Europa League, Ludogorets under the spotlight: Stats and trivia

NYON – Inter and Ludogorets have been drawn together at the round of 32 stage of the Europa League. The sides have never faced each other before, meaning a new experience awaits the Nerazzurri. The first leg will be played on 20 February at the Ludogorets Arena in Razgrad, while the return fixture will take place on 27 February at San Siro.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS

Inter have never come up against the team from Razgrad, a city in Northeastern Bulgaria with a population of just over 50,000.  But the Nerazzurri have played on Bulgarian soil before: first, in the semi-final of the European Cup against CSKA Sofia in April 1967. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, leading to a playoff decider which Inter won to qualify for the final. Second, in the first round of the UEFA Cup in 1974, when Inter played Etar over two legs (0-0 in Bulgaria, a 3-0 win in Milan).

Ludogorets have been involved in the Europa League on a regular basis over the past few seasons and have also faced Italian sides: they knocked out Lazio in 2013/14 but were eliminated by Milan at the same stage in 2017/18. They are set to feature in the round of 32 of the Europa League for the fourth time and face Italian opposition for the third time in the competition.

SEASON SO FAR

Ludogorets are unbeaten at the top of the Bulgarian league: they’ve won 14 and drawn six in 20 matches having scored 30 and conceded just eight. As regards their European exploits, the Bulgarian table-toppers started out in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. After being eliminated by Ferencvaros, they had to make do with Europa League football. They began their journey in the competition in the second qualifying round and went on to knock out Valur, The New Saints and Maribor to qualify for Group H, where they finished second behind Espanyol. During the group stage, they beat CSKA Moskow 5-1 and exacted revenge on Ferencvaros with a 3-0 win. Along with two 1-1 draws, these two wins were enough for the side to qualify from their group, that despite two defeats to Espanyol (including a heavy 6-0 defeat in Spain).

THE TEAM

Pavel Vrba has been named as the Bulgarians’ Coach: he'll take the reins from January following Stanislav Genchev's spell as caretaker. Ludogorets usually deploy a 4-2-3-1 formation with Polish striker Swierczok leading the line. Claudio Keseru is a threat: he has scored nine league goals and netted six times in the Europa League this season. Another player who has excelled in the competition is Congolese man Lukaki, who has bagged five goals up to this point. One of the key pillars of the side is Romanian defender Cosmin Moti: the former Siena man achieved hero status in 2014, when he played in goal following the sending-off of the team’s goalkeeper and saved two penalties against Steaua Bucharest, resulting in Ludogorets qualifying for the Champions League group stage.