CSKA's Archrivals Show Support for Petrov

"Stanly, blue Bulgaria is with you!" Levski Sofia fans said on Monday. Photo by "Sportni"

Some 8 000 fans of Bulgarian team Levski Sofia unanimously showed their support for the country's national side captain Stilyan Petrov during Monday's game between Levski and Ludogorets (0:1).

The game was briefly stopped in the 19th minute (a tribute to Petrov's Aston Villa shirt number) so that both sets of fans could support and encourage the player, who was shockingly diagnosed with acute leukemia last week.

"Stanly, we are with you!" the Georgi Asparuhov stadium's scoreboard said as fans chanted Petrov's name.

Levski Sofia are the bitter rivals of CSKA Sofia, the team for which Stilyan Petrov used to play for before joining Celtic in 1999.

CSKA, as well as other Bulgarian teams, also paid tribute to the Aston Villa midfielder during their matches last weekend.

Petrov has 105 appearances and 8 goals for the Bulgarian national football team.

The Bulgarian captain started treatment for acute leukaemia at a London hospital on Monday.

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