Sparta happy to upset the odds

Of the 16 teams that have qualified for the second group stages of the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League, AC Sparta Praha are without doubt the most surprising, yet one of the most deserving. In fact, when the draw was made for the first group stages of the competition and Sparta were pitted against the holders, FC Bayern München, current Eredivisie leaders Feyenoord and Vysshaya Liga champions FC Spartak Moscow, Jaroslav Hrebík's team were given little or no hope of making progress in the tournament.

Early doubts
Not only had Sparta sold their most influential and talented player, Tomás Rosický, to BV Borussia Dortmund for €14m before they had even opened their Group H campaign away in Bavaria, but new coach Hrebík was also facing a premature dismissal following defeats in the first two matches of the 1. liga season. "Three months in charge - not more," prophesied the media.

Just a matter of time?
Following their heaviest defeat in the league since 1996 against FK Chmel Blsany, the pressure from both within and outside the Letná stadium on Hrebík was growing to tumultuous levels and the Champions League had not even got underway; not only that, but with debts of €26m, the club needed to progress in Europe. One Czech Republic newspaper asked: "Will Hrebík hold on?"

Decisive action
Reacting quickly and decisively to those early league defeats, the coach recalled Radek Slonèík and Josef Obajdin, stuck with young defender Tomás Hubschman, who was jeered in his first game in Blsany, but now is considered indispensable to the side, and kept faith with striker Lukás Hartig, signed on loan from CU Bohemians Praha. The subsequent success that the team has enjoyed at home and in Europe has been built according to Hrebík's blueprint, using the same strategy and side that had initially struggled.

FIRST PHASE: Clean sheets

Not only did novice 19-year-old goalkeeper Petr Cech set a new national record by going 855 minutes without conceding a goal, but he also went 364 minutes in Group H without having to pick the ball out of his net as well, by which time the club had already exceeded their wildest dreams by reaching the second group stages. Although still waiting for his first cap, Cech was recently voted Czech goalkeeper of the year ahead of Brescia Calcio's Pavel Srnicek.

Tough induction
For Sparta's opening match in the Champions League, they could not have been given a harder assignment than a trip to the home of the 1. Bundesliga champions, Bayern, who would go on to begin the defence of their Champions League crown by remaining eight games undefeated. However, Sparta came away with a fully deserved goalless draw, the only side to avoid defeat at the Olympiastadion in Group H, giving them confidence for their remaining five matches.

Three in a row
Victories home and away over Feyenoord, 4-0 and 2-0 respectively and a 2-0 home win against Spartak in between, put the critics in their place and brought the Czech champions a much needed €8m in the process, as well as qualification to the next phase of the competition, something deemed beyond them when the draw was made. One point from their final two ties left Sparta comfortably in second place in the group, just three points behind Bayern, but more impressively, a massive six ahead of third-placed Feyenoord. Not only that, but a defence containing few household names had emerged from 540 minutes of football against the likes of Giovane Elber, Vladimir Beschastnykh and Pierre van Hooijdonk having conceded just the three goals, the joint best defensive record of the 32 Champions League teams alongside Liverpool FC.

SECOND PHASE: It just gets harder

Having faced Europe's official number one side in their opening match of the competition in September, Sparta began their quest to qualify for the quarter-finals from Group C with a match in the Czech capital against the eight-times winners and favourites for the 2002 tournament, Real Madrid CF. Having twice pulled level with their illustrious opponents, they eventually went down 3-2 following a 74th-minute winner from Fernando Morientes.No disgrace there and to their credit, Sparta travelled to the home of
seasoned European campaigners FC Porto for their final match before the winter break and, against a side that had not lost at home in their previous three games, or conceded a goal in over 180 minutes of Champions League football, won 1-0 to leave them in second place.

REMAINING GAMES: Greek tragedy?

If Sparta could take four points, or even three,
from their crucial double header with Panathinaikos FC next February, then they could even afford a defeat at the Santiago Bernabéu before culminating their Group C campaign with a home game with Porto, by which point they may well have already qualified for the knock-out stages. Luckily for Sparta, they only have to play Madrid once more, whereas rivals for second place in the group Porto face them both home and away in February.

THE COACH: Jaroslav Hrebík

This former builder by trade and joint owner of a small building company has recovered fantastically from a poor start to the Czech first division season when just about everyone in Prague was calling for his head and the club even had to hire a bodyguard for him.

Building for the future
He took over when Ivan Hasek left for RC Strasbourg and had to put up with constant criticism that he was only second choice, as Jirí Kotrba from FC Príbram had turned down the post. Pundits protested that Hrebík was not the right man for the big club. Previously, he had coached only teams with limited ambitions - Benesov, FK Viktoria Zizkov, SK Hradec Králové, Plzen and FK Jablonec 97. SK Slavia Praha was the only exception in 1998, but Hrebík did not see out his contract. That criticism has now all but evaporated due to the results that he has achieved.

THE PLAYER: Petr Cech

This towering teenage keeper earned rave reviews for his displays in the summer's FIFA Under-20 World Championship in Argentina, not conceding a single goal in the group stage as the Czech Republic reached the last eight and his reputation has not suffered during Sparta's smooth passage through the Champions League this season.

Unbreachable
Since displacing Sparta No1 Michal Spit, Cech has received the call to join the Czech senior squad and spent the autumn breaking record after record with his outstanding displays between the sticks for the Czech champions: to date, he has conceded just 15 goals in the 24 matches that he has played in all competitions.

Missed opportunity
Some outstanding saves in Sparta's visit to the Das Antas stadium earlier this month not only maintained his team's unbeaten away record in the competition but also secured his fifth clean sheet in eight matches. Unfortunately though, Cech will not be able to test himself against the world's best strikers this summer, because the Czech Republic have failed to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan.