Sizzling Sparta punish sorry Aberdeen as Jimmy Thelin learns a painful lesson in Prague – 5 talking points

Thelin now knows exactly what he needs to compete at this level after a 3-0 thumping in Prague

Aberdeen players at full-time(Image: Milan Kammermayer/Shutterstock)

Sizzling Sparta Prague punished sorry Aberdeen and saw them Czech out of the Conference League without a win.

The Czech side had already qualified for the knockout stages but needed a win to avoid the play-offs.

They got that thanks to goals from John Mercado, Lukas Haraslin and former Hearts loanee Garang Kuol.

The Scottish Cup winners finished second bottom of the Conference League with just two points.

The Dons didn’t get any luck in their draw with Strasbourg, Sparta, Shakhtar Donetsk, AEK Athens and AEK Larnaca all finishing in the top 11 of the competition.

Yet again, though, they played a part in their own downfall.

It is now about Jimmy Thelin trying to improve his squad and ensuring that they can get another crack at Europe again next season.

The Aberdeen fans will have just been delighted to make do with the Prague Christmas market and the local Czech beer to drown their sorrows.

Lessons need to be learned and a bit of luck in the draw next time would also help.

Here are our five talking points from Prague.

Clarkson and Dorrington in from the cold

Thelin had promised before the game to make changes. Captain Graeme Shinnie had been a driving force in the win over Kilmarnock and was rewarded with a starting berth. It was back in his old left-back position.

Alfie Dorrington also came in for a rare start. The Scottish Cup winner came back up from Spurs to play in Europe. He was then left out of the Euro squad and then reinstated when Kristers Tubers got injured. He hasn’t had a lot of playing time in this loan. The Englishman will be frustrated but this was a rare opportunity to impress.

Midfielder Leighton Clarkson has had more playing time but he has slipped down the pecking order in recent weeks and as times has even been omitted from squads.

Mitov plays Aberdeen into early trouble

Aberdeen started quite well but Dimitar Mitov cheaply gave away possession. He tried to play out from the back but fired straight at Sivert Mannsverk. He controlled and there were appeals for a handball but they were ignored.

Nabbsverk played out to his right for Pavelk Kaderabek to play it forward to Mercado. He cut inside Shinnie and curled a shot past Mitov in the 16th minute. It was a good goal from Sparta but it was another costly error from Aberdeen.

Cheapness from Clarkson leaves Dons up against it

The visitors couldn’t really get going after going behind. Sparta’s tails were up and they were ready to pounce on every mistake. That is what happened for the second.

Clarkson tried to head it forward from a defensive corner but there was no-one there apart from Sparta players. Mannsversk picked it up. He fed skipper Lukas Haraslin, who stepped inside Dylan Lobban and Adil Aouchiche to in the second.

A Kuol customer

Mitov redeemed himself with a fine stop to deny Albion Rrahmani in first half stoppage time.

Marko Lazetic came on for Kevin Nisbet, who was given absolutely no service. The Dons did improve with Adil Aouchiche curling a shot wide and then Aberdeen won a corner but it was nothing that was too worrying for Sparta.

Jack Milne then played a cheap ball out. Haraslin picked it up and fed Rrahmani who squared to give sub Garang Kuol an easy tap in. He had been on loan at Hearts from Newcastle but never made an impact. He did last night, cashing in on another Dons’ blunder.

Aberdeen have seen in this competition that the slightest error and they will get punished again. It has happened continuously and it remains the case until the end. It has been the story of their campaign and happened three times last night.

Thelin knows where he needs to strengthen

Jimmy Thelin had previously spoken about wanting to progress but instead it has been a rather fruitless campaign.

You have to feel for the Red Army who have travelled in their numbers to Athens, Larnaca and Prague and got to celebrate a solitary away point in Cyprus.

Thelin knows he needs to improve his squad to compete at this level.

Pace is a killer at this level and the better teams are getting faster and stronger. He needs to add more of that to his squad. In fairness, he is aware of that and I would expect that to be addressed in the upcoming windows, starting with January.

The one thing you can’t label at the players is a lack of effort. They have given everything but have just been left lacking when it really matters.

In fairness to the Aberdeen fans they stayed to the end and clapped their team off.