Slavia Prague knocked Rangers out of the Europa League last time out but coach Jindrich Trpisovsky believes the Czech champions face a completely different test against Arsenal in the quarter-finals, speaking to iSport.
At this stage, anyone writing off an impressive Slavia side clearly hasn’t been paying attention.
After storming to the Czech title last term, Trpisovsky’s well-drilled side have beaten Bayer Leverkusen, Nice, Leicester City and Steven Gerrard’s seemingly unstoppable Rangers en route to setting up a last-eight clash with Mikel Arteta’s Gunners.
And, after Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek made an immediate impact at West Ham, no-one should doubt the quality at Slavia’s disposal.
Arsenal, then, will need to keep their wits about them against a team that recently handed Rangers their first Ibrox defeat in more than a year.
“The indications are there will be a lot of goals and a lot of chances (at the Emirates tonight). To compare, Rangers played defensive football while Arsenal are true to their offensive tradition,” Trpisovsky predicts.
“(Arsenal) have great players and we have, I think, also shown we can be dangerous in Europe.
“If we manage to score a goal, it will be pleasant and we have the ambition to play (attacking football). On the other hand, we play against an opponent who is strong at home.
“We have a style we don’t want to back down from. It’s not advisable to change (our approach), even if the quality of Arsenal awaits you.
“They have great players and a goalkeeper who is technically good but we will try (to win).”
However, Trpisovsky does add Slavia will be without four key players in north London, one of them star defender Simon Deli.
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