Slavia Prague are next up for us in the Champions League, whose exploits in the Czech league over the past decade have seen them firmly establish themselves as one of their nation’s best teams.
The reigning Czech champions will hope to secure their first win against us at the fifth attempt, but if you’re unsure of their history, current stars or our previous encounters, then here is the rundown on our matchday four opponents:
The history
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Slavia were founded in 1892 and would enjoy a quarter of a century of dominance under the management of Scot Johnny Madden, where they won 12 of the first 19 Czech titles. A 13th would arrive in 1947, but then the club fell on hard times and suffered relegation twice in the 1960s as they struggled to recapture their former glory.
It wouldn’t be until after the Czech Republic’s independence in 1993 that Slavia began to fight for titles again, and after a 49-year wait, they finally became champions again in 1996, helped by the performances of Karel Poborsky and Vladimir Smicer. They have since become the second-most successful team in the country since it was reformed, winning seven more league titles, and in 2007/08 they qualified for the Champions League for the first time.
They completed a hat-trick of Czech First League titles in 2020/21 by going the entire season undefeated, setting a Czech record for the longest top-flight unbeaten league run at 54 games.
The stadium
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The Fortuna Arena has been the home of Slavia since 2008, and in their first-ever game there, they drew 2-2 with Jablonec to secure the Czech First League title in the final match of the season.
Its 19,370 capacity makes it the biggest stadium in the Czech Republic, slightly bigger than local rivals Sparta Prague’s home. The Fortuna Arena tends to host the national team’s most important matches as well as big concerts in the city, and was the venue for the 2013 UEFA Super Cup final when Bayern Munich beat Chelsea on penalties, as well as the 2023 Conference League final when Declan Rice lifted the trophy when West Ham United beat Fiorentina.
The manager
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Jindrich Trpisovsky has been Slavia’s boss since December 2017, during which time he has won four Czech First League titles and four Czech Cups. He began his coaching career aged 20 and after learning his trade with Horni Meeholupy and Viktoria Zizkov, he was given a crack at the top-flight with Slovan Liberec in 2015, whom he guided into the UEFA Europa League group stages twice.
Trpisovsky claimed the first major trophy of his career at the end of his first season at Slavia, by lifting the Czech Cup, and went one better the following season by completing a domestic double, and reaching the quarter-finals of the Europa League. He got them into the Champions League for the second time in their history in 2019/20, and went on to complete a hat-trick of titles, again reaching the last eight of the Europa League in 2020/21.
Last season
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Having seen their grip on the Czech championship loosen in the following three seasons, Slavia got their hands on the silverware again last term in dominant style. They finished 16 points ahead of Viktoria Plzen at the top of the table, winning the league with four games to spare despite selling first-choice goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky to Tottenham in January.
After being beaten by Lille in the Champions League play-off round, they entered the Europa League but despite picking up four points from their first two matches against Ludogorets and Ajax, they lost the next five to finish 30th in the table and be eliminated.
The squad
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Tomas Chory led the scoring charts for Slavia last season as he grabbed 20 in all competitions in his first season at the club, while fellow Czech international strikers Mojmir Chytil and Vasil Kusej also hit double figures.
Unsurprisingly, their team is littered with national team stars, including goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek, who was once on Everton’s books, while centre-backs David Zima and Tomas Holes plus winger David Doudera and Lukas Provod were members of their Euro 2024 squad.
Central midfielder and summer signing Michal Sadilek is another regular for his country, as is veteran left-back Jan Boril who has won five league titles with Slavia. Japanese international right-back Daiki Hashioka was signed from Luton Town in June.
The season so far
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Things weren't going to plan for Slavia in 2025/26, as while they headed into last weekend unbeaten in the league, they had drawn four of their previous five games to slip from first to third spot in a tightly contested championship race with Sparta Prague and Jablonec.
However, Saturday’s 2-0 home win over Banik Ostrava, courtesy of second-half goals from Tomas Vlcek and Chytil, coupled with defeats for both title rivals saw Slavia jump back into top spot on goal difference ahead of their neighbours. Like us, they are defensively solid and have kept five straight clean sheets across all competitions.
They have advanced to the quarter-finals of the Czech Cup but are winless in the Champions League so far. Matchday one saw them squander a 2-0 advantage to draw 2-2 with Bodo/Glimt at home, before Inter Milan ran out 3-0 victors at the San Siro - their only loss of the campaign thus far. They then returned to Italy a fortnight ago to play out a goalless draw with Atalanta to leave them 28th in the table.
The previous meetings
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Slavia’s first-ever qualification for the Champions League proper saw them placed in the same group as us, and we hit the Czech team for seven in a thumping 7-0 victory at Emirates Stadium as Theo Walcott and Cesc Fabregas scored braces while strikes from Alexander Hleb, Nicklas Bendtner and an own goal secured our joint-biggest European victory, but a goalless draw was played out in the return game in Prague.
Fast forward to 2021 and we met again in the Europa League quarter-finals, as Slavia aimed to match their best continental achievement when they reached the last four of the same competition in 1995/96. Current star Holes’ late equaliser at Emirates Stadium cancelled out Nicolas Pepe’s opener in N5, but we turned on the style in the Czech capital, with a brace from Alexandre Lacazette plus strikes from Pepe and Bukayo Saka seeing us cruise to victory.
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