Chelsea play Vidi in Europa League Group L in Budapest on Thursday. Here’s the lowdown on the Hungarian side.
Chelsea have qualified as group winners following five wins from five games, including a 1-0 defeat of Vidi at Stamford Bridge in October. Vidi can join the Blues in the last 32 by picking up more points than BATE Borisov, who are away to PAOK and also sit on six points.
Vidi’s only previous home match with an English side is their most famous victory. A 1-0 win over Manchester United in March 1985 was followed by a 5-4 penalty shootout triumph in the Uefa Cup quarter-finals. They went on to reach the final, losing to Real Madrid.
Vidi were Hungarian champions for a third time last season. They are currently second in the Hungarian First Division, eight points behind leaders Ferencvaros and three ahead of third placed Budapest Honved. Vidi lost 2-0 to fifth-placed Ujpest last Saturday.
Serbian Marko Nikolic’s own playing career was cut short by injury. But the 39-year-old has performed well as a manager, first with Serbian side Rad. His reputation grew with Partizan and Olimpija Ljubljana in Slovenia before a second spell with Partizan. He won the Hungarian league title in his first season with Vidi.
This post was last modified on 13/12/2018