Celje vs Ararat-Armenia — UEFA Champions League: stats, lineups & analysis
Match Events
play_arrow2 clips- 19′Ararat-Armenia, yellow card:Unsporting behaviour
- 19′Ararat-Armenia, yellow card:Foul
- 32′Celje, yellow card:Foul
- Half-time
- 46′Celje, substitution:off
- 55′Ararat-Armenia, substitution:Bennyoff
- 64′Celje, yellow card:Foul
- 66′Celje, yellow card:Foul
- 69′Celje, substitution:off
- 69′Celje, substitution:off
- 73′Ararat-Armenia, substitution:off
- 73′Ararat-Armenia, substitution:off
- 79′Celje, yellow card:Foul
- 83′Celje, goal:1–0assist
- 85′Celje, goal:2–0
- 86′Celje, yellow card:Unsporting behaviour
- 89′Ararat-Armenia, substitution:off
- 90′Ararat-Armenia, substitution:off
- 90+1′Celje, substitution:off
- Full-time2 – 0
Lineups
Starting lineups
Formation or player positions unavailable or inconsistent.
Celje
4-3-3
Ararat-Armenia
4-3-3
Key Stats
Top Performers
Goals
Assist
Videos
Match report
Celje sink Ararat-Armenia with late double in Champions League qualifying
Celje beat Ararat-Armenia 2-0 in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, breaking the deadlock deep into the second half after a goalless opening hour and a half. The result reversed the sides' previous meeting, in which Ararat-Armenia had come out on top.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
The contest stayed level through the interval and remained tight for long spells, with both teams sharing possession evenly at 50 per cent. Celje finally made the breakthrough in the 83rd minute when Yaya Dukuly converted an assist from Milot Avdyli to put the home side ahead 1-0.
Two minutes later Celje doubled their advantage as Benjamin Verbič struck to make it 2-0, sealing the win in a late flurry that left Ararat-Armenia with no time to respond. Celje's greater threat on target, eight shots to three, underlined their edge in the closing stages even as the overall possession split stayed level.
Dukuly opened the scoring in the 83rd minute, finishing off an assist from Avdyli to break the deadlock late on.
Celje landed eight shots on target compared with just three for Ararat-Armenia, reflecting their greater precision in front of goal.
Celje beat Ararat-Armenia 2–0 (half-time 0–0).
Celje met Ararat-Armenia in the UEFA Champions League (3rd Qualifying Round). Kick-off was Tuesday, 11 August 2026, 18:15 UTC at Arena Z’dezele. Referee: Marco Guida.
Team pages: Celje · Ararat-Armenia · UEFA Champions League
Key moments
- 83' Goal: Yaya Dukuly (assist: Milot Avdyli) — 1–0 · Watch Yaya Dukuly's goal video (83')
- 85' Goal: Benjamin Verbič — 2–0 · Watch Benjamin Verbič's goal video (85')
Starting line-ups
Celje (4-3-3)
Ararat-Armenia (4-3-3)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Celje 59%, the draw 22%, Ararat-Armenia 19%. It finished Celje 2–0 Ararat-Armenia.
Celje's rating edge carries it — Celje are the stronger side on our strength rating, and that is most of Celje's 59%. The draw at 22% is held down by a high-scoring environment.
Why Celje at 59%?
Celje sit 172 points higher on our strength rating — 1551 to 1379. Sides with a 100–200-point rating edge at home won 57.2% of 12,672 such games. The 300 most similar past games finished 63–19–18.
Why only 59%?
No scored evidence points the other way. 59% is what this rating gap has been worth in games like these; the rest is the draw at 22% and Ararat-Armenia at 19%.
Why is the draw only 22%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 24.2%. These teams' recent games average 3.2 goals — a high-scoring environment. Games in that environment drew 22.8% of 16,887. The goals environment takes 2.1 points off the draw.
What did we measure but not count?
Ararat-Armenia's last five: W-L-W-L-W — clearly the hotter side on recent results. Between equals, recent form told us almost nothing: the home side won 44.8% of 2179 games when clearly hotter and 42.9% of 3988 when clearly colder.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Celje vs Ararat-Armenia final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this UEFA Champions League fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
- Watch Yaya Dukuly's goal against Ararat-Armenia (83').
- Watch Benjamin Verbič's goal against Ararat-Armenia (85').
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Celje 2–0 Ararat-Armenia. Explore more on the Celje and Ararat-Armenia team pages or the UEFA Champions League page.