Hungarian champions Ferencváros were facing their Azeri counterparts Qarabağ FK for one of the 36 places in the UEFA Champions League new league phase in the 2025–2026 season.
The German football database Transfermarkt is considered a reliable source for player market value estimates in the international football press. However, this time, it really misled Fradi fans. It valued the Bulgarian side Ludogorets Razgrad’s squad for more than Ferencváros’, yet the Hungarians knocked them out with a comfortable 3–0 on aggregate in the previous UCL qualifying round. Meanwhile, the combined value of FTC players is about twice that of Qarabağ, according to Transformarkt. Yet, in the following round, FTC lost their home game 3–1 in Budapest, Hungary (despite taking the lead in the first half), and had to travel 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometres) to Baku, Azerbaijan with a two-goal deficit to overcome on Wednesday, 27 August.
Fradi took the lead again, with Lenny Joseph opening the scoring. However, Qarabağ turned the score around again, this time even before the end of the first half. Fradi went back to the dressing room for a much-needed pep talk from head coach Robbie Keane three goals down on aggregate.
That talk, whatever it was about, seems to have worked.
Hungarian international Barnabás Varga converted a penalty won by Joseph in the 55th minute. This was Varga’s sixth goal in the UCL qualifying season, certainly an impressive performance. Things got really heated when another player from the Hungarian national team, the young midfielder Alex Tóth coming off the bench, scored a stunning free kick goal in the 81st minute. Now Fradi were just one goal away from pushing the tie to extra time!
That goal, alas, never came. Varga came the closest to scoring it, but his header was denied by an amazing save from goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski.
Thus, the final score was 3–2 to Ferencváros, which means a 5–4 victory for Qarabağ on aggregate. The Azeris are going to the Champions League, while Ferencváros will get to play in the league phase of the secondary European competition, the UEFA Europa League.
It would have been very special to have a Hungarian team on the UCL main stage this season, given that the final is played at the Puskás Arena in Budapest. Alas, despite Ferencváros’ respectable efforts, that did not come to be.
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