Botev (Plovdiv) lost the rematch with Panathinaikos from the second qualifying round of the Europa League with 0:4. Thus, with a total score of 1:6, the Bulgarian team drops out of the second strongest European club tournament and will continue to the third qualifying round of the Conference League, where the opponent is HŠK Zrinjski Mostar.
The match in Plovdiv was played in front of full stands, with Botev’s fans once again showing not only European behavior, but also their great love for the club. From the first minute to the last, the supporters did not stop supporting Dusan Kerkez’s boys, despite the negative result.
The match started badly for Botev. Just 6′ after the start, Alexander Yeremeyef successfully finished off a Panathinaikos attack to put the Greek team ahead in the score.
Minutes after the opening goal in the match, Nikolay Minkov shot powerfully from outside the penalty area, but his shot rattled the crossbar.
In 34′, the problems for the “canaries” became even more serious. Anthony Ujah scored an own goal after Filip Djuricic’s shot hit his head and the ricochet made the ball unsaveable for Botev goalkeeper Hans Christian Bernat.
By the break, the situation for the “yellow-blacks” became even worse. A collision between Joonas Tamm and Ujah resulted in an injury for the Nigerian striker. Botev’s star had to leave the field on a stretcher, and it is yet to be clear how long he will be absent from the team.
In the added time of the first part, Panathinaikos also scored for 3:0. A mistake in the defense of the “canaries” allowed the Greek team to organize a counterattack, which was successfully completed by Djuricic.
The final 4:0 of the second leg in Plovdiv was shaped by Yeremeyef with his second goal of the match. The striker was brought on alone against Bernat and was able to elegantly beat him. The goal was initially disallowed for offside, but after the intervention of VAR, it was deemed that the goal should be counted.
However, the problems for Dusan Kerkez did not end there. In the middle of the second half, Andrey Yordanov, who appeared from the bench, injured his hand and was also forced to be replaced. And his condition is clarified in order to understand how long the Bulgarian national will be absent from the field.
In the final minutes of the match, Panathinaikos looked for a fifth goal. However, some decisive interventions by Bernat prevented this from happening.
In this way, Botev dropped out of the Europa League, but will continue to the Conference League. The winner of the Cup of Bulgaria will meet the winner of the Cup of Bosnia and Herzegovina HŠK Zrinjski Mostar. The first meeting between the two teams is on August 8 in Plovdiv, and the rematch is a week later in Mostar, and the winner will play a playoff to enter the Conference League groups.
In the 2013/14 season, Botev and Zrinski met again, and then the match was from the second qualifying round of the Europa League. The “Canaries” came out the final winners after a 2:0 success in Burgas and a 1:1 draw in Mostar.
Botev’s lineup: 1. Hans Christian Bernat; 17. Nikolay Minkov, 5. Joonas Tamm, 19. Antoine Conte, 27. Siriki Diabate (46′ – 7. Samuel Akere), 38. Konstantinos Balogiannis (59′ – 6. Andrey Yordanov; 64′ – 28. Yanis Karabelyov) ; 15. James Eto’o, 20. Antonio Perera; 40. Christian Nwachukwu, 10. Ivelin Popov (C) (46′ – 88. Alen Korosec), 11. Anthony Ujah (44′ – 9. Martin Sekulic);
