Our 36-time champion men's soccer team kicked off the 2026 season in the league after their UEL match against Panathinaikos, facing ETO FC at Groupama Arena. Head coach Robbie Keane sent Gróf, Cissé, Raemaekers, Szalai, Makreckis, Ötvös, Madarász, Kanikovszki, Nagy B., Acolatse, and Kovacevic onto the pitch, giving our two new signings, Elton Acolatse and Franko Kovacevic, an immediate opportunity to prove themselves.

First half

After a pass from Makreckis, Szalai headed over the bar, then Megyeri had to save a shot from Acolatse. At the other end, Gróf made a great save to deny Benbouali, then Gavrics' shot was blocked and went out for a corner. In the 15th minute, Krpics headed the ball towards goal, forcing Nagy Barnabás to clear it off the line. Seven minutes later, Vitális shot from distance but missed the target. Stefulj then slid in to win the ball, preventing Acolatse from having a clear shot on goal. 

Shortly afterwards, there was confusion between Cissé and Gróf, which the visitors almost took advantage of, while at the other end, Megyeri saved Acolatse's long-range shot. In the 35th minute, Kanikovszki had a great opportunity, managing to break through the visitors' defense, but Megyeri was unable to get past him. Almost immediately afterwards, Kovacevic, who had neatly beaten his defender, shot the ball across the goal. 

Second half

A great start! Franko Kovacevic immediately put the ball into the visitors' goal after Ötvös' shot, scoring his first Fradi goal in his first match as a new striker (1-0). Shortly afterwards, Nagy could have increased the lead, but his shot missed the goal, as did Kanikovszki's attempt. In the 61st minute, however, the visitors equalized somewhat unexpectedly through Benbouali (1-1). We then made a substitution, with Bemidele Yusuf replacing Acolatse. In the 70th minute, Megyeri made what was probably the save of the round.

We had a great attack on the left side. After Nagy's pass, Kanikovszki sent the ball to Kovacevic, who was completely unmarked and had a shot from five meters into the empty goal, but the visitors' goalkeeper was able to save it. On the other side, however, at the end of a similarly beautiful attack, Bumba put Győr ahead (1-2). Ötvös had a chance to equalize, but his shot went just over the bar. We tried to freshen things up with a double substitution, replacing Szalai with Gruber Zsombor and Kanikovszki with Mohammed Abu Fani. Njie came close to scoring ETO's third goal, but fortunately he didn't connect well with the ball. However, a minute later, the visitors made no mistake, with Stefulj scoring in the 86th minute (1-3).

There were no more goals, and ETO took the three points from the Groupama Arena. Our team will next play Nottingham Forest in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.