DVSC hosted Újpest in the last, 33rd round of FIzz Liga. The stakes were high: qualification for European competition and, depending on the result of Paksi FC, even a place on the podium. Accordingly, despite the rainy weather, the stands of Nagyerdei Stadium were filled well. Due to injuries, Donát Bárány, Botond Vajda and Flórián Cibla were all unavailable. However, Patrik Demjén, Gergő Tercza, György Komáromi and Dorde Gordic were included in the starting XI.

This year the 26th Zilahi Award was presented, which is given annually to the best Debrecen player of the season. The award was founded in the 1999/2000 season by Géza Zilahi, brother of the brilliant former Loki player Zoltán Zilahi, who tragically died in an accident in 1970 at the age of 34. Before the match, representatives of the Zilahi family presented the traveling trophy to this year’s recipient, who was Tamás Szűcs. Congratulations to our 21-year-old midfielder!

Dominik Kocsis made his 50th league appearance for Debreceni VSC. Our 23-year-old winger has delivered outstanding performances this season and has scored several goals. Before the match, sporting director Ádám Bogdán congratulated him on the occasion of his 50th league match for the club.

The derby began with a moment of silence following the recent passing of László Fazekas, who died at the age of 79 after a long and serious illness. The former 92-time Hungarian international striker won nine league titles as a player of Újpesti Dózsa.

The opening stages of the match were somewhat scrappy, but DVSC soon took control of the match. In the 8th minute, Tamás Szűcs tested the Újpest goalkeeper with a shot from 17 meters, and shortly afterwards Debrecen found the breakthrough. In the 11th minute, following a right-wing corner from Balázs Dzsudzsák, the ball reached Josua Mejías on the edge of the six-yard box, and he guided it into the net (1-0).

DVSC continued to dictate play, delighting the home fans with several attractive moves. In the 20th minute, Bence Batik headed narrowly wide, and soon after Adrián Guerrero fired just over the bar. Újpest FC responded in the 25th minute through Krajcsovics, but Patrik Demjén produced a fine save. In the 31st minute, György Komáromi’s long-range effort was stopped by the visiting goalkeeper, while in the 41st minute, Mejías came close to scoring his second goal with a header. Although Mejías did not complete a brace, our team doubled their advantage in the 1st half. At the end of a beautifully constructed attack, Dominik Kocsis struck a first-time shot from 10 meters into the bottom-right corner, with György Komáromi getting the slightest touch on the ball on its way in (2–0).

Both sides pushed forward in the early stages of the second half. In the 64th minute, Patrik Demjén made a spectacular goal-line save to deny Matko’s close-range header, while at the other end, Dominik Kocsis headed just over the crossbar. As the match entered its final phase, Debrecen made several substitutions, bringing on Álex Bermejo, Márk Szécsi, and Soma Szuhodovszki, followed later by Dénes Szakál, who made his debut, and Fran Manzanara. In the 85th minute, the referee awarded a penalty to Újpest, which Matko converted to reduce the deficit to 2–1. However, the outcome was never seriously in doubt, and DVSC secured a deserved and confident victory.

Loki capped off an excellent season with a victory over Újpest. The team finished fourth in the league and secured a place in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Conference League. Well done, guys!

Preparations for the 2026/27 season will begin in mid-June.

According to the coach

Sergio Navarro: I would like to thank the players, the supporters, and the club for the entire season. I’m delighted that we managed to secure qualification for European competition. Hajrá, Loki!

Zoltán Szélesi: Congratulations to Debrecen on their performances throughout the season. They fully deserve the opportunity to compete on the international stage. We played two very different halves. In the first half we were too timid, but after the break the substitutions improved both our mentality and our overall play. We created some chances, but overall the final result was fair.

Fizz Liga, round 33.

DVSC-Újpest 2-1 (2-0).

Nagyerdei Stadium, 9444 spectators. Referee: Bogár G.

DVSC: Demjén – Tercza (Szécsi, 76.), Mejías (Szakál, 82.), Lang, Guerrero – Szűcs T., Batik – Kocsis D. (Manzanara, 82.), Dzsudzsák (Szuhodovszki, 76.), Gordic (Bermejo, 71.) – Komáromi. Head coach: Sergio Navarro.

Újpest: Banai – Nunes, Lacoux (Tucic, 81.), Stronati, Gergényi – Fenyő (Ademi, 46.), Maier (Mucsányi, 74.) – Sarkadi, Brodic (Gradisar, 46.), Matko – Krajcsovics (Vlijter, 60.). Head coach: Szélesi Zoltán.

Goal: Mejías (11.), Komáromi (45+1.) as well as Matko (86., from penalty).

Yellow card: Mejías (15.), Komáromi (79.), Batik (93.) as well as Fenyő (38.), Ademi (53.), Matko (61.), Sarkadi (93.).