With the European leagues taking a break for the
Nations League International fixtures, it is an opportunity to review the state
of the Parva Liga after the first four matches, to examine the progress of
Bulgarian clubs in the European competitions and to look ahead to Bulgaria’s
forthcoming matches against the Republic of Ireland and Wales.
Week 4
Friday 28th August
Tsarsko Selo Sofia 0-0 CSKA 1948 ( att : 150 )
Beroe 6-0 Botev Vratsa ( att : 800 )
Saturday 29th August
Arda 3-2 Botev Plovdiv ( att : 3,000 )
Montana 0-4 Levski ( att : 1,000 )
Etar 0-2 Ludogorets ( att : 1,000 )
Sunday 30th August
Lokomotiv Plovdiv 2-1 Cherno More ( att : 1,000 )
CSKA Sofia 1-0 Slavia ( att : 1,000 )
Spectators are allowed inside grounds but due to Covid
safety requirements are limited to 50% of capacity and a maximum of 1,000 per
sector. No standing is permitted, and distancing of 1.5 metres should be
maintained. However, social distancing doesn’t appear to be evident with the
hardcore fans, and some of the attendances look to be higher than the
officially reported figures…………
CSKA top the league with three wins since their opening day draw against CSKA 1948 and both of
their home wins have come from goals in added on time. Against Botev Plovdiv,
Beltrame’s free-kick decided the match, and this weekend CSKA were lucky to defeat
an improved Slavia side. With CSKA down to 10 men before half-time after Sankhare’s
dismissal for two yellow cards after rash challenges, the game seemed destined
for a goalless draw until the 93rd minute when determined runs from Mazikou
and Keita saw Mazikou’s intended cut-back for Keita intercepted by the
unfortunate Benglusov and deflected towards the Slavia goal. Sowe’s failed attempt
to flick the ball did enough to deceive the Slavia keeper and trickle into the
net. The reaction of the Slavia players was to hold their heads in their hands
in despair rather than to argue for a possible offside !
Ludogorets have
responded to their dismal opening defeat at Botev Vratsa with three comfortable
victories to still look like the likely champions, although it took two goals
in the final 10 minutes to finally overcome Etar this weekend. The Ludogorets
starting line-up for this match did not include any Bulgarian born player,
although Brazilian Cicinho now has a Bulgarian passport. Nedyalkov and Dyakov
did come off the bench though.
Lokomotiv Plovdiv
have also recorded three wins after losing the Plovdiv derby in their first
game to underline their credentials for a high placed finish. Tsvetanov’s
sliding finish and Dimitar Illev’s stunning 25 yard free-kick clinched this
weekend’s home win over Cherno More.
The three other sides predicted for a top 6 finish
have all started poorly. Slavia have picked up only one point and scored
just one goal, but to be fair they have had a tough set of fixtures to begin
with, losing to Ludogorets, Lokomotiv and CSKA. In contrast Levski have had
a relatively easy start to the season but lost at home to both Beroe and
Tsarsko Selo. However, a 4-0 win at promoted Montana, helped by two
goal-keeping errors, should hopefully get their season back on track as their
new signings start to settle in.
After victory in the derby over Lokomotiv, Botev
Plovdiv have featured in three entertaining games but only picked up one
more point. Unfortunate to lose in injury time to CSKA, Botev have drawn 3-3
with Beroe ( coming back from 0-2 to lead 3-2 with two cracking free-kicks from
Todor Nedelev and a volley by Atanas Illev ) and lost 2-3 at Arda after leading 2-1 at
half-time. Illev has scored 4 goals and Nedelev three times but
they need to stop leaking goals and hang on to leads !
Unbeaten Beroe are the league’s highest scorers
with 11 goals, and followed their 3-3 at Botev Plovdiv with a 6-0 thrashing of
Botev Vratsa. Congo international midfielder Gaius Makouta continues to impress
as have Senegalese forward Alioune Fall and Guinean attacking midfielder
Ibrahim Conte.
The two other surprise packages at this point of the
season are Tsarsko Selo and Arda. Tsarsko are yet to concede this season
and won 1-0 at Levski, although Levski will still be wondering how they didn’t
equalise just before full time when they contrived to hit the post and then the
bar when it looked easier to score. Had Tsarsko been able to score in the last
20 minutes against Montana, who were down to 9 men by then, they would be joint
top !
Arda are also unbeaten,
with victories over CSKA 1948 and Botev Plovdiv under their belts. Kokanov has
4 goals so far, including an overhead kick to seal the victory over CSKA 1948, whilst
Delev has two, including a spectacular scissor kick for the winner against
Botev.
Montana were expected to
struggle having kept mostly the same squad that won promotion and the few additions
made also had little experience of top flight football, but they were unbeaten
until the 0-4 home thumping by Levski so it remains to be seen if they have now
been found out at this level.
The other promoted side, CSKA 1948, with an
all Bulgarian squad packed with experience have looked much more suited to the
Parva Liga despite still to record a victory, having secured three draws but
surprisingly went down at home to Tsarsko Selo.
Cherno More
have flattered to deceive so far. The opening day draw at Slavia doesn’t look
so good now, they hammered Etar like everyone else, but then in turn were
hammered by Ludogorets before losing narrowly to Lokomotiv. They have played
some attractive football at times, and with 5 goals Frenchman Mathias Coureur tops
the scoring lists.
