Match Pack: Athletic Club vs SK Slavia Praha

Another European night at San Mamés. After a 1-1 draw in Rome and a 2-0 win over AZ Alkmaar, as well as good results in LaLiga, the Lions will be looking to keep up their good form with a positive result against Czech league leaders SK Slavia Praha.

Unbeaten after the first 11 matches of the season, having won 10 and drawn one, Slavia Praha arrive to Bilbao in stunning form. A tough rival, their only defeat this season was in the play-off to reach the Champions League.

The Cathedral will once again be at its best for what is expected to be another thrilling match.

Match Info
Athletic Club vs Slavia Praha

San Mames, Bilbao

Europa League 24/25 (League Phase Matchday 3)

Thursday October 24, 21:00 CEST

Tickets are available for purchase here.

How to Watch
Check out our global TV guide to make sure you don't miss the match

Valverde and Ruiz de Galarreta
Catch up with everything the gaffer and player had to say at their press conferences

The Opponents

 

SK Slavia Praha was founded in 1892 as a cycling club by medical students in the Vinohrady district, although its football section was established in 1896. Three of its players represented Slavia Praha at the 1920 Olympic Games, five at the 1924 Olympic Games and two at the 1968 Olympic Games. 

They also contributed 11 footballers to the Czechoslovakian national team that finished runners-up in the 1934 World Cup. Ferdinand Daučík, Athletic Club's legendary Slovakian coach of the 1950s, was also in that team.

Slavia's great era came in the first half of the 1940s after Austrian footballer Josef Bicam, the all-time top scorer in domestic football with 643 goals, according to the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), joined the team. After signing for Slavia, he applied for Czechoslovakian citizenship and scored more than 900 goals in total during his career.

After World War II, the club was renamed Dynamo Praha but regained its current name in 1965 in the run-up to the Prague Spring. They were relegated twice, in 1961 and 1963, and went 49 years without winning a league title (between 1947 and 1996).

Nicknamed Slàvisté (The Slavists) and Cervenobili (The Red-and-Whites), they have won 21 leagues (1 Bohemian, 13 Czechoslovak and 7 Czech) and 9 cups (2 Czechoslovak and 7 Czech). They also have 10 leagues and 13 cups won prior to 1950 which are not recognised as official by the Czech Football Federation. 

Scottish coach John Madden was a key figure in the club's early history, coaching them for 25 from years, from 1905 until 1930. In fact, a stand at the Fortuna Arena is named after him.

Last season, Slavia finished runners-up behind cross-city rivals Sparta Praha, while they currently sit comfortably at the top of the table with 31 points from 11 games after 10 victories and one draw. 

They lost in this year's Champions League play-off against Lille, and in the Europa League they have won 0-2 against Ludogorets (an upcoming opponent for Athletic) and drawn Ajax 1-1 with Ajax at the Fortuna Arena. 

Inaugurated in 2008, with a capacity of almost 20,000 spectators, the ground is known as the Eden Stadion by their fans.

 

Head coach:

Jindřich Trpišovský has been at the helm of the Czech club for seven years. In that time Slavia have won three leagues, four cups, one Super Cup, qualified for Champions League group stage and reached the Europa League quarter-finals. 

In his playing days, he was a goalkeeper at Cechie Karlin and from a young age he worked as a coach in the youth teams of Bohemians and Sparta Prague. 

He has previously led Viktoria Zivkov, also from the Czech capital, and Slovan Liberec, whom he twice took to the group stage of the Europa League.

 

Standout players:

Czech players make up the bulk of the current SK Slavia Praha squad and 15 of them are internationals: Tomas Holes, David Zima, Lukas Masopust, Daniel Fila, Mojmir Chytil, Lukas Provod, Jan Boril, David Doudera, Peter Sevcik, Tomas Chory, Tomas Vlcek, Ondej Zmrzly, Matej Jurasek and Jindrich Stanek. 

Rounding out the squad are Igoh Ogbu (Nigeria), Conrad Wallem (Norway), Christos Zafeiris (Norwegian-born, but Greece international), El Hadji Malick Diouf (Senegal international), Oscar Dorley (Liberia international) and Ivan Schranz (Slovakia international).

 

Ferdinand Daučík:

One of the most important connections between Athletic Club and Slavia Praha is the Slovakian-born Ferdinand Daučík.

During a three-year stint in charge of Athletic Club he won one LaLiga title and two Copas del Rey. In 1956/57, Daučík also oversaw the Lions' first European campaign, which started with a 1-2 win over FC Porto and ended with a quarter-final knockout at the hands of Manchester United's famed Busby Babes.

In an interview with the club, Canito's children remembered that their father "liked Daučík very much because he was a great coach", but that "he was very demanding".

*Daučík with the 1956 Copa on the balcony of Bilbao's city council building. Photo belongs to AC Museoa.

Prior to becoming a coach, Ferdinand had been an important player at Slavia during the 1930s. He joined the Czechs in 1935, going on to make 231 appearances for the club and winning three league titles (1935, 1937 and 1940). In 1938, he captained the Red & Whites to Mitropa Cup (the Central European Cup) victory as they defeated Hungarian side Ferencváros 4-2 on aggregate over two legs in the final.

He won 15 caps for Czechslovakia, helping them finish as runners-up at the 1934 World Cup, while at the time was also just the third Slovakian in history to ever play for the Czechslovakian national team.

*Daučík receiving a trophy while playing for Slavia Praha. Photo belongs to Slavia Praha.
 

Previous Meetings
Athletic Club and SK Slavia Praha have played two friendly matches at San Mamés. Both took place around Christmas 1923, on 23 and 25 December.

Slavia won the first match 2-9, while the second was a 4-4 draw. Thursday's match will be the first official clash between the two sides.