Became The Premier League’S Youngest Manager [EN]: Chapter 109

109: Europa, Europa

After the match against Brentford, Burnley was ranked 7th in the Premier League.

Hanging precariously on the edge of qualifying for European competitions, the group stage of the 2022/23 Europa League was also coming to an end.

Unlike a typical season, the Qatar World Cup held in winter meant that most league schedules were completed in early November. As a result, the Europa League group stage was also being decided quickly, and Group E, to which Burnley belonged, was no exception.

With both IFK Norrköping and Red Star confirmed to be eliminated, the two teams advancing to the knockout stage were Burnley and Sparta Prague.

Much to Hyungmin’s slight embarrassment, who had asked the board to abandon expectations for advancing to the Europa League knockout stage, Burnley was leading Group E.

The problem was that Sparta Prague was also accumulating points in the Europa League, so Burnley’s top spot was not yet secured.

Burnley also won 2-1 against Sweden’s IFK Norrköping in the fifth match of the Europa League E Group at Turf Moor, but Sparta Prague also easily won against Red Star, who had already been eliminated, maintaining their points.

Burnley, with 4 wins and 1 draw, was in 1st place in Group E with 13 points, and Sparta Prague, with 4 wins and 1 loss, was in 2nd place with 12 points.

As if by the mischievous hand of fate managing the schedule, the 6th match of Group E was set to be between Burnley, the 1st place team, and Sparta Prague, the 2nd place team, at Sparta Prague’s home ground. Therefore, the 1st place would be determined by the result of the 6th match.

Both 1st and 2nd place teams advance to the Europa League knockout stage, but the reason why 1st place in the Europa League group stage is important is due to the unique structure of the Europa League.

The top teams from each of the 8 groups advance directly to the round of 16, but the 8 teams that finish in 2nd place must play a preliminary round of 16 against the 8 teams that finished 3rd in the Champions League group stage.

Thanks to this, there are often unfortunate cases where a team that was eliminated from the Champions League group stage and transferred to the Europa League ends up winning the Europa League.

A prime example is Sevilla from the Spanish Primera Liga [Spanish First Division], who won the Europa League in the 2015/16 season after being eliminated from the Champions League qualifiers, completing their third consecutive Europa League title since the 2013/14 season.

Or there’s Atlético Madrid from the Spanish Primera Liga, who also won the Europa League after being eliminated from the Champions League qualifiers in the 2017/18 season.

Whatever the case, it is generally more advantageous to finish 1st in the group stage than to play a preliminary round of 16 against a team from the Champions League, which is generally considered to have superior strength.

Both Burnley and Sparta Prague returned to their respective domestic leagues after the 5th match of the Europa League E Group and won again, maintaining their momentum. The final match to determine the 1st place team in Europa League E Group was held at Sparta Prague’s home stadium, Letná Stadium.

***

If you were to ask Czech football fans to name the two most successful professional football teams in Prague, the capital, they would undoubtedly choose Sparta Prague and Slavia Prague.

Founded in 1892, Slavia Prague has won the Czech First League 21 times and finished a disappointing 2nd against their arch-rivals Sparta Prague in the 2021/22 season.

On the other hand, Sparta Prague was founded one year later than Slavia Prague in 1893, but has won the First League 36 times. Above all, they demonstrated their power by winning the ‘Cup Winners’ Cup’ [a former European football competition], the predecessor to the Europa League, in the 1972/73 season.

As European football developed and player movement became more liberalized, it became common for Czech national team players with outstanding skills to play in big leagues in other countries. However, critics and scouts still closely observed both teams to discover new promising players.

The current jewel shining brightest in Sparta Prague is 20-year-old striker Adam Hložek, who is being eyed by numerous European teams, including Burnley.

The experienced Sparta Prague, led by their young ace from the youth team, clashed with Burnley Kindergarten, led by a young, up-and-coming Asian manager, for the top spot in Europa League Group E.

***

“Aaaagh!”

63 minutes into the second half.

Milan Heča, the starting goalkeeper for the prestigious Czech football team Sparta Prague, and Ondřej Čelůstka, the veteran center back, screamed simultaneously.

Sometimes, a ball like that comes along.

A ball that is clearly too slow for a defender to go forward and receive, but at the same time, if they just wait and receive it, the opposing attacker will definitely snatch it up faster.

Like a landmine, that ambiguous yet exquisite space right in front of the penalty box where none of Sparta Prague’s defenders can go forward and receive the falling ball.

Joe Gelhardt, Burnley’s young right winger who started today, sent a perfectly placed cross right into that spot.

“What’s up with him today?!”

Kuga, Burnley’s right back who was pushing forward to support him, shouted with a voice mixed with half admiration and half surprise.

However, Joe Gelhardt, who had been training day and night to remove the label of ‘Burnley’s right wingers can’t cross’ that he shared with Karim Adeyemi, simply smiled in response to his teammate’s shout and continued his movement into the penalty box.

The cross, which flew into an ambiguous position, was received by Charlie Taylor, who was starting in the unfamiliar left wing position today instead of Maxwell Cornet, who had suddenly cramped up during warm-ups before the game, as he threw his body forward and volleyed it with his left foot.

“F*ck! If you’re going to pass, pass it properly!”

He was lucky enough to receive the ball, but honestly, the height was ambiguous and the cross itself was short.

Of course, that’s why the opposing defenders screamed but couldn’t react.

Charlie Taylor, who had cursed, managed to prevent the ball from flowing backwards, but his body, having lost its balance, was leaning heavily to the right.

