Viktoria Plzeň vs Levski Sofia — UEFA Europa League: stats, lineups & analysis
HighlightsUEFAUEFA.comMatch Events
- 20′Levski Sofia, yellow card:Foul
- 44′Levski Sofia, goal:0–1assist
- Half-time0 – 1
- 60′Viktoria Plzeň, substitution:off
- 60′Viktoria Plzeň, substitution:off
- 60′Levski Sofia, substitution:off
- 62′Viktoria Plzeň, goal:1–1assist
- 65′Levski Sofia, goal:1–2assist
- 74′Levski Sofia, substitution:off
- 74′Viktoria Plzeň, substitution:off
- 74′Viktoria Plzeň, substitution:off
- 77′Viktoria Plzeň, substitution:off
- 82′Levski Sofia, substitution:off
- 82′Levski Sofia, substitution:off
- 87′Viktoria Plzeň, yellow card:Foul
- Full-time1 – 2
Lineups
Tap a player for match stats
Key Stats
Top Performers
Best rated
Goals
Assists
Videos
Player Ratings
Viktoria Plzeň
Levski Sofia
Match report
Levski Sofia come from behind to beat Plzen at Doosan Arena
Levski Sofia won 2-1 away to Plzen at Doosan Arena in the third matchday of the UEFA Europa League league stage. The visitors led at the interval through Everton Bala and, after Plzen levelled, struck again within three minutes to take the points.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Bala opened the scoring in the 44th minute, finishing a move created by Reinaldo to give Levski a 1-0 half-time lead. Plzen came out after the break and equalised in the 62nd minute, Christophe Kabongo scoring from a Cheick Souaré assist to make it 1-1.
The home side's lift did not last. Reinaldo scored in the 65th minute, with Maicon providing the pass, and Levski held on to complete the win. It ended a run of four games without a win for the Bulgarian side, while Plzen have now lost three games in a row.
Plzen had far more of the ball, with 63% possession to 37%, and took 13 shots to 6, yet the visitors put three of their six on target to the hosts' two. Oddsivio's pre-match forecast had given Levski Sofia an 18% chance of winning. Both sides are next in action on Thursday 5 November in the Europa League, Plzen away to Lillestrom and Levski at home to Jagiellonia.
Reinaldo was the match's top-rated performer at 9.0, scoring the winner and setting up Bala's opener. Kabongo, who scored Plzen's goal, was rated 7.59.
Plzen had 13 shots to Levski Sofia's 6 but only two of them were on target, against three for the visitors.
Levski Sofia won 2–1 away against Viktoria Plzeň (half-time 0–1).
Viktoria Plzeň met Levski Sofia in the UEFA Europa League (League Stage - 3). Kick-off was Thursday, 22 October 2026, 19:00 UTC at Doosan Arena. Referee: Alejandro Hernandez.
Team pages: Viktoria Plzeň · Levski Sofia · UEFA Europa League
Key moments
- 44' Goal: Everton Bala (assist: Reinaldo) — 0–1
- 62' Goal: Christophe Kabongo (assist: Cheick Souaré) — 1–1
- 65' Goal: Reinaldo (assist: Maicon) — 1–2
Starting line-ups
Viktoria Plzeň (4-2-2-2)
Levski Sofia (4-2-3-1)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Viktoria Plzeň 57%, the draw 25%, Levski Sofia 18%. It finished Viktoria Plzeň 1–2 Levski Sofia.
Viktoria Plzeň's rating edge carries it — Viktoria Plzeň are the stronger side on our strength rating, and UEFA Europa League home advantage on top gives Viktoria Plzeň a clear lead. The draw at 25% is about what a gap this size usually leaves.
Why Viktoria Plzeň at 57%?
Plzen sit 149 points higher on our strength rating — 1642 to 1493. Sides with a 80–160-point rating edge at home won 56.7% of 13,383 such games. UEFA Europa League home sides out-perform the global norm — and the difference mostly flows to draws (23.2% vs 25.4% norm). UEFA Europa League homes won 47.0% of 4,474 games vs 44.6% across all 101,492 — outside the noise band, so the tally moves accordingly. The 300 most similar past games finished 58–27–15.
Why only 57%?
No scored evidence points the other way. 57% is what this rating gap has been worth in games like these; the rest is the draw at 25% and Levski Sofia at 18%.
Why the draw at 25%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 24.8%. These teams' recent games average 2.1 goals — a low-scoring environment. Games in that environment drew 28.2% of 18,765. The goals environment adds 2.6 points to the draw. UEFA Europa League produces fewer draws than most, taking 2.2 points off.
What did we measure but not count?
Plzen are 3 games into a new manager (R. Kováč), appointed 56 days ago. The famous new-manager bounce doesn't survive its receipt: sides with a new manager beat their rating by 0.9 points over 33,420 games — but sides on an equally bad run who kept their manager beat it by 2.4 over 31,777.
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 Viktoria Plzeň vs Levski Sofia 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 Europa 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 the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Viktoria Plzeň 1–2 Levski Sofia. Explore more on the Viktoria Plzeň and Levski Sofia team pages or the UEFA Europa League page.