Five Wins, No Mercy: Ferencvárosi Host Struggling Celje in Europa League

Thursday night in Budapest. Ferencvárosi against Celje in the UEFA Europa League. On paper, this is straightforward. On the pitch, I expect it to be just as straightforward.

Ferencvárosi: Five from Five. End of.

Listen, I do not need to overcomplicate this. Ferencvárosi have won five consecutive matches in this competition. Five played, five won. Fourteen goals scored, three conceded. That is not a hot streak. That is a standard being set.

They beat Trabzonspor twice to open their campaign, winning 1-0 and then 4-0. Back-to-back wins against the same opponent, the second one a demolition. Then they went and beat Celtic 3-1. Then Viktoria Plzen 2-1. Then Torreense 4-1. The thing is, that run includes results against sides with genuine quality, and Ferencvárosi handled every single one of them.

The basics have been right. They have competed. They have scored freely and, when they have needed to keep things tight, they have shown they can do that too. Forty percent of those five matches ended in a clean sheet. The attitude across that entire run looks exactly what you want to see from a side with ambitions in this competition.

Celje: The Numbers Do Not Lie

Celje have played three matches in the Europa League this campaign. They have won none of them. One draw, two losses. Two goals scored, seven conceded. They have kept zero clean sheets.

The draw came against Salzburg, finishing 2-2. That is their best result. Before that, they lost 0-3 to Omonia Nicosia. Before that, 0-2 to Bayer Leverkusen. The desire to compete at this level has to be there. The results suggest it has not always been.

Travelling to Budapest to face a side with five wins from five is not the fixture Celje need right now. The thing is, nobody is going to hand them an easier draw. They have to find something. So far, the evidence says they are struggling badly to do that.

What Decides This Match

Accountability. That is what it comes down to.

Ferencvárosi have shown it week after week in this competition. Every player doing their job. Every defensive responsibility met. Fourteen goals going forward tells you the creativity is there. Three goals against in five matches tells you the defensive organisation is there too.

For Celje, the question is whether they can at least make Ferencvárosi work for it. The 2-2 draw with Salzburg shows there is something in this squad. They can score. They can compete on their best day. But zero clean sheets in three matches against this level of opposition is unacceptable if you want to be taken seriously in this competition.

I trust my eyes. A home side winning every single Europa League match they have played, against a visiting side who have conceded seven in three, is not a puzzle. Ferencvárosi should win this. They should win it comfortably.

The Bet

I back Ferencvárosi to win. No accumulator nonsense. One selection, backed with conviction. Their form in this competition is as clean as it gets. Celje have shown almost nothing defensively across three matches. The home side to win. End of.