Ludogorets won over Batumi at the start

Ludogorets won against Dinamo Batumi 3:1 in the first match of the first qualifying round of the Champions League. The Eagles must regret that they did not score more, which would have allowed them to go to Georgia next week more relaxed. On the contrary - now the people of Razgrad will have to do their best to eliminate Andriy Demchenko's players. However, a shocking moment marked the meeting. In the 63rd minute, a referee whistle was heard from the stands, due to which some of the home team's players stopped playing and the ball flew into Sergio Padt's net. This is truly something rare, which did not allow Ludogorets to decide everything in the first match.

The coach of the champions, Georgi Dermendzhiev, bet on a lineup without surprises, as none of the new players started from the first minute. In front of goalkeeper Sergio Padt, Aslack Von Witry, Olivier Verdon, Dinis Almeida and Anton Nedyalkov came out. Pedro Naressi and Ivaylo Chochev were in midfield, while behind center forward Rwan were Bernard Tekpetey, Rick Jhonathan and Todor Nedelev, who was making his Ludogorets debut in Europe. Dinis Almeida and Ivaylo Chochev also played for the first time with the Eagles team in the tournaments of the Old Continent. As expected, Jakub Piotrowski, who played at Euro 2024, started on the bench, and the other player who participated in the tournament, Kwadwo Duah, was not in the group at all.

In the 2nd minute, Tekpetey tried a pass to Rick, who was coming out in an excellent position, but the ball was knocked right in front of him by a Georgian defender. Ludogorets took the lead in the 13th minute. The Eagles then executed a superbly learned corner position. Nedelev found Rick on the edge of the penalty area, he easily feinted a defender of Dinamo Batumi and served the ball to the uncovered Bernard Tekpetey on the penalty spot, who could not make a mistake - 1:0. Just seven minutes later, Tekpetey broke down the right and cut back to Rwan, who shot, but Dinamo Batumi goalkeeper Ricardo Silva parried his shot. Ludogorets continued to look for a second goal, as Dinis Almeida joined the attack and would but miss the goal.

In the 24th minute, the Eagles took a 2:0 lead. Rick Jhonathan was accurate. He received a wonderful lead pass from Rwan, raced past the Dinamo Batumi defense and effortlessly slotted the ball into Ricardo Silva's net. Ten minutes later, the Brazilian made another good breakthrough and shot powerfully, but over the goal. At the end of the first half, Todor Nedelev was close to scoring after a nice pass from Aslack Von Witry, but the Georgian goalkeeper saved his heavy shot with one hand. A huge miss followed by Rwan, who with a bit of luck overcame the Dinamo defense and went alone against the keeper, but instead of scoring, he beat her from a clear position.

At the beginning of the second half, the visitors had a good opportunity to reduce the score, but their attackers were unable to strike the right shot. The Georgians created another good opportunity when, after an hour of play, Honore Gomis would be dangerous, but after a ricochet in Todor Nedelev, the ball went over the goal.

Dinamo Batumi's pressure gave a result in the 63rd minute. Then Gomis broke down the left, eliminated Tekpetey and passed to Mamuchashvili who scored. The entire defense of Ludogorets, including goalkeeper Sergio Padt, stopped playing as they heard the whistle. There was none, and the goal was counted - 1:2. A truly shocking moment at such a serious time.

A triple substitution followed, with Piotrowski, Tissera and Caio Vidal coming on, and Nedelev, Rwan and Tekeptey coming off. This gave a result and in the 73rd minute Ludogorets took the lead again with two goals. Aslack Von Witry was accurate from a foul. The rematch is next week near the Georgian Black Sea.