Slovaks with huge history

FC Spartak Trnava is a traditional force of Slovak football with huge success especially in the ‘60s and ‘70s. They have won both the Czechoslovak First League (1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973) and the Czechoslovak Cup (1951, 1967, 1971, 1975, 1986) five times. They have also won the Cup of Slovakia five times (1971, 1976, 1986, 1991, 1998).

Juraj Jarábek is at the helm of the squad, having taken over in 2013. Lately the Slovakian coach and the organized fans of the club are not seeing eye to eye. The latter issued a statement against him, charging him with bad relationship with some players and erroneous transfer policy.

Last season FC Spartak Trnava finished fourth in the league, missing out on a third-place finish to ŠK Slovan Bratislava on the last matchday. They started their European journey this summer from the 1st qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League, making it past FK Olimpic Sarajevo with a 1-1 draw in Bosnia and a goalless draw at home. Young goalkeeper Adam Jakubech (born in 1997) was the star of the second leg, saving every shot that came his way.

FC Spartak Trnava haven’t impressed in this transfer window, but they did acquire Emir Halilović, who scored the “golden” away goal of the previous round.

Their home ground, Štadión Antona Malatinského, is under renovation work. Therefore they are playing their home matches in the neighbouring city of Zlaté Moravce.

Chasing the dream

Linfield FC is a semi-professional club based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They are a historic club, one of the country’s most successful ones, having won 51 league titles and 42 domestic cups! They are now on their fourth consecutive presence in the 2nd qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League and are chasing after the dream of making it to the next round.
Their head coach since May 2014 is Warren Feeney, who took over from David Jeffrey, the longest serving manager in the club’s history (17 years and 3 months).

Last season, they finished second in the regular season and in the “champions round”, falling ten points behind Crusadors in the final standings. In the 1st qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League they came up against minnows NSÍ Runavík from Faroe Islands and wen t through on a 5-4 aggregate (won 2-0 at home and lost away 4-3).

Their only signing this summer has been forward Guy Bates, who scored in both legs of the previous round.

Windsor Park of Belfast is their home group. Due to renovation work, they now can host 10.000 spectators, but their usual capacity is 19.000.