CLASH OF OPPOSITES: BANÍK TARGETS RECORD AS BOHEMIANS CLING TO LAST CHANCE

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April 19, 2025

FC Baník Ostava - Bohemians Praha 1905

The City Stadium in Ostrava-Vítkovice will become the stage for a battle between teams with dramatically different ambitions on Saturday. The home side is experiencing a fantastic period – unbeaten in seven consecutive league matches, while the visitors are fighting for one last hope to avoid the relegation group.

Under coach Pavel Hapal's guidance, Baník is enjoying an extraordinary spring season. Six wins and one draw in their last seven duels have catapulted the Silesians into contention for the top positions. A similar series was last recorded by the Ostrava club between August and October 2023.

Saturday's clash is particularly significant in the context of club history. If Baník defeats Bohemians, they would set a historic points record after 30 completed league rounds in the Czech top flight. They currently have 61 points; a win would push them to 64, surpassing their previous maximum of 63 points from the 2003/04 season.

"Of course, we know how close we are to a historic achievement, but we always focus only on the upcoming match," says Baník captain Michal Frydrych, who scored his first goal of this league season in stoppage time in the last match against Dukla Prague. "It was a special moment for me personally, but more importantly, we maintained our winning streak."

Frydrych's goal was already the third winning goal scored from the 90th minute onwards for Baník this season. No other team in the Chance Liga has more such strikes (Teplice have two).

The Ostrava team benefits from the excellent form of midfielder Jiří Boula, who has been involved in the most build-ups ending in a shot this league season (66). These actions produced an Expected Goals (xG) value of 10.29, the second-highest value in the competition - surpassed only by El Hadji Diouf with 10.44.

In contrast, the Prague "Kangaroos" are facing a crisis. Bohemians have lost two matches in a row, which has happened to them three times this Chance Liga season. Overall, they have remained winless in 21 matches (10 draws, 11 losses), although that's still one match fewer than at the same stage last season (11 draws, 11 losses).

The situation is critical for Jaroslav Veselý's players – if they don't gain more points in Ostrava than Mladá Boleslav in the simultaneously played match against Jablonec, they would definitely fall into the relegation group for the second consecutive season.

"The situation isn't rosy, but as long as there's a mathematical chance, we'll keep fighting," emphasizes the Prague coach. "Nothing easy awaits us in Ostrava, Baník is in great form, but we have nothing to lose."

A key player for the visitors is forward Abdulla Yusuf Helal, who is probably facing the most pressure of any player in this Chance Liga season. Of his total 844 touches with the ball, 532 occurred under high-intensity pressing from opponents. No other player with at least 900 minutes played this season has had such a high proportion of touches under intense pressure (63%).

Saturday's duel thus offers a clash between two teams with completely different goals – the home side is fighting for a historic record and potentially even the title, while the visitors are fighting for mere survival among the Czech football elite.

We thank OPTA for providing the statistical data. Photo: source XYZ