site.btaLevski Sofia, Arda Kardzhali Advance to Conference League Play-Offs

Levski Sofia and Arda Kardzhali have taken another step toward the group stage of European football’s third-tier club competition, the UEFA Europa Conference League, after convincing victories on Thursday night secured their places in the play-offs.

In the second leg of the third qualifying round, Levski defeated Azerbaijan’s Sabah 2:0 away, advancing 3:0 on aggregate after last week’s narrow home win. Radoslav Kirilov opened the scoring in the 40th minute in Baku, while substitute Mazir Sula sealed the result in the 87th.

In the decisive play-off round, the Sofia club will face AZ Alkmaar, who beat Vaduz 3:0 at home in the first leg and followed up with a 1:0 away win in the Liechtenstein capital. Levski will host the first match on August 21 and travel to the Netherlands for the return leg on August 28.

Arda also booked their place in the play-off round, completing a 3:0 aggregate win over Lithuania’s Kauno Zalgiris. In the home second leg, Dimitar Velkovski scored in the 8th minute and Svetoslav Kovachev doubled the lead four minutes later. The visitors finished with nine men after receiving two red cards in the first half.

Arda’s next opponents will be Rakow Czestochowa. The Polish team eliminated Maccabi Haifa with an aggregate score of 2:1.