After the first Champions League play off match, both teams still have an equal chance to slip through to the group stage. The opening match between Karabakh and Pilsen brought no goals.

The start of the match was swift. First chance came right from the first Viktorian corner, as Lukáš Kalvach found the team captain Lukáš Hejda in the penalty box with his center. But his shot did not go as planned. Jindřich Staněk had to shine as well, as he blocked both close range shot by Marek Vešovič and the rebound by Kady.

The home team had another good chance, when active Vešovič passed the ball to Zoubir from the right side. He could have tapped the ball into the nearly empty net, but he just missed it. Pilsen’s main weapon continued to be the corner kicks. From the second one, Kalvach precisely found Tomáš Chorý with his low center. He nearly scored, but Marko Jankovič stopped the ball right at the goal line and kicked it away.

On the other side, Staněk pulled off another fantastic save, as he blocked the shot by Ibrahimi Wadji with his foot. Chances were seen on both sides. Chorý passed the ball with a header to Kopic, but he just missed his great chance in the small penalty box. Despite an exciting first half being full of scoring chances, it ended goalless.

While the first half brought some interesting moments, the second one was deeply affected by tactics. The stakes were high and it could be seen right on the pitch. There were no scoring chances, the ball remained in the middle of the field most of the time. The only mentionable chance of the second half came 8 minutes before the final whistle. Karabakh’s Filip Ozobič fired from behind the penalty area, but Staněk made another excellent save and pushed his shot to safety.

Thus, the opening match of the Champions League play off brought no goals and both clubs still have the same chance to advance to the group stage of the world’s most prestigious football club competition.