Slavia Prague Maintains Among Europe’s Top Defensive Records

Regardless of the final outcome in the Czech league, one fact has been consistently clear over the past eight seasons: Slavia Prague maintains the strongest defence.

The pivotal influence behind Slavia’s unwavering defensive prowess is head coach Jindřich Trpišovský, who took the reins in December 2018 and has seen the team through every season since. Under his stewardship, Slavia hasn’t just excelled as the foremost defensive team in the Czech league; they’ve also ranked among the elite in the top 10 European leagues.

Trpišovský’s commitment to defensive strategy is evident. Throughout these eight seasons, his squad has claimed the title for the most prolific attack post-regular season on five occasions, yet their primary focus has consistently been their defensive setup, even in seasons when they weren’t the league’s top scorers.

This is perfectly illustrated by the season prior to Trpišovský’s arrival, where Slavia clinched the title under Jaroslav Šilhavý, outscoring their nearest rivals, Plzeň, by a significant margin.

For Trpišovský, prioritising defence remains paramount. “We aim to rely on our backline; it’s a trend we’re committed to,” he asserted last August.

The outcome? Just 11 goals conceded over 30 rounds this season, with Slavia achieving clean sheets in 20 of those matches. The only season with fewer goals conceded was 2019/20, where they let in just 10 goals and registered 22 shut-outs.

These statistics are remarkable, not only within the context of the Czech league; even Trpišovský has acknowledged this impressive feat.

“We have the fewest goals conceded in the league and lead Europe in clean sheets. When I observe the top clubs in prestigious leagues, not many can claim such dominance,” he remarked following a recent match against Slovácko, where his team maintained their trend of not conceding. While he referenced only this season, his comments resonate across the last eight seasons.

During this period, Slavia conceded a mere 170 goals over 269 league matches (averaging 0.63 goals conceded per game), which is not just the best record among the top 10 European leagues (according to the latest UEFA coefficient rankings), but also in neighbouring leagues like Austria and Poland.

This analysis only includes clubs with over 200 matches played. FC Porto follows in second place (268 matches/187 goals conceded/average 0.70), with Benfica in third (268/209/0.77).

Slavia also leads the pack in Europe for total clean sheets, amassing 144 over eight years. Porto is the only club close behind with 135, followed by heavyweights Manchester City (131), and both Barcelona and Atlético Madrid (129).

The pressing question now is not if they will secure the title, but when they will do so. As the reigning Czech champions, they have already locked in a spot in the main stage of the Champions League for next year, entering as the current leaders of defensive excellence in Europe.

With 20 clean sheets this season, they are on par with nine clubs that have 15 each (including Juventus, Napoli, and Porto). Their nearest rival, Poland’s Czestochowa, has conceded 11 goals with one match remaining.

Data indicates that Slavia restricts their opponents to minimal scoring chances. Among 213 clubs monitored, they’ve faced the second-fewest attempts on goal (212) and the least accurate shots on target (69). Only Bayern Munich surpasses them in both categories (192 attempts, 66 shots).

Remarkably, four of the 11 goals they’ve conceded were from headers, which is quite average in Europe (for instance, Napoli recorded none). However, this doesn’t signify a vulnerability in aerial situations.

The Czech league is well-known for a high volume of crosses, and amongst the ten clubs taking the most aerial duels, five hail from the Czech top flight.

Slavia ranks 27th in Europe (10th in the Czech League) with 1,150 aerial duels, boasting a commendable success rate of 57.2%—winning 658 of those duels. They place third in Europe, trailing only Inter Milan (58.8%) and Rapid Vienna (57.7%).

Furthermore, they secured second place in total number of presses, achieving 503, while only Cercle Brugge, with a game in hand (636), performed better.

Notably, fourth-place Barcelona recorded only 477 presses, showcasing Slavia’s defensive capabilities. They also excel in successfully turning the ball over from the opponent, with a rate of 64.1%, ranking them 16th in Europe. Interestingly, this is just above average in the Czech Republic, where they sit fifth in the league, with Baník Ostrava leading at 68.6%.

As next season approaches, it will be intriguing to see how Europe’s top defence holds up against the best attacking forces in tougher competitions.