The ball that had fallen on the field was already bouncing again, and even if he regained his posture and chased after it, Sparta Prague’s defenders, who had regained their senses, were rushing towards him.

“Ah, screw it!”

There’s no way a professional defender would have ever done something like this in his life!

Burnley’s veteran defender and starting left winger (temporary) forced strength into his right foot, lifting his body into the air, and swung his left foot while lying sideways in the air.

Not an overhead kick, but a shot released with only the rebound of the body and the movement of the leg while both feet are in the air.

Whether it was luck, or whether the god of shooting took pity on a defender who had only scored a total of 5 goals in 280 appearances.

The ball, which had risen into the air a little earlier, hit the instep of his left foot perfectly.

“Waaaaah!!!”

Along with the roar of Burnley’s away fans, the ball, which flew like a missile, was embedded in the upper net of Sparta Prague’s goal as if to tear it apart.

Charlie Taylor, who had finally confirmed that the ball had passed through the goal next to the face of Milan Heča, Sparta Prague’s goalkeeper, who was completely frozen, fell to the ground as Burnley players, who were shouting with cheers and screams no less than the away fans, jumped up all at once.

“Uwaaaah!!”

“That was really awesome!”

“That’s Puskas Award [an award given to the player who scored the most aesthetically significant, or most beautiful goal of the year] material! This season’s Puskas is Charlie’s!”

“Waaaaah!!”

The Sparta Prague players, watching the Burnley players tangled in a heap, gritted their teeth.

They had been maintaining the momentum of the opening goal scored in the first half, but they conceded an equalizer at home.

Moreover, it was a wonderful shot that the defense couldn’t do anything about.

As a fellow player, they could admire the shot, but as the home team, the very fact that they had given the away team such a shooting opportunity was shameful.

Amidst the 15,000 Sparta Prague home fans waving large flags and shouting to encourage the players, Sparta Prague’s young ace approached one player.

[Michal! Michal!]

[What is it, kid?]

Michal Sáček, the vice-captain who started as a defensive midfielder today wearing the captain’s armband.

The 26-year-old midfielder, also from Sparta Prague’s youth team, looked at the young ace approaching him with a mixture of anticipation and concern.

[If it’s a draw, Burnley will take first place in the group!]

[That’s not the point, kid. It feels even dirtier to lose at home.]

[Of course, that’s true!]

The young ace of Sparta Prague, looking around, covered his mouth with his hand and continued the conversation with the vice-captain.

There might not be anyone among the Burnley players who understands Czech, but just in case.

[We have to score a comeback goal and flatten their noses!]

[Do you have a plan?]

[I do have something. Listen carefully…]

73 minutes into the second half.

The Burnley players, who had scored the equalizer, were continuing their offensive against Sparta Prague, who had shrunk back after conceding the goal.

With Nico Gonzalez holding his position as a defensive midfielder above the three-back formation of Mika Mármol, Anel Ahmedhodžić, and Nathan Collins, the remaining 6 players were pushing all the way to the front line, continuing their relentless attacks with forward pressure.

In particular, Wout Weghorst, the central striker, and Joe Gelhardt, who provided the wonderful assist, were holding their positions inside Sparta Prague’s penalty box to score an additional goal. Kuga was crossing into the penalty box from the right, having pushed all the way to the front, and Charlie Taylor was crossing from the left, having widened his position to the side.

In addition, Kristian Medina and Luka Sučić, who started as central midfielders, were also up to the edge of the penalty box, trapping the Sparta Prague players.

“Alright, let’s score one more goal! Let’s finish this for sure this time and go home!”

Hyungmin, who was quietly watching the game next to Karolina, who was out in the technical area giving encouragement and instructions to the players, tilted his head.

“What’s wrong?”

Hyungmin frowned at the chief coach’s question, who had noticed that his friend and superior’s expression was not good.

“Ah, I have an uneasy feeling?”

“What is it? Pavel Vrba looks like the game isn’t going well?”

Despite the shouts of Pavel Vrba, the Sparta Prague coach, who was out in the home team’s technical area with his voice raised, encouraging the players, the Sparta Prague players strangely looked dejected.

Hyungmin, who glanced at the opposing team’s coach standing in the adjacent technical area with a very angry expression, shook his head slightly.

“That’s true, but… something’s strange.”

“Ah, so what’s strange?”

“The expressions on the Sparta Prague players’ faces are strange.”

Karolina, tilting her head, slowly checked the faces of the opposing team’s players.

She was also a star midfielder who had won the World Cup and the Champions League.

Focusing on it, she was quickly able to identify the point that the manager was feeling uneasy about.

“…That’s not a resigned face.”

Hyungmin nodded as if he had gained certainty at Karolina’s murmur.

“I think we need to slow down the tempo a bit more now. Replace Chris with Tomaso, replace Kuga with James, and then switch Nathan to right back to make it solid…”

Before Hyungmin could finish speaking, the situation on the field changed rapidly.

Wout Weghorst, Burnley’s central striker, mistimed a header, and the ball ended up in the arms of Sparta Prague’s goalkeeper, Milan Heča.

It was the first time since conceding the equalizer that the ball had been caught in the hands of the Sparta Prague goalkeeper.

Unlike a goal kick, where the Burnley players could regain their positions, he could immediately launch a counterattack, and the Sparta Prague veteran goalkeeper instinctively realized that the opportunity that the players had secretly discussed had come.

“Adam!!”

With a shout that echoed throughout the stadium, Milan Heča leaned his body to the side and kicked the ball with all his might towards the front line.

“Oh no!”