Manager of Czech champions Pavel Vrba could not perhaps have dreamed of a better birthday present than the comeback from two goals down which allowed Viktoria Plzeň to snatch a draw in their closing Champions League game against AC Milan on Tuesday night.
Vrba, who turned 48 on Tuesday, saw his young team hold the Italian club to a goalless draw in the first half, concede two lax goals early in the second half and then come back for a 2:2 draw in the dying seconds of the game.
The draw secured third place in the group for Plzeň and continued European football in the form of the Europa League next season. The Czech side would have gone through in third place even without the draw after rivals for the spot, Belarus champions BATE Borisov, were thrashed 4:0 by a Barcelona squad missing all its established stars. Borisov needed a win to leapfrog Plzeň.
‘A point is a real reward for the players’ performance. I really appreciate it.’
“Both teams could have scored, we had a bit of luck, but we also created chances. Afterwards fortune came our way and at the end of the game we were able to equalize,” Vrba said of the roller-coaster end game in Prague. “A point is a real reward for the players’ performance. I really appreciate it,” added the manger who left the pitch to the tunes of Happy Birthday.
The pedigree Italian side were far from happy with the last minute lapse, although they had already qualified for the next, knock-out, stage of the Champions League and couldn’t catch up group leader, Barcelona.
“We should be angry more than disappointed about a game that was done and dusted and then ended in a draw,” said manager Massimiliano Allegri. “It’s normal that you get put under pressure if you concede three minutes from time and there’s no guarantee that you get the result after that,” he added, saying that the team, second in the Italian league and chasing Juventus, should learn from the mistakes.
For Viktoria Plzeň, which this year celebrates the centenary of its founding, the draw against AC Milan closes the Champions League chapter with pride and boosts the estimated direct earnings from participation to an estimated Kč 280 million, more than a third more than when Slavia Prague participated in the competition and exited at the same stage four years ago.
