Prague (AFP) - Slavia Prague, the Czech Republic, is looking to avoid an unwanted number when it hosts England's Arsenal on Wednesday in the unified group competitions of the European Champions League football competition.

Published on: 02/11/2026 - 11:33

The Czech champion achieved only one win in the 23 matches he played in the Champions League, and that was in his first appearance against Romanian Steaua Bucharest in September 2007.

Since then, he has achieved only eight draws against 14 defeats during four participations in the main continental competition, including the current version.

His coach since 2017, Jendrich Trapischowski, said, “It certainly becomes more annoying the longer it goes on,” adding, “The series is long, and as we continue to talk about it, I am thinking about it more than I did before.”

Greek AEK Athens remains the longest series of matches without a win in the competition, after failing to achieve any victory during 24 consecutive matches between 1992 and 2006, while Steaua, currently known as FCSB, played 23 matches without a win between 2006 and 2013.

Slavia faces Arsenal and the latter is in the best possible morale situation after defeating Liverpool in the latter's stronghold, Anfield, 1-0 in the Premier League, in a result that will raise concern for most teams, before the Czech champion meets the Spanish Villarreal at home and the German giant Bayern Munich outside its bases in the next two rounds.

Trabischowski said, "We certainly know how difficult European matches are, and how much effort is required to win. In some matches, we were the better side and lost. This is the beauty of football."

"bad luck"

Slavia faced Arsenal three times in the Champions League, achieving a draw and two defeats, including a humiliating 7-0 loss in London in 2007.

Vladimir Schmetzer, the former Slavia striker who won the Champions League title with Liverpool in 2005, said, “Slavia is simply facing the best teams, and their (Arsenal) quality is clear to everyone,” adding in an interview with Agence France-Presse, “I think they (Slavia) were unlucky sometimes.”

Slavia was close to putting an end to this problem in its opening match this season against Lens, France, as it led 2-1 in the 89th minute despite playing with ten players, but it wasted the opportunity and lost in the end 2-3.

“This is really bad luck,” said Schmetzer, who won the Champions League title with Liverpool in 2005. “But the series is annoying anyway, and they are now facing teams like Arsenal and Bayern, in matches that Slavia is not expected to win.”

Schmetzer considered that Slavia should have won against lower-ranked teams, such as Azerbaijan's Sabah, against whom they lost 0-2 in Baku last month.

He said, "Slavia has a deep squad that allows the coach to adapt to the opponents' playing style, but in the end it is about quality," adding, "In Baku, they were simply below the level, as happened in other matches, and this is what prolonged the series of matches without a win. They should have won some matches, but that did not happen, unfortunately."

Slavia will face Arsenal on Wednesday, exactly a year after losing 3-0 to the Gunners at home in the Champions League.

Defender David Zema described the tournament as a "university of football", saying, "It is the highest possible level, and you should not feel pressure because you have to win now. This is simply football, and you cannot always win. You just need a little luck."

Trabischowski pointed out that everything must go perfectly if his team wants to have a chance against the English giant, adding, "Everything must go in our favor, and we must give 100 percent of our level, and then we can succeed in any match."

© 2026 AFP

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