Bulgarian clubs in Europe (2003-04)

[albionroad]

Champions League
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CSKA vs Pyunik(Armenia)-KR(Iceland), 2nd round.

UEFA Cup
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Levski vs Atyrau(Kazakhstan), qualifying round.
Litex vs Zimbru(Moldova), qualifying round.

Intertoto Cup
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Marek Dupnitsa vs Videoton(Hungary), 1st round.

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Intertoto Cup
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1st round

Videoton 2-2 Marek
Marek 3-2 Videoton (aet) 5:4

2nd round

Marek 1-1 Wolfsburg (Germany)

[albionroad]

Intertoto Cup

2nd round, 2nd leg. July 12, 2003.

Wolfsburg 2-0 Marek (3:1 agg.)


Marek are eliminated from the Intertoto Cup.

[albionroad]

Pyunik Yerevan (Armenia) defeated KR Reykjavik 2-1 on aggregate in the Champions League, 1st qualifying round. They will now face CSKA Sofia in the 2nd qualifying round. Matches are July 30 and August 6. The first match is in Yerevan.

[albionroad]

If CSKA advance to the third round of the Champions League, they will face Galatasaray.

[albionroad]

Champions League
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2nd Qualifying Round, 1st leg

Pyunik Yerevan 0-2 CSKA Sofia

Goals: Yanchev 17', Mukasi 48'


2nd leg is August 6.

[albionroad]

Champions League
2nd Qualifying Round, 2nd Leg

CSKA 1-0 Pyunik Yerevan

Goal: Lima 90' (pk)

Aggregate: CSKA 3-0 Pyunik Yerevan


CSKA will play Galatasaray in the 3rd Qualifying Round.

[albionroad]

Champions League
3rd Qualifying Round, 1st Leg

Galatasaray 3-0 CSKA

Goals: Sas 3', Suker 5', Erdim 37'
Red Card: Yordanov (CSKA) 59'
Attendance: 66,300 (!)


Not looking good for CSKA.

[albionroad]

UEFA Cup
Qualifying Round, 1st Leg

Atyrau 1-4 Levski

Goals: Agabaev 88'; Chilikov 9', Ivanov 13', 33', Temile 21.

Litex 0-0 Zimbrau

[albionroad]

Champions League
3rd Qualifying Round, 2nd Leg

CSKA 0-3 Galatasaray

Goals: Prates 28', Sabri 53', Erdem 86'
Att: 16,000 at the Bulgarian Army Stadium


Aggregate: CSKA 0-6 Galatasaray


CSKA are eliminated from the Champions League and will now enter the first round of the UEFA Cup.

[albionroad]

UEFA Cup
Qualifying Round, 2nd Leg

Levski 2-0 Atyrau

Goals: Ivanov, Telkiyski

(Aggregate 6:1)

Zimbru 2-0 Litex

Goals: Fruzna 2

(Aggregate 2:0)



* Levski and CSKA are the only Bulgarian clubs remaining in Europe. Both will enter the first round of the UEFA Cup.

[Canadian_Supporter]

Litex can't be happy losing to a Moldovan club in the qualifying round.

With that being said, I know nothing of Litex... except that Tony Menezes (Canadian player) had a trial with the club a few years ago. :)

[albionroad]

Originally posted by Canadian_Supporter
Litex can't be happy losing to a Moldovan club in the qualifying round.

With that being said, I know nothing of Litex... except that Tony Menezes (Canadian player) had a trial with the club a few years ago. :) Yeah, it's been a pretty miserable start for Bulgaria in Europe, Levski excepted. CSKA getting hammered by Galatasaray and Litex going out to Zimbru.

I don't know a whole lot about the club either. They are from the town of Lovech in north central Bulgaria, population around 50,000. They are not a traditional big team but now have the sponsorship of the Litex company. They're probably the 3rd club in Bulgaria after Levski and CSKA though Slavia, Naftex and the two Plovdiv clubs might have an argument.

[albionroad]

UEFA Cup
1st Round Draw

Torpedo Moscow - CSKA
Hapoel Ramat Gan - Levski

Matchdays: September 24 & October 15

I believe the team listed first is home for the first leg.

[albionroad]

Injury news

CSKA will be missing Marcos Charras (injury), Svetoslav Petrov (injury) and McDonald Mukassi (personal) for the first leg of their UEFA Cup 1st round tie against Torpedo Moscow.

Levski will be missing Georgi Chilikov for the first leg of the UEFA Cup 1st round tie against Hapoel Ramat-Gan. The match, by the way, will be played in Slovakia because of the political problems in Israel.

[albionroad]

UEFA Cup
1st Round, 1st Leg

Hapoel Ramat-Gan 0-1 Levski (in Dunajska Streda, Slovakia)
CSKA 1-1 Torpedo Moscow (att: 15,000!)

2nd Leg - October 16

[albionroad]

UEFA Cup

1st round, 2nd leg

Torpedo Moscow 1-1 CSKA
(2-2 aggregate. 3-2 penalties)

Levski 4-0 Hapoel Ramat-Gan
(5-0 aggregate)


*Levski are the only Bulgarian club left in Europe in the second round of the UEFA Cup. Just like last season.

[albionroad]

UEFA Cup 2nd round draw

Levski-Slavia Prague

Matches will be played November 6 and 27. The first match is in Prague.


Canadian Supporter...how are Slavia looking this season? Does Levski have a chance? I actually might be able to see the return leg, I will be in Bulgaria at that time.

[Canadian_Supporter]

Originally posted by albionroad

Canadian Supporter...how are Slavia looking this season? Does Levski have a chance? I actually might be able to see the return leg, I will be in Bulgaria at that time.

Does Levski have a chance? Yes they do.

Slavia has been struggling in the Gambrinus Liga this year (through the first 10 games). Although they still sit in fifth place in the league. One thing is for certain... Levski will have problems scoring against Slavia. They have only given up 6 goals in the first 10 league games.

I would imagine that this tie is going to be very close.

How has Levski looked so far this year?

[albionroad]

Originally posted by Canadian_Supporter How has Levski looked so far this year? From what I've read, not good. Their first two UEFA Cup opponents have been a team from Kazakhstan and a team from the Israeli second division. Not exactly stellar opposition. They have not looked very good domestically either, currently in fourth place (-7 to the leaders). Their defense has been pretty stingy too, only five goals surrendered in eight games (and only one in four European games).

So it sounds like we have two sides who should always be challenging for domestic honors who are both struggling. I would imagine the standard in the Czech League is higher than that of the Bulgarian League so...advantage Slavia.

It will be interesting.