Two teams that are familiar with each other met once again in the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League—and that is quite an understatement. Hungarian champions Ferencváros played their Bulgarian counterparts PFC Ludogorets Razgrad on Thursday, 26 February at the Groupama Arena in Budapest, Hungary for the fifth time this season alone!
The two sides clashed in the UEFA Champions League qualifying phase (Fradi advanced with 3–0 on aggregate) in the summer. Then, after both teams failed to make it to the UCL league phase, the two of them got drawn together in the Europa League league phase as well. There, Fradi came out victorious again, beating Ludogorets 3–1 at home. The Hungarian team finished 12th on the EL table, while the Bulgarian side finished 22nd. And, lo and behold, now got to face each other again in the play-off for the Round of 16.
Given that the two green-and-white teams played each other multiple times in the previous few seasons as well, this match-up is slowly turning into an Eastern European classic…
Based on the last few face-to-face results, Ferencváros came into the tie as the clear favourites. However, they lost the first leg in Razgrad, Bulgaria. Swiss international Kwadwo Duah opened the scoring for the home side, but Bamidele Yusuf quickly equalized before halftime. In the 67th minute, the Spanish right wingback Son found the winner for Ludo with a curled shot from long range into the top bin—Fradi went into the rematch at home with a one-goal deficit to overcome.
And they managed to do so quite quickly.
After just 13 minutes of play, the Israeli midfielder Gavriel Kanichowsky put the ball into the side netting in the near post from about 16 yards out, after Lenny Joseph set him up nicely with his first touch. By the 30th minute, it was Ferencváros who were in front in the tie: one of the longest-serving players on the Fradi squad, Kristoffer Zachariassen from Norway, fired a shot from 20 yards into the near bottom corner. Yusuf, goalscorer of the first tie in Bulgaria, also deserves credit for his good run and assist in the build-up.
In the second half, Fradi striker Joseph hit the bar from inside the box in the 58th minute. Ferencváros were on the front foot throughout the game, and earned their spot in the Round of 16 of the Europa League. This was the first time the Budapest team won a knockout tie in the spring phase of a European competition in 51 years.
‘Before the game, everyone was nervous around me but me,’ Robbie Keane, former Irish international and Ferencváros head coach, told the press, as quoted by the Hungarian sports daily Nemzeti Sport. ‘Somehow I managed to stay calm. I knew we would have chances. I was also sure that our two stickers up front would cause great difficulties for the Bulgarian defence’.
Ferencváros will face the Portuguese side SC Braga next in the UEFA Europa League. The first game of the match-up will be in Budapest on 12 March.
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