A very good Ligue 1 player in the 2000s, Jaroslav Plasil took part in the little game of “Paroles d’Ex” this Saturday in L’Equipe. The Czech, who notably played for Bordeaux and Monaco, notably returned to the greatest moment of his career, the moment when he felt the strongest. It was of course the quarter-final of the 2004 Champions League, where ASM overthrew the great Real Madrid of Zinedine Zidane.
“I was lucky enough to be a starter (Zikos and Bernardi were suspended) in a completely different formation with Édouard Cissé, Jérôme Rothen and me in a triangle in the middle. And up front, Ludovic Giuly, Dado Prso and Fernando Morientes. We beat the Galacticos! We qualified for the semi-finals and it was a highlight for me to play against Zizou, R9 (Ronaldo), Raul, Figo… A 22-year-old kid against these stars! An extraordinary day.”Plasil remembers.
“What a talk from Didier”
Beaten 4-2 in Madrid, Monaco had completely turned the tide by winning 3-1 at Louis-II, after having conceded the opening goal. An exploit that was built before the match, with the strong words of a young coach named Didier Deschamps. “And what a talk from Didier (Deschamps): “Even if we concede a goal first, nothing changes! Nothing!” remembers Plasil. They open the score (Raul, 35e) and there… Ludo on fire, Fernando too… Everyone was there. Already in the first leg at the Bernabeu, I had come on and had the chance to cross for Morientes’ goal.
Monaco would then eliminate Chelsea in the semi-finals before losing in the Champions League final to José Mourinho’s FC Porto.
