the final seconds to ensure both sides left with a point. • "Overall it was a fair result," said Arsène Wenger. "We played with the handbrake on in the first half and lacked our usual flowing game. We were too tentative and too cautious, played at the wrong pace and that allowed United to control us. We were better in the second half though and showed plenty of character. [Two league draws in succession] is a disappointment, but I am pleased that in two big games we had to run after the score and we did that both times. We are still in charge of the title race because we are top with a game in hand.