Marked for Armstrong Oko-Flex
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad4 Sep 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match2 Sep 2028
Levski cannot stop winning
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Market4 Sep 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Levski can pretend not to have heard.
Market4 Sep 2028
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Levski heard it as anything else.
Squad4 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levski this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Sep 2028
A move Manuel Díaz would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Manuel Díaz is living that version at Levski, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Levski training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Álex Centelles is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
A performance of 9.06 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
Serginho was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.86. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Aug 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Levski may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Levski will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market28 Aug 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Levski can pretend not to have heard.
Market28 Aug 2028
Only the photograph left for Jorrit Smeets
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jorrit Smeets will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Levski the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match26 Aug 2028
Levski make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Levski have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Levski
Svetoslav Vutsov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match26 Aug 2028
Lokomotiv Plovdiv made Levski work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Marked 8.78 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Aug 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Levski will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 Aug 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Levski may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market14 Aug 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Levski, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Dalibor Večerka gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Dalibor Večerka has just signed for Levski, and for once the answer mattered.
Market14 Aug 2028
Willy Pretel has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Levski they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market14 Aug 2028
Levski may not be able to give Isaac Solet what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Isaac Solet wants continental football; whether Levski can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Levski
Svetoslav Vutsov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Vladimir Screciu was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.16. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Market14 Aug 2028
The Idan Nachmias conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: Dobrudzha will make the call about Idan Nachmias this week. Levski have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Aug 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Levski will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market7 Aug 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Levski, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mazire Soula and Levski agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levski this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Aug 2028
João Alves is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Market7 Aug 2028
The name of Idan Nachmias has come up in conversations Levski were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match5 Aug 2028
Levski get the job done against Arda
A 3‑1 win over Arda, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Ninety minutes of Mazire Soula at his very best
Marked 8.79. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Levski.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Ninety minutes of Mustapha Sangaré at his very best
Marked 8.55. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Levski.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Jul 2028
Marcos Pedro hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Levski can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Mitja Križan gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mitja Križan has just signed for Levski, and for once the answer mattered.
Market31 Jul 2028
Levski say no — this time
The offer from Botev Vratsa for Asen Mitkov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market31 Jul 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Levski is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Levski
Svetoslav Vutsov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market31 Jul 2028
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Levski heard it as anything else.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Levski training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Screciu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad31 Jul 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match22 Jul 2028
A 2-goal lead gone for Levski
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Botev Plovdiv kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Levski will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Market24 Jul 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market24 Jul 2028
Only the photograph left for Gastón Silva
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gastón Silva will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Levski the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad24 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levski this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Álex Centelles has improved at 28, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Mansour Al-Nakhli is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Levski training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Álex Centelles is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Player ratings24 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match15 Jul 2028
Juan Perea had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and CSKA Sofia were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Player ratings17 Jul 2028
Two goals and a mark of 7.89 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market17 Jul 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market17 Jul 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Levski is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market17 Jul 2028
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Levski hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Levski
Svetoslav Vutsov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Asen Mitkov is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad17 Jul 2028
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Boardroom17 Jul 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Levski
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom29 May 2028
Continental nights are coming to Levski
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
Squad29 May 2028
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Levski have had the benefit of it.
Market29 May 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market29 May 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Levski is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market29 May 2028
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Levski hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad29 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levski this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Apr 2028
Only the photograph left for Jorrit Smeets
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jorrit Smeets will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Levski the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market10 Apr 2028
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Levski heard it as anything else.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Levski
Svetoslav Vutsov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Levski training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Everton Bala is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad10 Apr 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Squad10 Apr 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Reinaldo's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Market10 Apr 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Levski know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market10 Apr 2028
Levski have made Everton Bala available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Loan watch10 Apr 2028
27 starts and a season average of 6.65. The loan is doing exactly what it was arranged to do.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match20 Feb 2028
The run at home goes on for Levski
36 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Match20 Feb 2028
Levski do the business in Europe
3‑2. Continental football is where a club finds out what it actually is, and Levski came through the finding-out well against Konyaspor.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.65 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Luca Meirelles, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.38
A mark of 8.38 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market21 Feb 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Levski is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match20 Feb 2028
Levski cannot stop winning
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Market21 Feb 2028
Luke Berry hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Levski can pretend not to have heard.
