Petr is not dreading the snow and is excited to revisit Letna Stadium On Thursday night Petr is to face a Czech team in the Europa League for the first time since he joined Chelsea. He allegedly cannot wait for the game because it was Sparta where his first international career prospects crystalised. In the Summer of 2002 he transferred from Sparta to the French club Rennes. Is this return to Letna going to mean anything specific to you? Definitely, I'm very excited. It's been almost eleven years since I left Sparta and I haven't played a Czech team ever since. Even though I'm a little gutted it's not happening within the Champion's League, I'm glad this opportunity has finally come up. I'm going to be in Prague playing a Czech team at a stadium that I'm very familiar with back from the times when I used to be in Sparta, as well as from representational games. It'll be a new experience and I'm curious what it will feel like to be a hosted there. How many Sparta players do you actually know? Basically the ones from the national team, some of which I met during under-21 competitions. Vaclik, Zapotocny, Jarosik, Svejdik, Vidlicka, Husbauer, Kadlec, Krejci, Lafata, Matejovsky... Actually almost all of them. Coach Vitezslav Lavicka used to train me, too. Have you called any of them? I've talked to Jiri Jarosik. Too bad he won't be able to play. It would have been quite the treat for him to play against Chelsea considering he's won the title with us. I hope he makes the rematch, at least. The entire Czech Republic is covered in a blanket of snow. Will that not present a challenge to some Chelsea players? I wouldn't worry about that. It tends to snow in England every now and then, plus we often play in temperatures around or slightly above zero. Even our Brazilian players are used to snow and I'm sure the field will be in a good state. The only issue that could arise is if it were to start snowing during the match. That might put Sparta into an advantageous position. Is there a possibility of Sparta being underestimated by Chelsea? No way. We go into every game bearing in mind that we must win, anything else is a failure. Therefore we don't really put too much weight on who it is we're playing. The Europa League is a certainly a challenge itself. We have chance to win the trophy and we must not underestimate anyone whatsoever. Did you provide the team with any insider information on Sparta? When there was something they needed to know they asked me. After all I do know some of the players fairly well, even the fresh signings. I did provide some characteristics, however we'd have a sufficient amount of info with or without me. Someone must have watched Sparta during their prep. Chelsea staff take these things seriously and the same procedure applies to all other opponents, no matter if it be a Champions League or a fourth-division FA Cup team. Do you have any idea what shape Sparta will be in after the preparation stage? They had a long break beforehand. It's hard to guess what they'll have to offer but they'll certainly have nothing to lose indeed, they can only gain. It will be one of the greatest games they'll have ever played, not to forget Chelsea are the incumbent Champions League title holders. It's going to be interesting for both players and fans, Letna Stadium will surely be sold out once again after a long time.
