Lacombe: Both teams are in the same difficult position

04. 12. 2006 |  

Lacombe confirmed that he would not be satisfied with the draw they had in Nantes at the Thursday match with Mladá Boleslav, but he did not say whether he would make any changes in the line-up because of this. He only listed the four players he cannot count on because of injuries: Mabiala, Paulo Cesar, Frau and Pancrate. The last-named did not even fly to the Czech Republic with the team. "Due to the fact that we lost the cup match with Hapoel Tel Aviv we are in the same difficult situation as our Boleslav rival, so the joint match will be equally important for both teams," said Guy Lacombe. He described FK Mladá Boleslav as a team with a strong offensive and excellent strategy.
The Paris trainer naturally had to face the question of what he thought of the Mladá Boleslav success against Olympique Marseille. "Success against Marseille awakens respect," he declared.
Lacombe acquired knowledge of the game played by FK Mladá Boleslav by personal attendance at the match between FK Mladá Boleslav and Panathinaikos Athens, studying the video recording of the match between Rapid Bucurest and FK Mladá Boleslav and also from debates with the Czech representative David Rozehnal, who he described as a good player and a strong personality in his team.

And what did Rozehnal tell the French trainer about Mladá Boleslav and the spirit of Czech football? "I don't really know the team of Mladá Boleslav that well, but I tried to help my trainer. I won't say exactly how," said Rozehnal, smiling mysteriously. "Every bit of information, however small, helps me to know the opponent and David certainly helped me," added Lacombe with a satisfied smile.
The French journalists present in Mladá Boleslav turned the questions to the tragic event last week in Paris when, after the defeat by Hapoel Tel Aviv, a fan of Paris Saint Germain died when shot by a policeman who was trying to protect an isolated fan of the Israeli team against a riotous crowd of Paris hooligans. "Perhaps it may be an advantage for us that we are far away from the scene of the tragedy, but I would not like to analyse the event. Personally I am not thinking about it and rather concentrating on winning in Mladá Boleslav and gaining three points," said Rozehnal.