This is Sparta – the low down on Shamrock Rovers’ Champions League opponents and how much money is at stake in tie

Angelo Preciado of Sparta Prague (R) celebrates with teammate Matej Rynes after scoring his team’s first goal during the UEFA Europa League 2023/24 round of 16 first leg match between Galatasaray A.S. and AC Sparta Praha at Ali Sami Yen Arena on February

Angelo Preciado of Sparta Prague (R) celebrates with teammate Matej Rynes after scoring his team’s first goal during the UEFA Europa League 2023/24 round of 16 first leg match between Galatasaray A.S. and AC Sparta Praha at Ali Sami Yen Arena on February Credit: Photo by Ahmad Mora – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images

Who are Sparta?

Sparta came to prominence with their victory in the Peloponnesian War against Athens in 404 BC. 

Eight years later they were sacked by the Visigothic king Alaric and, following that defeat, many of their citizens made the move to Mystras.

Who are notable Spartans?

Most of us will be well aware of Helen of Troy but maybe didn’t know she was Spartan. There is of course Xanthippus of Carthage who made a name as a mercenary in the First Punic War.

Leonidas I was the commander at the Battle of Thermopylae with his catchphrase - “This is Sparta” - getting a run out in the 300 film when he was played by Gerard Butler.

Oh hang on…Shamrock Rovers aren’t playing a Greek side but one from Czechia. Can you stop looking up the Wikipedia page of the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta and give us information on Sparta Prague please?

Ok. The football club was founded in 1893 and they are the record-breaking 38 times champions of Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic/Czechia.

Unlike Shamrock Rovers, who are on a run of four leagues in a row, they are only back-to-back Czech champions. They won the league and cup double in 2023/24.

They won the title by two points last season, pushing their main rivals Slavia Prague into runners up spot. 



Where will Tuesday’s game be played? 

Tallaght Stadium is the venue for Tuesday’s game. With the addition of the new fourth stand since last season, the capacity has increased to over 10,000 for this European campaign.

The stadium is a UEFA Category 4 venue, allowing it to host home games in the group stages of the Champions League should Rovers win their next three European ties.

Who is the Sparta manager?

Lars Friis is the man in charge. The Danish manager began his coaching career with FC Midtjylland as assistant and then spent time at Brentford.



He has been head coach at Viborg and at AaB. He was assistant manager with Sparta over the last two seasons and, with Brian Priske moving on to Feyenoord, Friis is now the main man in the dugout. 

Which players should we watch out for?

Sparta had a number of players playing at the recent Euros.

Jan Kuchta and Martin Vitik both played for Czechia at the European Championship.

Veljko Birmančević lined out for Serbia against England. He scored 16 goals from 30 games, picking up the player of the year award in the Czech First League.

Midfielder Qazim Laçi played for Albania in the EUROS in the 2-2 draw against Croatia.

They signed some talented new players over the close season, including 23-year-old Dane Mathias Ross on loan from Galatasaray and 24-year-old fullback Imanol García de Albéniz from Athletic Club. 

What European pedigree do Sparta have?

They reached the European Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals (losing 2-0 to Milan) back in 1973.

Sparta have made regular appearances in the Champions League group stages but in recent years it has been Europa League group stage football and more for them.

Last season they made it out of the group, beating Galatasaray 6-4 on aggregate in the play-off round before elimination in the last 16 of the Europa League at the hands of Liverpool.

They made the knockout stages of the same competition the previous year before being eliminated by Partizan Belgrade.

The season before that they didn’t get out of a group where they beat Celtic both home and away.

How has Sparta’s season gone so far?

They have a 100% win record, having played their first league game only last Friday. They beat Pardubice 2-1 at home with goals from Matej Rynes and Nigerian striker Victor Olatunji. 

They had their pre-season training camp in Germany, but ahead of the start of the season they sold their captain Ladislav Krejčí to Girona.

What formation do they play?

Sparta went with a 3-4-3 formation on Friday which is typical of how they played last season. They went that way 49% of the time, with a 3-4-2-1 formation 17% in the 2023/24 campaign.

How have Rovers done against Czech opposition in Europe before?

The Hoops lost 2-0 home and away to Slovan Liberec in 2003 and 5-2 to Mlada Boleslav in 2017.

Who will the winners and losers play in the next round?

The draw for the third qualifying round of the Champions League and Europa League took place on Monday July 22.

The winners will move into the third qualifying round of the Champions League while the loser drops into the Europa League third qualifying round (lose that tie and they drop into the Conference League play-off round).

 

Who is the match official for this tie?

UEFA have already named the referees for both the first and second leg.

How much money have both teams banked so far?

The worst either team can do now is lose this tie, lose the third qualifying round of the Europa League and then elimination in the play-off round of the Europa Conference League.

Should that happen they will earn a minimum €1.71m – that breaks down as €700k for playing four rounds in Europe (€175k x 4 ties), elimination prize money of €750k for making it to the play-off round of the Conference League, plus €260k that is given to each champion who don’t make the group stages.

Eagle eyed money watchers will notice that the prize money earned for playing a round in Europe is up to €175k from the figure of €100k from previous years - so Shelbourne, Derry City and St. Patrick’s Athletic are also benefiting from that increase in prize money this season.

How much money does the winning team make at a minimum?

Whoever wins this tie is guaranteed Conference League group stage football and, at a very minimum, prize money of €3.87m - that breaks down as €700k for playing four rounds in Europe (€175k x 4 ties) plus €3.17m for making the group stages. Additional ten and five year rankings will provide additional prize money.

In 2022, Rovers earned just over €4m from UEFA from their European campaign that included two draws in the Europa Conference League group stages. That overall figure also included €267k money as part of a UEFA ten-year ranking and €45k as part of the TV market pool (there was no five year ranking bonus back then).

Prize money in the Conference League group stages is €400k for a win and €133k for a draw – this has reduced from 2022 when Rovers last made the group stage when it was €500k for a win and €166 for a draw.

If either side makes it all the way to the Champions League, how much is it worth?

They don’t get the €175k per qualifying round but don’t feel they get short-changed as the guaranteed prize money for playing in the group stages of the Champions League is €18.62m.

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About Macdara Ferris

Macdara Ferris is a contributor since 2007 to Hoops Scene (Shamrock Rovers' match day programme) and is the co-author of two books on Shamrock Rovers - 'Tallaght Time: Shamrock Rovers 2009 to 2012' (with Karl … View Full Profile