Champions League qualifying play-offs second leg: AEK Athens vs Levski Sofia facts
Friday, August 21, 2026
Article summary
Previous meetings, club facts and key stats ahead of the UEFA Champions League play-off second leg.
Article top media content
Article body
AEK Athens will seek to capitalise on home advantage as Levski Sofia come to Athens for the second leg of their UEFA Champions League qualifying play-off with the tie level at 0-0 following the first game in Bulgaria.
Previous meetings
The first leg was the teams' first meeting. This is only the second Champions League tie between clubs from Bulgaria and Greece, Ludogorets beating Olympiacos on penalties in the 2021/22 third qualifying round.
AEK's only previous meetings with a Bulgarian side came in the 2001/02 UEFA Cup third round, when they beat Litex Lovech 4-3 on aggregate (3-2 h, 1-1 a).
Levski have won three of their seven games against Greek opponents (D2 L2) – all at home. In the most recent before this tie, they defeated PAOK 3-1 on aggregate in the 2022/23 UEFA Conference League second qualifying round (2-0 h, 1-1 a).
That made it two aggregate victories in Levski's three two-legged ties against teams from Greece.
Levski's away record against Greek clubs is D1 L2, with three goals scored and six conceded.
Form guide
AEK are aiming to reach the Champions League proper for the sixth time, and the first since 2018/19, when they defeated Hungary’s Fehérvár 3-2 on aggregate in the play-off round (2-1 a, 1-1 h).
A 1-3 aggregate defeat by Antwerp in 2023/24 (0-1 a, 1-2 h) made AEK's record at this stage W1 L1.
The Athens club have come through qualifying to reach the Champions League on five occasions – most recently in 2018/19 – losing a further four times.
Levski have appeared in the group stage/league phase of the Champions League once, in 2006/07, reaching that stage by beating Chievo Verona 4-2 on aggregate in the third qualifying round.
Bulgarian clubs have featured in the Champions League proper on three occasions, most recently Ludogorets in 2016/17.
Levski have lost six times in Champions League qualifying, most recently in 2009/10, when they went down 1-4 on aggregate to Debrecen (1-2 h, 0-2 a) in their sole previous qualifying play-off.
Links and trivia
AEK have lost only three of their last 18 European matches (W10 D5).
The Greek club were Conference League quarter-finalists in 2025/26, losing 3-4 on aggregate to eventual runners-up Rayo Vallecano.
The first leg was only the second of AEK's last 55 European games to finish goalless.
AEK have won the second leg in five of their last seven European ties (D1 L1).
The Athens team have won eight of their last ten home matches in UEFA competition (D1 L1).
Levski started this season in the first qualifying round, beating Borac of Bosnia and Herzegovina 5-1 on aggregate (1-1 a, 4-0 h) before overcoming Romania's Universitatea Craiova 3-2 (1-0 h, 2-2 a) and Kairat of Kazakhstan 2-0 (1-0 h, 1-0 a).
The Bulgarian side are therefore unbeaten in their seven Champions League games this season, winning four.
Levski have kept five clean sheets in their last six Champions League matches, opening the scoring in the five before the first leg.
The Sofia side have lost only one of their last five away European games (W2 D2).
Levski have not reached the group stage/league phase of any UEFA competition since finishing fourth in their section in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League. In 2025/26, they were eliminated by Braga in the second qualifying round of the same competition, subsequently losing 1-6 on aggregate to AZ Alkmaar in the Conference League qualifying play-offs.