Our 35-time reigning men's football champions finished the UEFA Europa League regular season in 17th place and reached the spring in one of the continent's cup competitions for the third year in a row. In the play-off draw, we were drawn against Viktoria Plzen of the Czech Republic, with the aim of reaching the last 16 in a back-and-forth tie. The first match was played at home against Plzen.

Our Irish head coach Robbie Keane had originally chosen Varga Á. - Makreckis, Cissé, Gartenmann, Raul Gustavo - Zachariassen, Júlio Romao, Abu Fani, Civic - Varga B., Saldanha as the starting line-up, but Ádám Varga was injured during the warm-up, so Dávid Gróf, who returned to our team during the winter, was our goalkeeper on this very important day.

First half

Our team in green and white stripes started the match. In the third minute, Zachariassen 
ran down on the left wing, but the Plzen defenders saved from him. In the fourth minute, Abu Fani curled in a dangerous corner and Júlio Romao came on but our midfielder headed wide. In the eighth minute, Saldanha's header was well saved by Jedlicka. In the 16th minute, Civic raced down the left and curled a dangerous cross into the middle, but the Plzen defence managed to clear.

In the 21st minute, Barnabás Varga made a sensational pass to Abu Fani, who shot from an acute angle, which Jedlicka saved with great bravura. In the 23rd minute we took the lead! Barnabás Varga slid a header to Abu Fani. Our Israeli midfielder's 15-metre shot bounced off Dweh's legs and found its way into the Plzen goal (1-0)!

Plzen first threatened in the 27th minute through Vydra, who tried a shot from outside the box but fired over. In the 31st minute, Saldanha sent a long cross towards Barnabas Varga, but the Plzen players managed to clear from the Hungarian striker. In the 34th minute, Cerv's shot was dived into the path of Júlio Romao. In the 38th minute Vydra's header was cleared for a corner by our defence. Dweh headed home from the corner but Gróf defended bravely. In the 45th minute, Raul Gustavo headed in from Abu Fani's corner, but our Brazilian defender missed the target. The teams went into the break with a 1-0 lead.

Second half

Neither team made a substitution at the break.The first opportunity of the second half came for the visitors. Cerv shot from 25 meters but the ball missed the target. Then, in the 51st minute, Adu was in position, but Cissé made a nice clearance. Three minutes later, Raul Gustavo dived to meet Havel's shot, but the ball missed the target. Our head coach Robbie Keane made his first substitution in the 59th minute, replacing Zachariassen with Ben Romdhane. Four minutes later, our coach made another change, with Saldanha replaced by Traoré. In the 65th minute, substitute Ben Romdhane turned towards goal and his shot was saved by Jedlicka.

A minute later, Cerv's shot was saved by Gróf from a corner. In the 68th minute, Traoré raced down the right flank but his shot was wide. In the 80th minute, Rommens replaced the scorer of the match's only goal. Abu Fani.