Preview: Levski Sofia vs Universitatea Craiova - prediction, team news, lineups

Levski Sofia will look to make home advantage count once again when they welcome Universitatea Craiova to Georgi Asparuhov Stadium for the first leg of their Champions League second qualifying round tie on Wednesday evening.

The Bulgarian champions reached this stage with a 5-1 aggregate victory over Borac Banja Luka after an emphatic second-leg success in Sofia, while the Romanian title holders also progressed with a 5-1 triumph across both legs against Vitebsk following a narrow win in Craiova.

Match preview

Levski Sofia's dominance in the second leg of their Champions League qualifier against Borac came as little surprise after they had already been the better side in the opening 1-1 draw, where Armstrong Oko-Flex struck a second-half equaliser.

A 4-0 victory in last week's return fixture saw the Irish forward break the deadlock moments after the interval before Reinaldo netted twice and Juan Perea added the fourth, with the hosts converting all four of their shots on target from 14 attempts.

Three days later, Julio Velazquez's side opened their 2026-27 Bulgarian top-tier campaign with a 2-1 victory over Dunav Ruse, in an encounter where Kristian Dimitrov struck after 22 minutes and Akram Bouras doubled the lead before Denislav Minchev grabbed a late consolation.

That result left Levski Sofia top of the Parva Liga table ahead of Ludogorets on goals scored and marked the perfect start to the Blues’ title defence after ending a 17-year wait for the championship with a 27th top-flight crown last season.

Velazquez's men are now unbeaten in 10 matches across all competitions, including six competitive fixtures (W4, D2), with their last defeat coming in a 1-0 home reverse to Ludogorets on May 9

That remains Levski Sofia's only loss in 10 competitive home outings during 2026, with the other nine all ending in victory, while scoring multiple goals in six games during that period and having as many clean sheets in that stretch.

The Blues will hope those impressive numbers continue on Wednesday as they bid to move closer to a first Champions League main stage appearance since 2006-07, though they are without a win in the last four second qualifying round matches (D1, L3) of Europe’s elite club competition and have failed to score in each.

Meanwhile, Craiova booked their place in this season's Champions League qualifiers after lifting the Romanian title in 2025-26, and they made light work of Vitebsk in the opening round.

Following a 4-1 first-leg victory in Belarus, Filipe Emmanuel Curto Coelho's side completed the job with a 1-0 success in the return fixture in Dolj County, where substitute Nicusor Bancu scored the winner deep into stoppage time.

The White-Blues then began their domestic campaign with an emphatic 4-0 win over UTA Arad as Teles opened the scoring shortly after the hourmark before late efforts from Stefan Baiaram and Simon Elisor, along with a stoppage-time own goal from Din Alomerovic, completed the rout.

Craiova are now unbeaten in 11 competitive matches since a heavy defeat to Universitatea Cluj in April, recording nine victories during that run and keeping seven clean sheets.

The Romanian champions have also avoided defeat in their last six away matches (W4, D2), conceding only twice during that spell, although they have scored more than once in just one of those fixtures.

Levski Sofia Champions League form:

Levski Sofia form (all competitions):

Universitatea Craiova Champions League form:

Universitatea Craiova form (all competitions):

Team News

Levski Sofia did not pick up any fresh injury concerns in last weekend's league win, though Stipe Vulikic, Asen Mitkov, Radoslav Kirilov and Mustapha Sangare remain unavailable dued to fitness issues.

Velazquez heavily rotated his squad at the weekend with seven changes from the side that defeated Borac, but most of those regular starters are expected to return.

Goalkeeper Svetoslav Vutsov should be restored between the posts, while Oliver Kamdem, Nikola Serafimov, Gasper Trdin and Serginho are also in line to return, with Bouras set to keep his place after an encouraging display.

Oko-Flex is expected to continue on the flank after scoring in consecutive Champions League outings, while Everton Bala and Reinaldo, who struck twice against Borac, should also start in attack.

Craiova boss Coelho also made several changes at the weekend and saw his substitutes make the difference, meaning Baiaram is expected to return to the starting lineup while Elisor pushes for his first start after scoring his first goal for the club.

The visitors will remain without goalkeeper Pavlo Isenko and Alexandru Iamandache as both players continue their recovery from injury.

Levski Sofia possible starting lineup:

Vutsov; Kamdem, Dimitrov, Serafimov, Maicon; Serginho, Trdin, Bouras; Oko-Flex, Reinaldo, Bala

Universitatea Craiova possible starting lineup:

Popescu; Romanchuk, Stevanovic, Rus; Teles, Cicaldau, Mekvabishvili, Bancu; Etim, Al Hamlawi, Baiaram

We say: Levski Sofia 1-0 Universitatea Craiova

This will be the first meeting between the two clubs, leaving little historical evidence to assess, but recent form suggests another closely fought contest.

Levski Sofia have been extremely reliable at home, while Craiova have shown impressive defensive discipline on their travels with four clean sheets in their last six away outings, although the hosts may have just enough quality to edge a tight encounter in front of their supporters.

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