A morning after their team's flattest European night in years, Bulgaria's sports pages did not go easy on Ludogorets Razgrad. Following Thursday's 2-0 first-leg defeat to Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Conference League's second qualifying round, several of the country's biggest outlets tore into the perennial champions, describing a side without ideas and, in the words of one, already standing with "a foot and a half outside Europe," according to a roundup published by ONE.
The Bulgarian press did not mince words. One of the country's largest sports sites wrote that Ludogorets had "taken a beating from the Israelis" and now face elimination unless urgent changes are made before the return leg, ONE reported. Another described the team as "lacking ideas, powerless, and with their backs against the wall," arguing Hapoel could have won by an even wider margin given how little Ludogorets threatened going forward.
The defeat was also an unwelcome start for Thomas Reis, the German coach who took charge of Ludogorets earlier this month after leaving Turkish side Samsunspor. Thursday's game in Hungary was his competitive debut on the Ludogorets bench, and by the Bulgarian media's account, it was a chastening one — a team many still consider the Balkans' benchmark side left toothless in attack.
On the pitch, the story was straightforward. Hapoel Tel Aviv took the lead through Omri Altman in first-half stoppage time, then sealed the win with a second goal from Chico — the Brazilian-born defender Francisco Alves da Silva Neto — in the 89th minute. The match was played not in Israel but at the DVTK Stadion in Miskolc, northeastern Hungary, in front of roughly 6,000 spectators, since Israeli clubs are currently unable to host European fixtures on home soil for security reasons.
For Hapoel, the win carried outsized significance well beyond the scoreline. It marked the club's first appearance in continental competition in 12 years, a return that follows a turbulent stretch featuring an ownership overhaul, financial collapse and two relegations before the club fought its way back to Israel's top flight and, now, back onto a European stage.
Ludogorets, by contrast, arrive at the second leg under real pressure. The club has won the Bulgarian league in all but one season since 2012 and is used to treating qualifying rounds as a formality. Bulgarian commentators quoted by ONE argued the team will need a markedly better performance — and at least two away goals — simply to keep the tie alive.
The return leg is scheduled for July 30 at Ludogorets' own ground in Razgrad, where the Bulgarian side will have to overturn the two-goal deficit to advance. Reis will have just over a week to address whatever went wrong in Hungary before his side's European season is potentially over before it truly began.
