Luboš Kozel is the coach of FK Jablonec. He previously coached FK Dukla Prague, Liberec and Ostrava, and in October 2026 he was 55 years old.[1]
In the opening round of the league phase of the Conference League, Jablonec lost 2:3 in Freiburg.[1][3] In round 2 the team was due to play England's Brighton in Jablonec nad Nisou at the sold-out Střelnice stadium on Thursday 22 October 2026 at 18:45.[1][2] English fans were expected to fill around a thousand of the stadium's just under six thousand seats.[3] Brighton, which is third in the English Premier League and beat Žalgiris Kaunas 4:0 in the opening round of the Conference League, had won six competitive matches in a row before the game and had lost only once in eleven in the season.[1]
Before the match Kozel said at a press conference that Brighton was possibly the strongest opponent in history to have played in Jablonec, and that for the club it was a celebration and an experience.[1][2] He said his team had to build on good defence while being active going forward, and that Jablonec was not beaten in advance.[1][2][3] Kozel also joked that he had already phoned Chelsea about how to deal with Brighton, since Chelsea were the only side to have beaten them so far.[1]
Sources
- ČTK / České noviny — 21 October 2026
- Deník.cz — 21 October 2026
- iDNES.cz — 22 October 2026