On Thursday evening, our men’s soccer team hosted USC Torreense—a Portuguese second-division side and Portuguese Cup champion—at Groupama Arena in the third round of the UEFA Europa League group stage. For the second home match of the group stage of the 2026–2027 season, head coach Balázs Borbély kept young Dániel Radnóti in goal and selected the following starting lineup: Radnóti – O. Nagy, Gómez, Zohoré, O’Dowda – Madarász, Á. Nagy, Zachariassen – Birmancsevics, Arzani, Yusuf.

First Half

In the minutes following the opening whistle, it would have been difficult for an outsider to tell which team was the home side and which was the visiting team, as both sides threw themselves into the game with roughly the same intensity, mostly in the middle third of the field. In the 5th minute, Radnóti did have to make a save on a moderately powerful shot, but this posed no problem for our young goalkeeper. The same scenario repeated itself in the 11th minute, following a series of midfield exchanges that culminated in the referee issuing a yellow card to Zachariassen with a fairly light hand. Our response to all this was a header by Yusuf, which sailed just centimeters over the crossbar. At the end of the first quarter-hour, it was Yusuf’s turn again; this time, he sent a low cross sailing over the goal. In the 20th minute, however, he showed no mercy: he gratefully accepted the gift of the ball, drove forward, and fired a low shot into the net from 16 meters out (1-0)!

Unfortunately, the response wasn’t long in coming, and this time it was our defense that gave away the goal. In the 23rd minute, Pozo received a low cross from the left between three of our defenders, with his back to the goal; he then, leaning backward, curled the ball into the left corner with a half-turn (1-1).

In the final quarter-hour of the first half, the teams essentially replicated the first half. The match was dominated primarily by physical battles, with the goals rarely facing any real danger. The only truly noteworthy moment came when O’Dowda headed Ádám Nagy’s cross over the bar from practically right in front of the goal. We went into halftime tied.

Second Half

At halftime, Balázs Borbély saw no reason to make any substitutions, so we continued the game with the same lineup we started with. And with roughly the same intensity as well. However, this intensity continued to be focused more on physical battles than on creating truly dangerous scoring opportunities. Both teams spent the first ten minutes of the half jostling for position. Our head coach grew tired of this the quickest and responded to what had happened so far by bringing on Madarász for Corbu. It was magical. What happened immediately afterward was pure magic: in the 58th minute, following a Birmancsevics corner, Gómez Mariano rose from a standing position in a manner that would put helicopters to shame, and despite being tugged at, he slid the ball under the crossbar with unyielding precision (2–1)!

Torreense coach Luís Tralhaó had only one response to our lead: he, too, tried making substitutions. With significantly less success than his Ferencváros counterpart. The rest of the match clearly demonstrated this.

In the 63rd minute, Alfaro and Zoabi left the field, replaced by Jean and Jatta; then, in the 74th minute, Drammeh and goal-scorer Pozo were substituted for Abubakari and Quintero. A minute after this substitution, Balázs Borbély demonstrated how to make an effective substitution. Joseph and Maiga came on for the departing Yusuf and Arzani. The latter soon took center stage. In the 80th minute, O’Dowda delivered a superb cross; Maiga met it perfectly and, with a little help from his defender, curled it into the net (3-1)! The fact that the goal was officially credited to Diadié did nothing to dampen the joy.

And that wasn’t the end of it. The final blow came in the 89th minute, once again from the substitutes. Joseph won the ball and passed it to Lisztes, who had come on just two minutes earlier; Lisztes then curled a superb shot into the net (4-1)—the game was decided!

Our team delivered a sensational second-half performance to crush Torrense and win its third group-stage match!

Ferencváros now stands with 3 wins and 9 points after three rounds in the UEFA Europa League! The action continues in two weeks, on November 5, when we visit Italian side AC Milan.

For ticket information on Ferencváros’s upcoming home games, 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!