Viktoria Plzeň lost to Baník 0:1. Head coach Miroslav Koubek evaluated the team´s performance at the post-match press conference.

Coach, was today´s game tough after the Rome game?

Baník came with a clear tactic. They wanted to defend well and relied on very good transitions to counterattack, which is their strength. Unfortunately, we didn´t cover one of these transitions and Baník scored the desired goal. We didn´t manage to equalise, even though we played the risk at the end and sent a lot of players forward. It was either to equalise or to cash in on an open defence. In the end, instead of a draw, we went away defeated.

In your opinion, was the game more of a draw? And what did Baník do better besides the goal?

They defended us. I have to admit that their midfield trio did very well. They blocked a lot of shots, were strong in personal duels and didn´t give us much space. I´m rather sorry about the first half, in which we weren´t very active. We had pressure in certain passages, but we lacked a better idea of how to get to the final phase. In the second half we created about three chances, which is not a little against a team that defends well in the block. Now we´re struggling a little bit with breaking into thickened defenses.

After this defeat, you dropped to fourth place. How much of a setback is that?

Of course we are sorry for the loss of points. We wanted to finish the game with three points. We knew it was going to be tough, but it was manageable. I think so. We´re more worried about the zero in the goals scored column.

Are you happy now that the national break is coming up?

We have about 10 to 11 players leaving with the youth national teams, so such a break won´t completely recharge our batteries. Only those who are staying will rest.

Dan Vasulin has been struggling shooting lately. How are you working on it?

Dan had the flu and had one training session with us. He wasn´t physically well enough to make it through halftime. These are things people don´t realize, but he still got two chances. Unfortunately, he didn´t get a quick finish and got blocked. He´s been plagued with health problems lately, as has Milan Havel, who also only started training yesterday. And that will show in his performance.

Are you counting on dropping the European burden and getting higher than fourth place in the league?

We loved the European Cups and we were happy with how we did in them. I don´t want to make any excuses that we´ve had worse results in the league because of it. Lazio, for example, lost 0-5 in Bologna today, which just shows how difficult it is to manage multiple competitions at the same time. Every team pays a price for that. I hope that we can untie our hands a bit and be more successful at the end of the season. Unfortunately, we´ve lost five points now and that´s very disappointing.