FK Mladá Boleslav - Villarreal CF 1:2 (0:1)
The first match in its group of the UEFA Cup was unsuccessful for Mladá Boleslav as the team did not gain a single point against the third best Spanish club. Villarreal deservedly won the first half as Mladá Boleslav played very timidly. Moreover, referee Skomina from Slovenia judged personal duels evidently in favour of the Spanish team. They did not need it at all as they were more self-confident and accurate in combination than the Boleslav players. Head-coach Ščasný from the terrace and his assistant Čuhel from the bench shouted themselves hoarse but they compelled their players to a more courageous performance only in the final minutes of the match, when the Slovenian referees stole a lucky point from them.
Many manoeuvres took place between the penalty areas at the beginning. Brisk counterattacks from Villarreal shortly after half of an hour of the match represented exceptions. Mladá Boleslav obtained the advantage of a free kick, which was inaccurately taken by Hrdlička. None of his team-mates got the ball, on the contrary, it was taken by the opponent players who rushed against the Boleslav goal in a quick counterattack. Fernandéz passed the ball to Nihat, who went against Miller face to face, sidestepped him and scored in the open goal – 0:1. Two minutes after the goal, the Boleslav goalkeeper again sttod alone against an opponent. But he saved by falling under the legs of Mavube this time.
The Mladá Boleslav players withdrew even more after the goal so the rest of the first half was played on their side of the pitch.
Ščasný sent the Boleslav team into the second half with one substitution and with the request to put away exaggerated respect and to complete the match in a manner they need not be ashamed of. But the desire of Boleslav for equalization was torpedoed by the second goal of Villarreal. Nimble Cazorla overcame Miller after Tomasson’s pass in the 56th minute, when the Boleslav defenders froze, assuming that the scorer was offside - 0:2.
And it could have been even worse in the 61st minute. Procházka missed a pass from Hrdlička, Tomasson got to the ball easily and lobbed it over Miller running out of his goal. However, the ball only hit the post. Fernandéz hit the Boleslav crossbar at the end of a quick attack by Villarreal.
The Villarreal defence diverted a Boleslav corner kick in the extra three minutes but Vaněček returned the ball in front of the goal and Řezníček headed it under the crossbar successfully. The referees, who favoured Villarreal for the whole match, denied the equalizing goal because of an alleged offside.
