Brian Priske assesses Ararat-Armenia ahead of Europa League clash

Sparta Prague head coach Brian Priske has shared his expectations ahead of the opening league-phase match of the Europa League against Ararat-Armenia.

The Czech coach highlighted the Armenian champions’ impressive home form in European competition this season. During qualifying, Ararat-Armenia won all four of their matches in Yerevan, defeating Riga, Shamrock Rovers, Celje and Universitatea Craiova by a combined score of 7-2.

“They are the champions of their country, and Manuel Tulipa has been working with the team for some time now. We know how well they perform at home in European competition, so we are facing a difficult task. They have players with strong individual qualities, particularly on the wings. We cannot allow their attacking players too much space,” Sport.cz quoted Priske as saying.

At the same time, the Sparta head coach stressed that his team had carefully studied the Armenian side and would try to take advantage of certain aspects of their defensive play.

Priske also recalled that the two teams met in Conference League qualifying last season. Sparta won both matches on that occasion — 4-1 in Prague and 2-1 in Yerevan. However, the Czech club’s head coach believes Ararat-Armenia have changed since then.

“They have changed quite a few players. We know they like to control possession, while their wide players rotate positions well. We have big ambitions in Europe, so we have to be ready for a difficult match,” Priske added.

The match in Yerevan is also particularly important for Sparta because of their poor away results at the start of the season. The Prague side have played six matches away from home and lost four of them.

“The reasons are clear to me. We concede from counterattacks and set pieces even when we have a significant advantage in possession. We are not creating enough chances and we are not scoring enough goals. In away matches, we have lacked power and efficiency. We need to fix that, and we need to do it very quickly,” the coach said.

Sparta have arrived in Yerevan without their strongest possible squad. Magnus Kofod Andersen, Sivert Mannsverk, Jakub Martinec, Ondřej Penksa and Emmanuel Uchenna will miss the match through injury. Ki-Jana Hoever has also remained in Prague after picking up an injury in the previous game, while defender Adam Ševinský is unavailable due to suspension.

The Ararat-Armenia vs Sparta match will take place in Yerevan and will be the opening fixture of the Europa League league phase for both teams.

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