Bulgaria Update

We haven't done one of these in awhile, because every year the Bulgarian soccer league is won by the same team:  PFC Ludogorets Razgrad.  Last season, Ludogorets won the Bulgarian league for the 13th year in a row, which gave them a 13th shot at the Champions' League.

In 2014-15, Ludogorets actually made it all the way to the Group Stage of the Champions' League, where they went 1-4-1 and were eliminated.

In 2016-17, Ludogorets returned to the Group Stage.  This time, they went 0-3-3 and were eliminated.

Since the 2016-17 season, they have entered the Qualifying Rounds of the Champions' League, but they have not yet returned to the Group Stage.

Here's what happened to Ludogorets this year:

In the First Qualifying Round, they drew FC Dinamo Batumi of Georgia.  Over two legs, Ludogorets outscored Dinamo Batumi 3 to 2, so they advanced to the Second Qualifying Round.

In the Second Qualifying Round, Ludogorets drew FC Dinamo Minsk of Belarus.  Over two legs, Ludogorets advanced with a 2-1 aggregate score.

So they went to the Third Qualifying Round.  If Ludogorets could survive this round -- and the next Playoff Round -- they would be in the Group Stages for the first time since 2017.  In the Third Qualifying Round, Ludogorets drew Qarabag FK of Azerbaijan.  The first leg was played in Baku, Azerbaijan, and Ludogorets pulled out a 2-1 win.

Today, Ludogorets and Qarabag met for the second leg in Razgrad.  After 7 minutes, Qarabag scored, but Ludogorets responded with goals in the 13th and 23rd minutes.  At that point, Ludogorets was at home with a 4-2 lead on aggregate, and you had to like their chances of advancing.  But Qarabag scored two goals late in the first half, and the aggregate score was 4-4.  The teams played a scoreless second half, so they were still tied at 4.  UEFA doesn't decide matches by the away goals rule anymore, so they went to extra time.

In extra time, the roof fell in on Ludogorets.  Qarabag scored in the 93d minutes, the 110th minute, the 112th minute, and the 118th minute.  So Qarabag went from being down 4-2 on aggregate to winning 4-8 on aggregate.  Ludogorets are eliminated, and Qarabag marches on to the Playoff Round, where they will face GNK Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia.  One of those teams will be in the Group Stage, but Ludogorets will not.