Pavel Vrba used Jan Kovařík and Daniel Kolář in the starting line-up for the first time in the current season. Viktoria entered the match excellently and they dominated in the 1st half. Michael Krmenčík had a great start to the Champions League when he scored twice in the 1st half. After a break CSKA quickly reduced the score. Vrba´s team then defended their leading for a long time, in which they finaly failed and after a penalty kick they tied to CSKA Moscow 2-2.

Matchday 1, Wed 19th Sep 2018, 21.00, Doosan Arena
Plzeň: Kozáčik – Řezník, Pernica, Hubník (C), Limberský – Hořava (89. Hejda), Hrošovský – Kopic, Kolář (64. Čermák), Kovařík – Krmenčík (73. Řezníček).
CSKA Moscow: Akinfeev (C) – Becão, Chernov, Nababkin – Mário Fernandes, Vlašić, Oblyakov, Dzagoev (73. Zhamaletdinov), Efremov (46. Achmatov) – Bijol, Chalov (80. Sigurdsson).
Goals: 29. a 41. Krmenčík – 49. Chalov, 90+5 Vlašić (pen.), YC: Hubník, Řezníček – Efremov, Achmetov, Bijol, Sigurdsson, Becão, Referees: Bastien – Zakrani, Haquette (FRA). Attendance: 11,312.

Viktorians were offered a promising chance soon after kick-off but Kopic passed it too far for Kolář and goalkeeper Akinfeev reached it first. Krmenčík had a chance later when he beat his man on the edge of the penalty area but the goalkeeper got there quickly again and blocked his effort out for goal kick.

Plzeň controlled the ball most of the time in first half and they also produced good positions to score. At first, Limberský shot above but moments later Doosan Arena finally burst out of joy! Limberský's next pass from a free kick was returned into the box by Řezník and Michael Krmenčík put the ball behind Akinfeev – 1-0!

With the half-time approaching, Kozáčik made an excellent save. Plzeň's defence worked perfectly so Chalov had to shoot from a long distance. He aimed well, but the Slovak international got his fingers on it. He had some troubles with the following corner but he stood his ground and on the other side, Plzeň scored for the second time! Michael Krmenčík proved his perfect form and added his second goal of the match – 2-0! David Limberský was again the one who set up this goal with pass from outside of his foot.

Moscow started the 2nd half with a clear task – to score a contact goal as soon as possible. And they managed to do just that. It was Fedor Chalov with about 4 minutes after the break when he tipped Vlašić's cross in front of Hubník just into far bottom corner of the goal. Afterwards Daniel Kolář could respond with a great chance, but he missed the target from inside penalty box.

In following minutes of the match the home team managed to focus again and the visitors couldn't get in any bigger chance for a long time. 10 minutes before end of 2nd half, Kozáčik caught Zhamaletdinov's shot, Sigurdsson tried to get the rebound, but only with his hand.

All home fans grew silent when CSKA scored a goal from inside the box, fortunately for them referee Bastien turned the goal down after a discussion with the goal assistant. In extra time Zhamaletdinov headed Vlašić's centre pass just inside the far post for but because of off-side position the goal was disallowed as well.

However, Moscow finally scored the goal they were craving for. In the last minute of extra time the referee Bastien gave a penalty kick for CSKA and Nikola Vlašić hold his nerves. He set the final score at 2-2.

Michael Krmenčík's Commentary
"We're a bit disappointed… It's a shame for us and for our fans as well that we conceded a goal in stoppage time from a penalty kick. We didn't play badly," two-goals scorer Krmenčík said right after the match. "Football is sometimes so amazing and sometimes it takes it from you in the last minute," he added. "Our fans were fantastic. We'd like to thank them for their support," he closed.