Market21 Feb 2028
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match1 Jan 2028
Whatever happens, Levski do not lose
47 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Match3 Jan 2028
Levski are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 49 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.94 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
No sign of nerves from Luca Meirelles at 20 — 8.13
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Luca Meirelles did not need any: 8.13, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad3 Jan 2028
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Levski have had the benefit of it.
Market3 Jan 2028
Levski say no — this time
The offer from Montana for Gašper Trdin was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market3 Jan 2028
The phone has started ringing about Everton Bala again, and this time the name on the line is Ludogorets. Levski are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market3 Jan 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Dec 2027
44 unbeaten for Levski
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 44 matches without defeat is a foundation Levski did not have in the autumn.
Match12 Dec 2027
A European night to remember for Levski
1‑1 against KV Kortrijk, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.
Market13 Dec 2027
Everton Bala hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Levski can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Luca Meirelles, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.51
A mark of 8.51 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Levski
Christian Makoun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Levski training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Everton Bala is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad13 Dec 2027
10 goals and a season average of 7.35. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad13 Dec 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match11 Dec 2027
A 1‑0 win over Lokomotiv Plovdiv, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match20 Nov 2027
Whatever happens, Levski do not lose
39 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Match20 Nov 2027
Levski make home a hard place to visit
30 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market22 Nov 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Levski can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad22 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levski this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Everton Bala falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match20 Nov 2027
Arda made Levski work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
A performance of 8.58 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match13 Nov 2027
38 unbeaten for Levski
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 38 matches without defeat is a foundation Levski did not have in the autumn.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market15 Nov 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Levski, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.35 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market15 Nov 2027
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Levski heard it as anything else.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Levski
Christian Makoun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Levski training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Everton Bala is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Mazire Soula gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match13 Nov 2027
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match16 Oct 2027
Still nobody has beaten Levski
The unbeaten run reaches 32. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match16 Oct 2027
Levski make home a hard place to visit
27 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad18 Oct 2027
A fracture rules Svetoslav Vutsov out for 76 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Levski will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Mathias Jørgensen damages knee ligaments — 22 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 22 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market18 Oct 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Levski
Christian Makoun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Levski training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Screciu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Armstrong Oko-Flex was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.39. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match9 Oct 2027
Whatever happens, Levski do not lose
31 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Mathias Jørgensen damages knee ligaments — 31 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 31 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match11 Oct 2027
Levski up to position 2
27 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad11 Oct 2027
The medical room confirms 37 days on the sidelines for Álex Centelles, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market11 Oct 2027
Serginho wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Levski hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Marked 8.01 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match25 Sep 2027
Whatever happens, Levski do not lose
28 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 98 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad27 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Mathias Jørgensen
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Levski lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market27 Sep 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Levski can pretend not to have heard.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Idan Nachmias: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Levski have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
7.93, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Market27 Sep 2027
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad27 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levski this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Everton Bala was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match4 Sep 2027
Still nobody has beaten Levski
The unbeaten run reaches 24. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match4 Sep 2027
The run at home goes on for Levski
22 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Mathias Jørgensen
71 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Levski lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market6 Sep 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Levski, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market6 Sep 2027
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. CSKA 1948 moved on, Christian Makoun reports back to Levski, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Levski
Christian Makoun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Levski training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Everton Bala is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Armstrong Oko-Flex, and the manager let it.
Market6 Sep 2027
The phone has started ringing about Mehdi Moubarik again, and this time the name on the line is Botev Vratsa. Levski are listening politely and promising nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match7 Aug 2027
Still nobody has beaten Levski
The unbeaten run reaches 19. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Mathias Jørgensen damages knee ligaments — 102 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 102 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market9 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Marko Dugandžić: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Levski have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match7 Aug 2027
Another one collected away from home
8 on the bounce on the road for Levski. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Market9 Aug 2027
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Levski
Christian Makoun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market9 Aug 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Levski will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Levski training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Everton Bala is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Jul 2027
Levski refuse to drop out of the race
Position 1, 60 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market5 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market5 Jul 2027
Everton Bala wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Levski hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Armstrong Oko-Flex and Levski agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levski this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Radoslav Kirilov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Jun 2027
Willy Pretel hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Levski can pretend not to have heard.
