In the Champions League qualification quarterfinals on July 22, 2026, the first leg between Levski and Universitatea Craiova will take place. The visitors will try to achieve a good result already on the road.
Levski - Universitatea Craiova: Team news and expert analysis
The club from Sofia surprised everyone last season by successfully breaking Ludogorets' total domestic dominance. They have already started this season, securing a 2-1 victory over Dunav in the first round. The team from Craiova became champions after a 35-year break. In the summer, they defeated their main chasers—"clubmates" from Cluj-Napoca—in the Super Cup. Then, in the opening round against UTA, they achieved a resounding 4-0 win.
The Bulgarians started in the previous qualification round. They managed only a 1-1 draw away in Banja Luka against Borac. But then, at home, they thrashed their opponents 4-0, with all their goals coming in the second halves!
The Romanians played against newcomers ML Vitebsk and crushed the Belarusians 4-1 in the first, technically away, match. Back home, they won again thanks to a solitary goal from Bancu in stoppage time.
Previous matches: Levski - Universitatea Craiova
The representatives of these neighboring countries have not played each other before.
The hosts will find it difficult, but they are obliged to give their all. We predict they will manage to win here (odds – 2.05).
Levski - Universitatea Craiova: Key statistics and trends
- Levski have won three of their last four matches The team has scored an average of 1.97 goals per game, conceding far fewer—just 0.69. Universitatea Craiova, including their Super Cup penalty shootout win, have five straight victories The club scored an average of 1.63 goals and conceded almost half as many—0.83 per game 43% of Universitatea Craiova's matches end with both teams scoring, and the average total goals per match is 2.45
Levski - Universitatea Craiova: Probable lineups
Levski play in a 1-4-4-2 formation (probable lineup): Vuttsov - Maicon Araujo dos Santos, Serafimov, Dimitrov, Kamdem - Sentelles, Lobo, Trdin, Oko-Flex - Everton Bala, Reynaldo
Universitatea Craiova play in a 1-3-4-3 formation (probable lineup): Popescu - Badel, Rus, Romanchuk - Telesh, Belutze, Cicaldau, Mora - Bayram, Al-Hamlawi, Etim