Ferencvaros' soccer team faced an old acquaintance, Bulgaria's Ludogorets Razgrad, in the first round of the Europa League playoffs. Thursday's away match was the fourth meeting between the two sides this season, after they had already played each other three times in the Champions League qualifiers and the Europa League group stage. For the match in Razgrad, our coach Robbie Keane sent the following starting lineup onto the pitch: Gróf - Cissé, Gómez, Raemaekers - Makreckis, Ötvös, Kanikovszki, Abu Fani, Cadu - Yusuf, Kovacevic.

First half

Our team started the match, and after a pass from Gómez, Yusuf's cross seemed too long at first, but Makreckis reached the ball on the right wing, although we were unable to get a shot off. The home team received the first yellow card of the match when Nogueira De Oliveira slid into Cisse. There were many minor fouls in the rest of the half. Despite Fradi's momentum, Cadu lost the ball in our own penalty area, which we failed to clear in the middle, and after a short clearance, Kwadwo Duah scored in the 24th minute (1-0). Fortunately, we didn't have to wait long for the equalizer. In the 27th minute, Bamidele Yusuf broke into the box from the left wing and used his physical superiority to beat Bonmann (1-1).

In the final minutes of the first half, Franko Kovacevic received an excellent pass, but his shot was saved by Bonmann, then Yusuf had another chance to score, but our striker missed the target. The home goalkeeper had two more chances to save in added time, blocking Abu Fani's close-range attempt, but the score remained unchanged, with the scoreboard showing a 1-1 draw at halftime.

Second half

The home team pressed hard again at the start of the second half, forcing Dávid Gróf to make a save. Thirty meters from Ludogorets's goal, Ötvös was fouled, and after the free kick, several players had a chance to score, but the green-shirted players blocked Cadu and Abu Fani's attempts.

Our team continued to put pressure on the opponent's goal, with Bonmann pushing Kovacevic's header under the crossbar. After the substitutions, Son first beat his defender in front of the box and then curled the ball into the top corner, giving Ludogorets the lead again after 67 minutes (2-1).

In the final minutes, Robbie Keane tried to boost our team with several substitutions, and although we were able to create chances even in the dying moments, the equalizer never came. In fact, a Ludogorets player scored a third goal against Dávid Gróf, but the referee ultimately disallowed it for offside. The final score was 2-1 to the Bulgarians, with the question of who will advance to be decided on February 26 in the return leg in Budapest.

Ferencváros's next match is on Monday, February 23, at 8:00 p.m. as guests of MTK Budapest in the Fizz League.