Levski’s great run in Europe finished unexpectedly at the hands of Finnish underdogs Tampere United.

What was unthinkable became a reality with a 0:1 home loss and 0:2 aggregate score in the Champions League second qualifying round. Jari Niemi scored the winner at the Vassil Levski national stadium in the 40th minute while the Bulgarian champions were unable to capitalise on their domination.

Levski reached the UEFA Cup quarter-finals and Champions League group stage in the past two seasons, so no one expected the story to end like this.

“The fairytale is over. We’re now back in reality,” said coach Stanimir Stoilov. “It’s sad because the opponent was possible to overcome. This is an empty season in Europe for us. We must recover quickly and focus on the domestic front.”

The experienced Levski squad produced a disappointing performance against the well-packed Finnish team. Missing their two first-choice central defenders in captain Elin Topuzakov and Igor Tomasic because of injuries, a mistake by the Bulgarian champions cost them a goal, and they paid the price for several wasted chances. Stoilov tried every attacking option without result. “We’ve had our chances but we couldn’t score,” Stoilov said. “’I’m the one who has to take the biggest responsibility for the failure. It’s easy to say what we should have done afterwards, but I really was without options. We lack a class centre-forward and that was obvious in the game.”

Levski will suffer not only morale but huge budget losses, according to financial director Konstantin Bazhdekov. Club boss Todor Batkov refused to comment, while sports director Nasko Sirakov missed both games because he was on holiday in Africa.

Tampere United coach Ari Hjelm said: “It was a very big surprise as we knew that we were the underdogs. It was very important that Levski didn’t score in the first game. It helped us a lot. I’m happy because we got it right tactically in both games. We knew Levski’s style very well and were well prepared for them and that played a major part in the success. My players showed real character and our keeper made a few crucial saves. The whole team played well and this is a historic moment for us. We’ve beaten a team which played in the Champions League group stage last season and we are absolutely delighted.”