Viktoria Plzen have made a quality start to the current season and are leading the chase for Slavia, who occupy the first place in the Czech Championship standings. Miroslav Koubek’s team adheres to a balanced scheme, paying more attention to defense, so they concede an average of less than a goal per game. But in the current Europa League draw, the lack of bold decisions in attack clearly hinders Viktoria. The team could well expect to win every match of the group stage, but so far there are only draws: Eintracht (3:3), Ludogorets (0:0) and PAOK (2:2).
Real Sociedad have noticeably improved in many components compared to the beginning of the season, but they still lack stability. The reason is the restructuring of the positional attacking structure. The role of Subimendi has changed, and the club leader is much more often involved in the construction of attacks and goes to the striking position. In the Europa League, head coach Alguacil uses rotation, as too much of the load falls on the first team of Real Sociedad. Nevertheless, with four points they claim a place in the top eight.