The best fans in Europe?

Following two trips that spanned entire weekends to Prague and Gyor respectively, this weekend would allow for Saturday to be a rare free day of absolutely nothing. On Sunday, however, I would take a seemingly now annual December pilgrimage to my favourite place in Czech football, Sigma Olomouc, hence the despicably awful blog title. Apologies.

As my first experience of Czech football, and despite my allegiances to Zbrojovka Brno, I can't help but hold the obligatory soft spot for Sigma Olomouc. That first game was a 1-0 success over Slovan Liberec, which I have written about some time ago. It wasn't the most entertaining of games, but at the point, the novelty of watching football in another country was still very much there.

At the time, I also had no idea what would unfold in the coming months and years in terms of my moving to the Czech Republic. As a result, returning always feels somewhat special.

The reason I chose to go to Sigma Olomouc was essentially on the back of a Football Manager save in 2020, in which I signed Ben Pringle, who in turn became the Andrea Pirlo of Czech football. Sadly, the reality has been a little different, but still interesting nonetheless. Last season, I watched Sigma host Viktoria Plzen, where despite their best efforts, they succumbed to a 3-1 defeat. 

Oddly, it was the second time I'd seen Viktoria Plzen, and the second time I'd seen an empty net goal in stoppage time; an eerie coincidence. Sigma's goalkeeper also took an adventure into the opposition box in this game, but this time there would be no such empty net goal.

Since I went to watch Sigma for the first time, they've been a relatively stable presence in the top flight, not really troubling the European spots, nor the relegation places. It looks set to be similar again this season, especially now in-form goalscorer Jan Kliment has picked up a season ending injury in a midweek 2-2 draw at Pardubice.

This weekend, runaway leaders Slavia Praha travel to Olomouc, meaning things are unlikely to get any easier for Sigma. Currently ten clear of closest side Viktoria Plzen, Slavia have a huge opportunity to lay down even more of a marker prior to the Christmas break, with city rivals Sparta 16 points behind and more likely to fear being overtaken by Jablonec than to win the title.

The ground, the game, and any other business

I took the 11.55 FlixBus from Brno, which took around an hour, before grabbing a quick bite and heading to the game. Unsurprisingly, there were Slavia fans all over the city, with over 4,000 making the journey from the capital. The Christmas markets were also bustling, though I didn't really take the time to explore.

Perhaps Olomouc's most famous and recognisable monument on Horni Namesti was covered in scaffolding, which was obviously a huge eyesore. It was a little depressing that I couldn't get my obligatory photo on this occasion. In all honesty, I'd enjoyed the square a lot more without the frenetic Christmas crowds when I'd first travelled to the city back in March 2022. 

On this occasion, I'd opted to sit behind the goal, where previously I'd sat to the side on both occasions. The view behind the goal was surprisingly decent, even though all goals came at the opposite end of the ground nearer the Slavia fans. That said, I did get to see a Sigma player take one square in the gonads right in front of me, which was nice.

Slavia looked every bit potential champions throughout the game, but Sigma clearly hadn't read the script. Jakub Eibl gave the hosts a surprise lead before half-time, just as the Tribuni Sever (the Slavia ultras behind the goal) were unveiling their second impressive Tifo display. Honestly I've never seen better or more impressive support in all my years watching football - at times it was more entertaining than the game itself.

Once they took the lead, Sigma didn't look comfortable as such, but they more than held their own. Substitute Yuri Muritala really should have made it two with a one-on-one, but he fluffed his lines big time. And if you fail to take your chances against the champions elect, you certainly live to regret it.

Tomas Chory levelled things against his old club in the 79th minute to the jubilation of that away end, with a few isolated cheers and scarves being waved throughout the stadium, which is to be expected when one of the big boys comes to town. Lukas Provod completed the stunning turnaround just a couple of minutes later to ensure Slavia would go home with the three points.

With Slavia keeping the ten point buffer over nearest rivals Viktoria, it'd take quite some bottling to lose the title from here. On this evidence, they could be in for a historic season too, with only six goals conceded so far. All that's missing from Slavia's season is some remnant of European form, but they have a couple of favourable games coming up after Christmas.