Market28 Jun 2027
Levski say no — this time
The offer from Arda for Willy Pretel was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market28 Jun 2027
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Levski hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Levski
Radoslav Kirilov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Svetoslav Vutsov has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. João Alves is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match30 Jan 2027
Levski cannot stop winning
9 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Match30 Jan 2027
No mercy from Levski
Lokomotiv Sofia will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Levski were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
A brace, and Everton Bala takes the afternoon — 9.05
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Everton Bala provided it, and the 9.05 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market1 Feb 2027
Levski say no — this time
The offer from Maccabi Tel Aviv for Mustapha Sangaré was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
A brace, and Mustapha Sangaré takes the afternoon — 8.61
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mustapha Sangaré provided it, and the 8.61 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market1 Feb 2027
Levski may not be able to give Everton Bala what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Everton Bala wants continental football; whether Levski can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Match30 Jan 2027
Levski keep winning on the road
5 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Levski
Radoslav Kirilov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market11 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market11 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
A brace, and Mustapha Sangaré takes the afternoon — 8.67
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mustapha Sangaré provided it, and the 8.67 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match9 Jan 2027
Nobody wants to play Levski right now
6 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Match9 Jan 2027
Nobody wins at Levski
13 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Marcos Pedro gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Marcos Pedro has just signed for Levski, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Armstrong Oko-Flex commits to Levski for another 4 years.
Squad11 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levski this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match2 Jan 2027
5‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The match ball belongs to Mustapha Sangaré, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match2 Jan 2027
Nobody wants to play Levski right now
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Levski will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Market4 Jan 2027
The name of Christian Makoun has come up in conversations Levski were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Levski
Svetoslav Vutsov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Mustapha Sangaré was on a different afternoon to everybody else
10.00. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Ninety minutes of Everton Bala at his very best
Marked 9.78. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Levski.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Álex Centelles falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match26 Dec 2026
Levski make home a hard place to visit
12 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Match26 Dec 2026
Levski make it 4 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Levski have 4 straight wins of it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levski this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Levski training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mathias Jørgensen is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The terraces28 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Juan José Córdoba has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match26 Dec 2026
Three points for Levski, 2‑0 the final word against Spartak 1918 in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes of Mustapha Sangaré at his very best
Marked 8.20. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Levski.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes of Everton Bala at his very best
Marked 8.15. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Levski.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match21 Dec 2026
Levski are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 39 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market21 Dec 2026
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Levski heard it as anything else.
Match19 Dec 2026
Nobody wants to play Levski right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Álex Centelles falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom21 Dec 2026
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Stefano Sensi has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Levski have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Willy Pretel in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levski this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Dec 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Armstrong Oko-Flex’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Levski.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Marked 8.15. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Levski.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
A brace, and Mustapha Sangaré takes the afternoon — 8.62
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mustapha Sangaré provided it, and the 8.62 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market14 Dec 2026
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Levski training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mathias Jørgensen is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Levski
Aldair Faustino was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad14 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Radoslav Kirilov's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
5.76 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.67 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Maicon says Levski went back on their word
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match5 Dec 2026
The run at home goes on for Levski
11 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Levski
Christian Makoun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Mathias Jørgensen falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match5 Dec 2026
Montana made Levski work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Nov 2026
Jorrit Smeets hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Levski can pretend not to have heard.
Market30 Nov 2026
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levski this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Levski training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Álex Centelles is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 8.59 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 8.36 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kristian Dimitrov, and the manager let it.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 104% of everything Levski earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match28 Nov 2026
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levski this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Levski training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mathias Jørgensen is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match14 Nov 2026
1‑2 to Ludogorets, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Everton Bala was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.26. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Radoslav Kirilov's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Marked 3.48. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces16 Nov 2026
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match24 Oct 2026
3‑0, and Armstrong Oko-Flex took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Levski tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Match26 Oct 2026
Levski up to position 2
22 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levski this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Levski training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Radoslav Kirilov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Radoslav Kirilov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.81, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 8.66 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 8.43. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Levski.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 8.34 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market12 Oct 2026
Christian Makoun wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Levski hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Match10 Oct 2026
4 matches without a win for Levski
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Levski are no longer polite ones.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Levski
Christian Makoun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Álex Centelles falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Svetoslav Vutsov, and the manager let it.
Match10 Oct 2026
Slavia Sofia left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom12 Oct 2026
Doors closed at Levski
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Levski
10 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.