After surprising Ludogorets in Round 1, Botev
Vratsa have been unable to maintain that form perhaps indicating how much
of a turn-up that result was, having lost three on the trot, albeit to
Lokomotiv, CSKA and Beroe. Games against the lesser lights in the Parva league
may see them attain mid-table mediocrity.
Etar prop up the
table, with 4 losses, no goals scored, and 10 conceded. Ironically their best
performance was this weekend’s defeat to Ludogorets, but having already lost to
Tsarsko Selo, Cherno More and Montana, harder games potentially lie ahead. Their
aging, all Bulgarian squad appears to be heading in only one direction.
European Competitions
Ludogorets
have already been eliminated from the Champions League. After overcoming a
stubborn FK Buducnost 3-1 in Montenegro, the Champions lost narrowly 0-1 at
home to the Danish Champions Midtjylland. The Danes threatened to overwhelm Ludogorets
early on, but the game remained scoreless and gradually Ludogorets got back
into the match. However, Midtjylland took the lead with a scrappy goal with 15
minutes to play and then held out without too much difficulty to send Ludogorets
into the Europa League Third Qualifying Round, where they have been awarded a bye
into the Europa League play-off round.
CSKA won their Europa
League match, making hard work to overcome Maltese side Sirens in Sofia. The
visitors were playing their first ever match in European competitions and after
missing a penalty, took the lead with just over 20 minutes left to play to
leave a major shock looking on the card. However, Ahmedov soon equalised and
Sowe then scored from a tight angle to prevent extra time and give CSKA a home
tie against BATE Borisov in the next round.
Lokomotiv Plovdiv also
won their tie, Illev’s penalty being enough to defeat a limited FK Zeta in
Montenegro. A visit from Tottenham Hotspur awaits in the next round !
Given their poor start to the season it perhaps wasn’t
so much of a surprise that Slavia were eliminated 1-2 in Albania by
Kukesi. Although 18 year old Filip Krastev
levelled the scores with 10 minutes to play, the impressive Albanian side
deservedly regained the lead through an athletic finish from their Italian
forward Godberg Cooper. Although Albania are much lower than Bulgaria in the
UEFA coefficients for club competitions, football in Albania is on the up, all
their sides are still in European competition, with Teuta Durres' 2-0 win over
Beitar Jerusalem perhaps being the stand-out result of the First Round.
Nations League Matches
Bulgaria host Republic of Ireland on Thursday 3rd
September and visit Cardiff to play Wales on Sunday 6th September.
Bulgaria lost 1-3 a friendly in Dublin last September
as both countries fielded what can best be described as “experimental”
line-ups. Both sides will also have different coaches since that match, with
Stephan Kenny taking charge of Ireland for the first time since the departure
of Mick McCarthy whilst Georgi Dermendzhiev took over from Krasimir Balakov after
Bulgaria’s 0-6 home loss to England in October. A tight match looks in prospect
as in recent years Ireland have been solid and dependable at the back but
lacking a cutting edge up front.
The trip to Cardiff looks a lot more foreboding though and
despite the withdrawals of likely starters Aaron Ramsey and David Brooks, the
youthful Welsh squad containing Daniel James, Neco Williams, Rabbi Matondo, Ben
Woodburn, Ethan Ampadu, Matthew Smith and Harry Wilson should be much too good
for Bulgaria, let alone the presence of a certain Gareth Bale and the returning
Hal Robson-Kanu !
The Bulgarian squad for the two matches is both light
in experience and proven goal scoring, and 19 of the squad are playing in the
Parva Liga. The captain is CSKA’s 34 year old defender Peter Zanev, who has the
most caps with 43, but who is yet to play this season for his club. Arsenal Tula midfielder Georgi Kostadinov with just 3 has the most goals
in the squad . Although many of the squad have only a few caps, several have been in good form for their clubs this season, with among those called up
including 31 year old strikers Dimitar Illev ( Lokomotiv - 1 cap ) and Ismael
Isa ( Cherno More -5 caps ), midfielders Bircent Karagaren ( Lokomotiv – 1 cap
) & Todor Nedelev ( Botev Plovdiv – 28 caps ) plus a call-up for Slavia’s uncapped
Filip Krastev. There is also a first call up for naturalised Brazilian Cicinho
of Ludogorets now that he is eligible for selection.
The full squad is :
Goalkeepers :
Mihaylov ( Levski ), Georgiev ( Cherno More ), Lukov ( Lokomotiv )
Defenders :
Zanev & Galabov ( CSKA ), Nedyalkov & Cicinho ( Ludogorets ), V. Popov
( Cherno More ), Rabotev ( Botev Plovdiv ), S. Popov ( Hatayspor ), Dimitrov (
Hadjuk Spilt ), & Goranov ( Charleroi )
Midfielders : Nedelev
( Botev Plovdiv ), Karabelyov & Krastev ( Slavia ), Ivanov ( CSKA 1948 ),
Tsvetkov ( Beroe ), Karagaren ( Lokomotiv ), Kovachev ( Arda ), Kostadinov (
Arsenal Tula ) & Malinov ( OH Leuven ).
Forwards :
Delev ( Arda ), Isa ( Cherno More ), Illev ( Lokomotiv ) & Kraev (
Midtjylland )
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