On Thursday evening, our men’s football team hosted Viktoria Plzeň, a team from the Czech top division, in the second round of the group stage of the UEFA Europa League. For the first home game of the 2026–2027 season, our head coach, Balázs Borbély, made a change in goal, starting our 20-year-old goalkeeper, Dániel Radnóti. Here’s how we started: Radnóti – Osváth, Raemaekers, M. Gómez, Cadu – Corbu, Á. Nagy – Yusuf, Zachariassen, Birmancsevics – Lisztes.

First Half

Fradi threatened the goal as early as the 2nd minute, but after a cross from Veljko Birmancsevics, the visitors cleared the ball, resulting in the game’s first corner kick. Viktoria’s goalkeeper, Dominik Tapaj, punched the ball away after the corner, but no further scoring opportunity developed at that point. It didn’t take long for the first yellow card to be issued; the referee cautioned Attila Osváth in the 7th minute. Dániel Radnóti faced his first serious test in the 11th minute, when our young goalkeeper punched Amar Memic’s long-range shot out for a corner. The corner kick did not lead to another chance, unlike the opportunity in the 16th minute in front of the Czech goal, when, after two crosses, Birmancsevics finally got a shot off from inside the penalty area, but Tapaj saved his low shot.

Midway through the first half, Bamidele Yusuf took a shot, but it was blocked by Viktoria’s defense. In the 27th minute, Ádám Nagy aimed for the goal from distance but missed, and three minutes later, the Czech goalkeeper confidently caught Osváth’s shot. At this stage of the match, Fradi was taking the initiative, and our players managed to get off some shots, though these did not result in dangerous scoring opportunities. The visitors also had their chances; as the half drew to a close, Memic’s first shot was stopped by Osváth, and on the second attempt, Gómez Mariano was tackled before he could even take the shot. The first half ended scoreless.

Second Half

Neither team made any substitutions during halftime, so both sides resumed the match with the same lineups. The visitors had the first shot after the teams switched sides, but Gómez made a great save. Following these events, we took the lead in the 49th minute: Yusuf passed to Birmancsevics, who then set up Kristoffer Zachariassen perfectly; Zachariassen shot into the bottom left corner from 11 meters out (1-0).

In response to falling behind, Plzen’s coach made three substitutions in the 64th minute; at that point, Daniel Arzani replaced Krisztián Lisztes for us. In the 68th minute, substitute Faal headed the ball just over the crossbar from close range, and then Ladra’s shot from 21 meters missed the goal. In the 77th minute, after Birmancsevics was tripped, the referee initially pointed to the penalty spot but soon reversed his decision; however, after a brief review, he ultimately awarded the penalty kick. Zachariassen confidently converted it, making the score 2–0.

Viktoria didn’t give up and managed to pull one back in the 90th minute; Denis Visinsky’s goal kept the match alive (2–1). At the start of the six-minute stoppage time, Jonathan Levi and Ádám Madarász came on as substitutes; Radnóti made a save on a long-range shot, and the Polish referee handed out several yellow cards, but the score remained unchanged - we defeated Viktoria Plzeň 2–1!

After two rounds, Ferencváros stands with two wins and six points in the UEFA Europa League! The action continues in a week, on October 22, when we’ll face Torreense of Portugal.

For ticket information on Ferencváros’s upcoming home matches, please visit the Groupama Arena ticket offices (general hours: Mon.: Closed, Mon–Fri: 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m., Sat: 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. (on match days, until kickoff), Sun: Closed, except on match days) or our ticket sales website, meccsjegy.fradi.hu!