What to expect from… MSK Zilina

Just Football’s ‘What to expect from…’ Champions League mini-series continues now, with an introduction to Chelsea’s opponents, Slovakian outfit MSK Zilina. And again, who better to give us the lowdown than Daniel Richardson, founder of the brilliant Slovakian football blog Britski Belasi?

MSK Zilina

MSK Zilina, Slovakian Champions for the 5th time in the last 9 years, finally took the massive step of qualifying for the Champions League group stage this season, defeating Maltese side Birkirkara, Litex Lovech of Bulgaria and Czech Champions Sparta Prague in a challenging qualifying competition. In doing so, Zilina became just the 3rd Slovakian side to reach the Champions League group stage, following in the footsteps of MFK Kosice in 1993 & Artmedia Bratislava in 2005.

Due to the recent domestic success of MSK Zilina (only once finishing outside the top 2 in 9 seasons), they have acquired a vast amount of European experience. Teams from countries with low UEFA coefficients such as Slovakia enter European qualifying rounds while most of the mainstream football world is still on holiday, and with such high rewards at stake, these matches are some of the biggest of the season for the teams and their fans.

Zilina impressed in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup, where they made the group stages and faced top class opposition in Ajax, HSV & Aston Villa, winning in Birmingham albeit against a weakened Villa side. Remarkably, Zilina have played 16 matches in Europe in the 3 seasons prior to this one, and this season’s success shows the experience has finally paid off for the team from North-West Slovakia.

When the group stage draw was made, Zilina and their fans were thrilled by the prospect of facing the English champions along with Marseille and Spartak Moscow. Zilina have played Chelsea once before, losing 5-0 on aggregate in the Champions League qualifying competition of 2003/04. However the club has transformed dramatically since then both on and off the field. Owner Jozef Antosik has invested steadily over the last 15 years and now Slovakia’s 5th largest city has a team, stadium and youth academy to be proud of. Many other clubs in Slovakia could do well by following the example set by Antosik and the Zilina management.

Ticket scandal

However, all admiration held for Antosik by the club’s fans has unfortunately disappeared during the farcical organisation of ticket sales for the Chelsea match. Despite the huge financial rewards Champions League qualification brings (way out of proportion with the budgets of football clubs in Slovakia), Antosik has tried to cash in even further with ludicrously inflated ticket prices.

A lot has been written about this ongoing saga, but basically tickets are on offer priced at €50, €100, €150 & €200. In a country where the average net monthly income is around €500, and tickets can be obtained for domestic games for as little as €5! Ludicrous over inflation at the expense of the loyal supporters who played a huge role in bringing Zilina this far. A firm and heartfelt stance has been made by the Ultras group and they are completely boycotting the match.

Those that could muster up the cash are joining the boycott out of principle, but the harsh reality is that the majority of Zilina’s fans simply can’t afford a ticket. The effect of this boycott was demonstrated by the fans at Zilina’s final league game before Chelsea arrive against Tatran Presov, where they sung their hearts out for 60 minutes, and then either left the stadium or went to sit in other sections, leaving a banner asking “IS IT BETTER WITHOUT US?”. Zilina’s players and coach expressed their disappointment at this move and were lucky to hold on to win 2-1 against the team bottom of the Corgon Liga.

What to expect

The fans’ actions probably shouldn’t be used an excuse to hide the fact that the team has been under-performing so far this season in the league. European football puts a big strain on the limited squads of Slovak football teams, and while Zilina do sit top of the league unbeaten in 8 games, you feel they have been quite lucky and are walking a fine line. With 6 more European matches coming up, they could well lose ground against rivals Slovan Bratislava & Spartak Trnava as well as the lesser-known sides MFK Ruzemberok and FK Senica in a tight tussle at the top.

Zilina play a solid compact style of football, and when on form can put together neat inter-play through quick young attacking players similar to that which we saw from the Slovak national side at the World Cup this summer. Where they arguably carry even more threat than the national team is that they have numerous goal scoring options. Especially in Europe, where they are often the underdog (as against Sparta Prague) Zilina have a canny knack of scoring vital goals out of nothing.

Key Players:

6′5″ 21 year old Gambian striker Momodou Ceesay has been leading the way in Europe this season scoring home and away against Sparta, the goal in the 2nd leg an acrobatic overhead kick Didier Drogba would have been proud of! His languid style is often seen when he comes deep to pick up and ball, turns and runs at defenders and he poses a constant aerial threat from set-pieces. Ceesay could well pose a threat even to the superstars of Chelsea’s defence. Issiako Bello and captain Robert Jez are good technical midfield players with a range of attributes, especially the ability to score goals from distance. In fact Benin international Bello is somewhat reminiscent of Chelsea’s Michael Essien.

Zilina have a solid defence (they conceded just 17 goals in 33 matches in the league last season) which is marshalled by another great young prospect in 21 year-old goalkeeper Martin Dubrovka. While mentions could be made of the whole team, one of Zilina’s main strengths is the collective nature of their play and the team spirit.

Prediction:

If this preview had been written before the ticket saga, or if tickets had been sold in a way that meant the true force of Zilina’s Ultra fans would be present, I would be predicting that the Slovaks could give Chelsea an uncomfortable night. The match will take place in smallest venue of this season’s Champions League – Stadion Pod Dubnom – which has a capacity of around 11,000. Just 500 tickets have been made available to Chelsea fans.

However, the reality is that the atmosphere will probably be largely unintimidating and lacking the passion which Zilina’s players thrive on. Black market ticket sales probably mean Chelsea fans will be present all around the ground and even if the stadium is full, it will be a largely business & high-class crowd wanting to be entertained by the team in blue and offering polite appreciation for the gallant Slovak boys.

Unfortunately this is not what MSK Zilina is about and amongst the real fans, nobody is talking about whether Terry & Lampard will be playing and their team’s chances on the field. Everybody is more interested in ticket sales, how the atmosphere will be and if the fans will find another more dramatic way of protesting in front of the world’s media. Expect Chelsea to win comfortably and wait to see and hear the true nature of Zilina’s fans in the return leg at Stamford Bridge on 23rd November.

Have your say on MSK Zilina, the ticketing scandal and their Champions League campaign below. After which, I wholeheartedly recommend you check out Britski Belasi for more great Slovakian football coverage.

(photo via MSK Zilina’s official website)

Champions League, Europe, Fan Culture, MSK Zilina, Slovakia, What to expect from...