After three victorious Europa League qualifying matches, our men’s soccer team—36-time champions—has also begun its campaign in the domestic top flight, namely the 2026–27 OTP Bank Liga.

Before the match, our head coach, Balázs Borbély, clearly outlined the direction and ultimate goal: “No excuses: the league is starting, and the club failed to win the title last year. So this year, there can be only one goal: we must reclaim the league title!”

On Thursday, July 30, we’ll take the field for the Europa League second leg against Twente, so Balázs Borbély made several changes to the team that won in Enschede. Ádám Varga started in goal, our French defender Nathan Zohoré - who arrived this summer - made his debut in the center of the defense, while Szilárd Szabó, returning from loan, was also given a chance in the attacking line.

In the third minute, Gavi Kanikovszki sent a perfect pass to Franko Kovacevic, who was breaking from his own half; our Croatian forward had a clear run on the Paks goal, but he rushed his shot, squandering the big chance. To make matters worse, our forward was injured and had to be substituted; Bamidele Yusuf came on in his place.

In the first half of the period, Fradi had more possession; our dominance on the field was clear, and it paid off in the 18th minute: Yusuf received a superb through ball, broke toward the goal, and calmly slotted the ball past Kovácsik from 14 meters out (0-1).

Two minutes later, we could have doubled our lead through Krisztián Lisztes, but instead, following a scramble in front of our goal after a corner kick, the home team equalized with a goal by Pető (1–1).

But the tie didn’t last long, because in the 32nd minute, our acting team captain, Endre Botka, slid a cross coming in from the right into the home team’s net (1–2).

In the 41st minute, during a Paks attack, Endre Botka was left on the ground following a collision just outside our penalty area, and the home team equalized again with a goal by Szalai (2-2).

Balázs Borbély made a substitution at halftime: Mariano Gómez came on for Máriusz Corbu.

Even though we had more possession, Szalai scored his second goal in the 55th minute, followed four minutes later by Pető’s second, giving the home team a 4-2 lead after 59 minutes of play. By this point, Ádám Bagi and Elton Acolatse were already on the field for Fradi; the former had come on for Zsombor Gruber, while the latter had replaced Szilárd Szabó in the 57th minute.

We struggled to break through the home team’s tighter defense and were no longer able to create chances as frequently as we had in the first half. We finally managed to do so in the 79th minute, but Yusuf misjudged Kanikovszki’s precise cross in the box, so we were unable to close the gap on Paks.

After a good start, we ultimately came away empty-handed in our league opener. We’ll have a chance to bounce back in the second round against Vasas on August 2 at 8:15 p.m. at Groupama Arena.

Our team’s next match will be on July 30 at 8:30 p.m. against FC Twente in the second leg of the Europa League second qualifying round.