Balgarianovinite.com Bulgarian Cup holders CSKA Sofia eliminated Azerbaijan’s Qarabag 5-4 on penalties on Thursday to advance to the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League, where they will face Maccabi Tel Aviv. The victory also guaranteed them at least a place in the UEFA Conference League play-offs.
Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli side comfortably knocked out Moldova’s Sheriff Tiraspol. The first leg of the third qualifying round, scheduled for August 6, is officially a home match for Maccabi Tel Aviv, although Israeli clubs currently play their home fixtures at neutral venues. On Thursday, Maccabi hosted Sheriff in Batumi, Georgia. The return leg will be played in Sofia on August 13.
After regular time and extra time in Sofia ended goalless, the two teams failed to score over 210 minutes across both legs, sending the tie to a penalty shootout.
CSKA goalkeeper Fedor Lapoukhov emerged as the hero, saving Matheus Silva’s spot-kick with Qarabag’s second penalty. Earlier, during extra time, he had also denied the visitors on at least three clear scoring opportunities. All of CSKA’s penalty takers converted their attempts, sending the Bulgarian side through to the next round. CSKA Sofia Wins Penalty Shootout against Qarabag to Reach Europa League’s Third Qualifying Round 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-07-30 21:42:24 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law