Viktoria Plzeň and Levski Sofia met at Doosan Aréna in the UEFA Europa League league phase, and the shape of the match explained the scoreline far better than the bare numbers do. Levski Sofia turned the tie around and left Viktoria Plzeň to chase the game for the best part of the second half. The turning point came at the 44 minute mark, when Everton Bala struck it with quality, and everything that followed was played in that new landscape. Levski Sofia won 2-1 and carried the points home. 10143 supporters filled Doosan Aréna, and the noise never really left the players alone. Neither side arrived in the best form: the last five results read L L W L W for Viktoria Plzeň and D L W D W for Levski Sofia, and both sets of players knew what a slip would cost.
Match facts
- Date: 22.10.2026
- Kick-off: 19:00 UTC
- Venue: Doosan Aréna, Plzeň, Czech Republic (12500)
- Attendance: 10143
- Referee: Alejandro José Hernández Hernández (Spain)
- Competition: UEFA Europa League 2026/2027 – Matchday 3
- Starting line-ups: Viktoria Plzeň (4-2-2-2, Coach: Radoslav Kováč) / Levski Sofia (4-2-3-1, Coach: Julio Velázquez)
- Scorers: Everton Bala 44′ (Levski Sofia); Christophe Kabongo 62′ (Viktoria Plzeň); Reinaldo 65′ (Levski Sofia)
Viktoria Plzeň lined up with Florian Wiegele, Tobiás Paliscák, Sampson Dweh, Denis Vavro, Cheick Souaré, Patrik Hrošovský, Lukás Červ, Amar Memić, Tomás Ladra, Denis Višinský, Christophe Kabongo in a 4-2-2-2, while Levski Sofia answered with Svetoslav Vutsov, Aldair, Kristian Dimitrov, Christian Makoun, Maicon, Marko Grujić, Mehdi Moubarik, Mazire Soula, Sérginho, Everton Bala, Reinaldo in a 4-2-3-1. Radoslav Kováč and Julio Velázquez led their respective sides from the touchline, and both had a plan for the first hour that they wanted to keep intact.
Goals and key moments
Goal details, minutes and scorers are the part of the record that separate one evening from another. At the 44 minute mark, Everton Bala struck it with quality, with Reinaldo supplying the pass that made it possible, and 0-1 was the consequence. It was a chance worth 0.36 expected goals, which is exactly why it was worth taking. That strike changed the temperature of the evening: from that point Levski Sofia could play for the counter while Viktoria Plzeň had to take risks in the spaces that had opened up. 62′: Christophe Kabongo struck it with quality, Cheick Souaré helping it over the line, and it was 1-1 almost immediately. The chance itself carried 0.4 expected goals of weight, and the goalkeeper had no answer to it. The opening goal of the night arrived at the 65 minute mark, when Reinaldo struck it with quality for 1-2. The goalkeeper would say afterwards that it was worth 0.41, and that is the harshest measure of all. Not every opening was taken, though, and the chances that were missed told their own story. Taken together, the goals gave the evening a shape that the scoreline on its own never explained.
The tactical picture
Viktoria Plzeň started in 4-2-2-2 under Radoslav Kováč, while Levski Sofia answered with 4-2-3-1 under Julio Velázquez, and those two shapes decided most of what happened on the field. The midfield was the part of the pitch both sides wanted, and the numbers show who managed to take it. Neither manager was willing to hand the central ground over for free, and the shape of the game followed that refusal. Levski Sofia’s 4-2-3-1 was the sharper of the two systems, and Viktoria Plzeň’s 4-2-2-2 spent longer than they should have without the ball. Levski Sofia pressed high and won the second ball, which left Viktoria Plzeň unable to build from the back and forced them into hopeful passes. The width of the pitch worked against Viktoria Plzeň, who kept trying to attack down the same flank and were closed down every time. Transitions were the story: Levski Sofia moved the ball forward at speed, Viktoria Plzeň could not. The tactical conversation between the two benches was as much a part of the evening as the movement of the ball itself.
Statistical comparison
The statistical picture is as revealing as the scoreline itself. The numbers that decide matches rarely tell the whole story, but they narrow the argument down to a very small area. Possession finished at 50 per cent for Viktoria Plzeň against 50 per cent for Levski Sofia, and it is worth noting which side actually used it. Viktoria Plzeň attempted 13 shots to Levski Sofia’s 6, with 2 on target against 3. Expected goals told the sharper story: 1.05 for Viktoria Plzeň, 1.04 for Levski Sofia. Viktoria Plzeň won 4 corners to Levski Sofia’s 1, and that is where most of the set-piece danger came from. Viktoria Plzeň completed 397 of 472 passes against 404 of 488 for Levski Sofia, a difference that shows how differently the two sides circulated the ball. Fouls were committed 9 times by Viktoria Plzeň and 11 by Levski Sofia, with 0 and 0 red cards in the official count. The goalkeepers made 1 and 1 saves respectively, and on a night like this that work decides how the result is remembered. The duels went 50 to 49, which is usually the cleanest single indicator of who was prepared to spend effort on the ball. Tackles were completed 20 times by Viktoria Plzeň and 16 by Levski Sofia, and the duels that followed tell the same story as the rest of the evening. Viktoria Plzeň managed 9 shots from inside the penalty area compared with 5 for Levski Sofia, which is the clearest single indicator of where the game was actually played.
Discipline and substitutions
Discipline and substitutions shaped the second half more than the scoreline suggests. Viktoria Plzeň collected 1 yellow cards and Levski Sofia 1, with Mazire Soula (20′), Stefan Pirgić (87′) among the bookings. The caution count of 2 in total meant the referee had to manage a game that was becoming increasingly physical around the halfway line. Both coaches used their changes: 5 by Viktoria Plzeň and 4 by Levski Sofia, with the last substitution of the evening coming at the 82 minute mark. The emotional temperature of the evening rose and fell with the challenges and with the decisions taken by both benches. Alejandro José Hernández Hernández took charge of the match and had a relatively straightforward evening by the standards of the competition.
Player of the match and the standout performers
Individual performances separated the two teams across a full ninety minutes. Reinaldo of Levski Sofia was the player of the match with a rating of 8.6, and every touch that mattered carried his name on it. For Viktoria Plzeň, the best individual rating belonged to Cheick Souaré (7.88). For Levski Sofia, the best individual rating belonged to Reinaldo (8.61). The gap between the best performances on each side was the reason the result never really looked as comfortable as it was. The goalkeeping was worth a mention too: Florian Wiegele made 1 saves for Viktoria Plzeň, and Svetoslav Vutsov made 1 for Levski Sofia. Across the two squads the highest individual ratings read Cheick Souaré (7.88), Amar Memić (7.09), Reinaldo (8.61), Maicon (8.18).
What the result means for the league phase
Viktoria Plzeň on 0 points from 3 matches, in 33rd place with a goal difference of -5 and Levski Sofia on 4 points from 3 matches, in 17th place with a goal difference of +0. Viktoria Plzeň arrived with L L W L W in their last five and Levski Sofia with D L W D W, so the result fits the run both of them have been on. For Levski Sofia this is the result the league phase was built for, and it leaves them in a much healthier position; Viktoria Plzeň will need to respond quickly. What the numbers cannot show is how hard the result was worked for, and how differently the two sides will remember it. The next round of the league phase will tell more: whoever adjusts first in the coming days will be the one who controls the group.