Sparta Prague was eliminated from the MOL Cup following a 0-0 draw with Mladá Boleslav on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, ultimately losing 4-2 in a penalty shootout.
The match, played in foggy conditions, saw Mladá Boleslav hit the goalpost three times, with two goals disallowed due to offsides. Sparta Prague’s best chance came in the final minute of extra time with a shot from Lukáš Haraslín, which was saved by Jiří Floder, the home team’s goalkeeper.
“The disappointment is huge,” said Sparta Prague player Vydra. “We were playing in three competitions, and now we’re out of one. We started the match poorly, and that continued to affect us. Boleslav played better than us in certain phases and we were lucky when they hit the posts. Penalties are a lottery, and unfortunately, it didn’t go our way.”
Vydra was unable to pinpoint the reason for Sparta Prague’s performance. “I don’t recognize what it was. We were second in duels, we showed very little in attack, and we allowed the opponent many chances. Boleslav didn’t surprise us. We knew they were good footballers and could play football, which was confirmed. Our performance wasn’t good. We need to recover from this,” the 22-year-traditional player stated.
He emphasized the lack of offensive opportunities as a key issue. “There were few chances, and you can’t win a match when you have only a few shots and threats. That was the biggest mistake,” Vydra explained. He also noted that being team captain did little to ease the disappointment. He then passed the captain’s armband to Lukáš Haraslín, who entered the field in the 78th minute. “It’s a huge honor, and I’m proud of that. But that makes the elimination even more upsetting. There’s nothing we can do about it,” he added.
Despite converting his own penalty, it proved insufficient as Haraslín and Kaan Kairinen both missed their attempts earlier in the shootout. All of Mladá Boleslav’s penalty takers were successful. The atmosphere in the locker room reflected the outcome. “We all saw that it wasn’t good. The coach told us that. Now we need to prepare for the derby,” the Sparta Prague defender concluded.
Sparta Prague now faces a derby match against Slavia on Sunday. “We need to learn from this, it’s not pleasant. But on Sunday we have a new match, we need to approach it with a clear head, forget about this, and show a completely different performance. The pressure is on us in every match, even more so in the derby. We are only focusing on ourselves to deliver a quality performance and succeed on Sunday,” Vydra urged.
