'Europa League Hugely Important For Slavia Prague'
- Leicester City entertain Slavia Prague on Thursday evening in the return leg of the UEFA Europa League Last 32 tie at Leicester City Stadium (8pm kick-off).
- The first leg finished all square at Sinobo Stadium, with neither side able to break the deadlock
- Yon Pulkrabek believes Slavia will take heart from their performance last week and have a realistic opportunity to progress
- Live coverage will be available to follow for free on LCFC TV and LCFC Radio from 6:30pm
Slavia travel to face Leicester City for the Round of 32 second leg following a tight first leg fixture at Sinobo Stadium last week. While the score remains locked at 0-0, there is growing belief within the Slavia camp, according to Pulkrabek.
With a place in the last 16 of the competition at stake, the Czech First League leaders made several changes to their side for the weekend draw with Teplice, extending their current unbeaten run to 12 games.
Oscar Dorley opened the scoring at AGC Aréna Na Stínadlech before Jakub Mareš equalised for the hosts, leaving Slavia eight points clear at the top of the table, allowing them to put full focus into this European clash.
"I think it's cautious optimism," Pulkrabek told LCFC TV earlier this week. "What we saw (in the first leg) was a classic Slavia match, we saw the pressing. There's a confidence that we can match up with Leicester.
Slavia Prague 0 Leicester City 0
Extended highlights from the Foxes' goalless draw with Slavia Prague in the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 first leg.
"Anybody who saw that match knows it's going to be another tough match coming up this Thursday. There's really no reason to see anything different than what we saw last week, which is a very tight, competitive match.
"We had a match against Teplice away, it was on an awful pitch and most of the starters were out. The only ones who played from the starting team were captain Jan Bořil, Ondřej Kúdela and Alexander Bah, who unfortunately went off injured and he was pretty key against Leicester, he played really well.
"After it got tight in the second half, Jindřich Tripišovský put most of the starters back in and we ended up with a disappointing draw and a really awful match. We're not coming into this one off a high like we were the week before."
Pulkrabek believes the Czech champions will take much more confidence from the first leg result against the Foxes, highlighting the performances of young centre-back David Zima and highly-rated attacker Abdallah Sima, who he expects to play a pivotal role once more in Leicester.
He continued: "They interviewed David Zima after the game, who played centre-back, he's 20-years-old. Before coming to Slavia in the summer transfer window, he had only played two matches in the Czech top flight.
"He said 'I want to measure myself against the best and tonight I played against the best striker in the best league in the world and I matched up pretty well'. And I think that's the attitude that the players have in general and the attitude that the manager infused the team with. They can match up with anybody and they can play with anybody. That's a really great attitude for a side to have going into this match.
"Sima just came into the top flight in the summer transfer window. He's amazing, I only wonder how long we're going to have him. I'd not be surprised if another club comes in and swoops for him.
"You saw the one header where he was just half a metre above everyone else, he's great in the air, he's very quick, he has lots of pace, he's great technically. We saw him as the biggest threat to Leicester's defence.
"Both the strikers [Jamie] Vardy and [Jan] Kuchta were invisible in that first match and I think that will probably continue, so we'll see who will be the big threats, it was [James] Maddison for Leicester last week."
Pulkrabek also outlined the importance of this European clash to Slavia Prague and what progression would mean for the club. Unlike Leicester, Červenobílí have reached the latter stages of the Europa League before, eventually losing to Chelsea in the 2018/19 quarter-finals.
"I think it's hugely important," the journalist added. "One, its prestige and two, financially for the club, we're nowhere near the budget of a Leicester and so it gives the players more exposure.
"Slavia are a club that relies on bringing players up and then selling them on for finances and especially now with the Coronavirus pandemic. Definitely it would just be an incredible boost to move on over any club from the English league, not least one who are in the top three."
All times GMT.