In round 8 of LPBank V.League 2025-2026, The Cong Viettel will visit Hoang Anh Gia Lai at Pleiku Stadium. Coach Velizar Popov's team is currently ranked 2nd on the rankings with 7 consecutive unbeaten matches.
Only Ninh Binh FC and Hanoi Police had an impressive series of matches like The Cong Viettel before this round took place. On the other hand, the team from the Mountain City is at the bottom of the V.League table with only 1 goal after 7 rounds. They are also one of two teams that have not won a match before.
The Cong Viettel is clearly rated higher than Hoang Anh Gia Lai, despite having to play on the opponent's field. However, a surprise happened in Pleiku when the army team suffered a 1-2 defeat. For the first time this season, The Cong Viettel collapsed.
For coach Velizar Popov alone, this was the 6th consecutive time he could not help the team he coached beat Hoang Anh Gia Lai.
When he was leading Dong A Thanh Hoa, Mr. Popov drew 3 matches and lost 1 match against this opponent. In his time in charge of The Cong Viettel last season, he also lost 1-2 to the representative of the mountain town, also in Pleiku.
"The truth is that I could not beat Hoang Anh Gia Lai. That is the only team in Vietnam that I have not won against," Mr. Popov once admitted.
And once again, he continued to experience the bitterness against Hoang Anh Gia Lai in this year's season.
According to statistics, since coming to Vietnam to work at the end of 2022, Popov has spent more than 3 seasons and faced 19 different clubs in the V.League. Except for Hoang Anh Gia Lai, he has won at least one match against 17 other teams.
Of which, Binh Dinh and Hai Phong lost the most to the Bulgarian coach's team (4 matches per team), and drew the most with Ha Tinh (5 matches). The three opponents that caused Popov to lose the most in the V.League were also Hai Phong, Hanoi Police and Nam Dinh (3 matches per team).
Including the loss to Hoang Anh Gia Lai, coach Popov has led 86 matches in Vietnam's professional matches, including the V.League, National Cup and National Super Cup. He won 39 matches, drew 27 and lost 20.
