The answer to the headline of this report may well be, why not? Strange things have been seen in football. Without going any further, the triumph of Maccabi Haifa against Juventus in the last day of the Champions League by 2-0. Well, the market value of Maccabi, according to Transfermarkt, is lower than that of Viktoria Pilsen. They are the last two classified in this section. The players of the Israeli team are valued at 20.6 million. Those of the Czech team, at 28.5 million.
Ridiculous figures compared to the 592.95 million Inter players. But football is the sport of surprises, which occur more frequently than in other modalities, among other reasons due to the existence of a tie. More than that, win, the very modest Sheriff of Tiraspol did in the Santiago Bernabeu in the previous campaign.
Nor is it trivial the fact that in recent seasons Inter Milan, who hope to get Lukaku back this Wednesday, has made unforgivable blunders when they had qualification for the round of 16 in their hands. This was the case against PSV, Barça itself and Shakhtar. In none of the three cases managed to beat Inter in their stadium and was eliminated.
Of course, the company, that is, that Inter does not win, is presumed to be much more complex this afternoon. Although Viktoria Pilsen has accumulated almost a year without losing in its league (since October 31, 2021) and has ten wins and two draws in its championship, in the current Champions League it has not yet scored. The closest he came to doing so was against Inter in Pilsen (0-2). The Italians did not score the second goal until the 70th minute when their rival was already with ten due to Pavel Bucha being sent off. Only Rangers and the Czech team have not been released yet.
Away from home in their participation in the tournament, Viktoria’s most notable achievements are two wins against CSKA Moscow and BATE Borisov. Sheltered by their fans on one occasion they were able to beat Roma.
Of course, the fact that they no longer have options to be in the round of 16 does not prevent the coach, Michal Bilek, former Betis midfielder and former Czech coach, from traveling to Milan with his best available players. His most expensive signing of the summer, central defender Vaclav Jemelka (purchased for 1 million euros) is part of the expeditionaries.
Like its most valued footballer, goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek (4.5 million, slightly above Barça’s substitute goalkeeper, Iñaki Peña). Although the most unbalancing happens to be the extreme Jhon Córdoba. The Colombian, who played in his youth at Olímpic de Xàtiva, Alcoyano, Hércules or Dénia, is nicknamed Mosquito and has scored six goals this season, none in the Champions League group stage. The one who did score against Bayern was midfielder Adam Vlkanova, the only one of the team’s three scorers in the tournament who will be at the Giuseppe Meazza. The other two, Sykora and Kliment, are injured.
In none of them is a star of international scope presumed, as Pavel Nedved or Peter Cech were in their day, who defended the colors of a Viktoria that for many years was called Skoda. Not only is beer produced in this Bohemian city, but the automobile firm originates from this economic lung of the Czech Republic.
Viktoria, a club that has been able to break the dominance of Prague clubs like Sparta and Slavia, have nothing to lose in Milan. His European participations last and this season have served to clean up his accounts. Now, a point against Inter could be used to clean up the accounts… of Barça.
