October 1, 2020
Formed : 1945
Championships : 9 ( the last 9 Bulgarian championships ! )
Cup Winners : 2 ( 2012 and 2014 )
Location : Razgrad, 335km north-east of Sofia
Stadium : Huvepharma Arena ( capacity 10,422 - although there are plans to increase capacity ).
Colours : All Green, change kit All White.
Nickname : The Eagles
Owner : Kiril Domuschiev ( Bulgarian Pharmaceutical entrepreneur )
Coach : Pavel Vrba, formally coach of Czech Republic and Viktoria Plzen
Last Season : Champions - Ludogorets successfully defended their title with 4 rounds to spare, and finished 13 points clear of CSKA, losing only one match all season, and that was the last match of the season.
In the Champions League, Ludogorets were shocked by Ferencvaros in the first qualifying round but won three ties in the Europa League ( Valur Reykjavik, The New Saints and Maribor ) to reach the group stages where they got revenge on Ferencvaros to get out of a group also including CSKA Moscow and Espanyol. In the round of 32, Inter Milan were too strong.
In previous seasons Ludogorets have recorded wins in European matches over Lazio, PSV, Basel, Hoffenheim and drawn with Liverpool, Bayer Leverkusen and Paris St Germain
The average league attendance was 1,665
Current Season : Top, one point clear of Lokomotiv Plovdiv after 7 matches played.
Results ( in order of most recently played ) :
vs Beroe Stara Zagora( H ) 2-0
vs CSKA Sofia ( A ) 2-2
vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( H ) 3-1
vs Etar Veliko Tarnovo ( A ) 2-0
vs Cherno More Varna ( A ) 4-1
vs Slavia Sofia ( H ) 3-0
vs Botev Vratsa ( A ) 1-3
Highlights of all of Ludogorets’ matches can be found on YouTube on the PFC Ludogorets 1945 channel.
Ludogorets surprisingly lost the Super Cup, traditional season curtain raiser, 0-1 to Cup Winners Lokomotiv Plovdiv in Razgrad. The winning goal deservedly came in the 89th minute after Ludogorets had DR Congo defender Ikoko sent-off for violent conduct in the 65th minute.
Even more surprisingly, they lost the first league match of the season 1-3 at unfancied Botev Vratsa. For the second consecutive match Ludogorets were reduced to 10 men when the scores were level, this time veteran Dyakov headed for the dressing room after 33 minutes for a second yellow card for an unnecessary shirt pull. Including the end of the previous season, Ludogorets had lost three consecutive domestic matches after going over a year unbeaten !
Three victories over sides currently in the bottom four got the season back on track, before home wins over two championship contenders and a slightly fortunate draw at bogey side CSKA ( the 7th consecutive draw between the sides in league encounters ! ). Last weekend’s home win over Beroe inflicted a first defeat for the visitors, and enabled Ludogorets to replace Beroe at the top of the table.
Champions League – won 3-1 against FK Buducnost in Montenegro, then lost 0-1 at home to FC 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.
Europa League - Ludogorets were one of two sides to be awarded a bye in the 3rd qualifying round. The club have openly stated that qualification for the Europa League group phases is now the minimum expectation.
Squad :
Teams in Bulgaria can register five non-EU nationals in their squad, but only three can be part of the match-day squad. Non-EU nationals with EU ancestry can claim dual nationality, whilst those with no EU ancestry can claim Bulgarian citizenship after five years in Bulgaria.
The starting line-up for the match at Etar did not include any Bulgarian born players !
Current Bulgarian Internationals :
Anton Nedyalkov : left back/centre back ( 27 ) – 16 caps
Cincinho : right back ( 31 ) – 1 cap ( Brazilian born but now a naturalised citizen. Picked as soon as he became eligible for selection last month ), ex-Santos
Ex Bulgarian Internationals/Other Domestic Players :
Plamen Iliev : goalkeeper ( 28 ) – 16 caps
Vladislav Stoyanov : goalkeeper ( 33 ) – 19 caps
Georgi Terziev : centre back ( 28 ) – 14 caps
Dominik Yankov : midfield ( 20 ) – Under 21 international, born in Canada and also lived in Sunderland !
Wanderson : midfield ( 32 ) – 6 caps ( Brazilian born but now a naturalised citizen ). Signed in 2014. Currently injured.
Svetoslav Dyakov : midfield ( 36 ) – 36 caps, over 300 appearance.
Foreign Internationals -
Cosmin Moti : Romanian centre back ( 35 ) - 12 caps. Signed in 2012, 289 appearances to-date.
Dragos Grigore : Romanian centre back ( 34 ) – 38 caps, ex Toulouse
Stephane Badji : Senegalese midfielder ( 30 ) – 16 caps, ex Anderlecht
Claudiu Kesuru : Romanian striker ( 33 ) - 37 caps, ex Nantes. Top scorer last season with 18 goals in all competitions.
Bernard Tekpetey : Ghanaian forward ( 23 ) – 2 caps, on loan from Schalke.
Mavis Tchibota : Congolese forward ( 24 ) – 1 cap, ex Bnei Yehuda. 13 goals in all competitions last season.
Anicet Abel : Madagascan midfielder ( 30 ) – 17 caps, ex CSKA Sofia and Botev Plovdiv. Currently injured.
Jordan Ikoho : DR Congo defender ( 26 ) – 7 caps, ex Paris St Germain & Guingamp
Jorginho : Guinea Bissau winger ( 25 ) – 8 caps , ex Manchester City Youth & St Etienne
Olivier Verdon : Benin defender ( 24 ) – 20 caps, ex Bordeaux and Eupen, signed on loan from Alaves. Made his debut at the week-end.
Other Foreign Players
Cauly Oliviera : Brazilian midfielder ( 25 ), ex Paderborn, MSV Duisburg & Fortuna KolnAlex Santana : Brazilian midfielder ( 25 ), ex Botafogo
Higinio : Spanish forward ( 26 ), ex Numancia
Elvis Manu : Dutch/Ghanaian winger ( 27 ), ex Feyenoord, Brighton &, Huddersfield
Renan : Brazilian goalkeeper ( 31 ), ex Botafogo. Now first choice keeper but suffered a freak leg injury against Lokomotiv when attempting a drop-kick and had to be substituted.
Iliev – Cincinho, Moti, Grigore/Verdon, Nedyalkov – Badji, Yankov, Cauly Oliveira, Santana – Tekpetey, Kesuru,
Summary :
Ludogorets are currently not the force of a few seasons ago due to the retirement of the dangerous Marcelinho, an injury to Wanderson, and the ageing of several key players. The side is now a mix of veteran Romanians, run-of-the-mill Brazilians and unproven Africans. Bankrolled by one of the richest men in Bulgaria, they are favourites to retain their domestic league title, but Midtjylland exposed some of their limitations. CSKA Sofia and Lokomotiv also revealed a lack of pace in the centre of their defence, with the midfield more inclined to go forward rather than help out with defensive duties.
Summer signing Alex Santana has caught the eye so far and is joint top scorer with the reliable Kesuru on 3 goals, whilst fellow Brazilian Cauly Oliveira was influential in the win over Beroe. Yankov looks like he has promising future ahead of him.
On their day Dinamo can beat anyone, and were brilliant in patches against BATE. However, they need to sustain their up-tempo, flowing game for longer spells, and cut-out some of the defensive lapses. They will also need to be not as wasteful in front of goal as they were against BATE, but as they showed against Astana, they can sometimes be clinical.
Both sides look stronger going forward than defending so there should be a few goals.
At the time of writing, Ludogorets are 5/6 favourites with Bet365. Dinamo are 11/4 and the draw 5/2
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