A new chapter in Azerbaijan's football history Qarabağ again qualifies for the Champions League group stage

It has finally happened! An Azerbaijani football club will once again play in the Champions League! And that club is once again Agdam’s Qarabağ FK, led by Gurban Gurbanov.

Yes, in Baku, Qarabağ’s opponent – Hungarian Ferencváros – looked much stronger than they did on their home ground, but Qarabağ, after a brilliant comeback in Budapest (conceding first but then scoring three goals), proved that they could decide the outcome of the tie after the first leg.

The Agdam players did not celebrate prematurely and remained disciplined and focused, which became evident in the first half of the second match.

In the second half, the team almost faltered after an unexpected gift from Kadi to the opponents, which resulted in a penalty against us, but the Agdam squad held firm.

And, of course, special thanks to Gurban Gurbanov for trusting Mateusz Kochalski in goal in the European competitions, rather than Shakhruddin Magomedaliyev, effectively saving the club from another “Shakhruddin curse,” which had cost the team huge reputational and financial losses in recent years.

Qarabağ’s qualification for the Champions League group stage immediately brought Azerbaijan six bonus points. This is the ranking reward a country receives when its representative reaches the top 36 participants in the tournament. Dividing these six points by four (the total number of Azerbaijani clubs in European competitions this season) gives 1.5 points – a very solid bonus.

As a result, Azerbaijan now has 21 points in the UEFA coefficient table. Thanks to Qarabağ, the country has leapfrogged Slovenia (20.468 points) and Ukraine (19.850 points). In a single evening, Azerbaijan moved up from 28th to 26th place, now trailing Slovakia by only 0.375 points.

The success of the Agdam club did not go unnoticed by its biggest fan – President Ilham Aliyev congratulated Qarabağ on reaching the Champions League group stage.

"The Azerbaijani club Qarabağ, by earning a spot in the UEFA Champions League group stage, has written a new page in our football history! I congratulate the entire team and the fans of Qarabağ!" – the head of state wrote on his social media accounts.

Azərbaycanın “Qarabağ” klubu UEFA Çempionlar Liqasının əsas mərhələsinə vəsiqə qazanaraq futbol tariximizdə yeni bir səhifə yazdı!

“Qarabağ” klubunun bütün komanda heyətini və azarkeşləri təbrik edirəm! pic.twitter.com/h10MjVm5UD

— İlham Əliyev (@azpresident) August 27, 2025

Finally, to fully appreciate the significance of Gurban Gurbanov’s team’s achievement, let’s take a look at all the participants in the Champions League group stage. Among these 35 clubs, four (two from each pot) will be Qarabağ’s opponents. This marks the return of the long-awaited celebration, eight years in the making – a moment made possible once again by the pride of Azerbaijani football: the Agdam club Qarabağ.

The participants of the Champions League group stage 

Pot 1: PSG (France), Real Madrid (Spain), Manchester City (England), Bayern Munich (Germany), Liverpool (England), Inter Milan (Italy), Chelsea (England), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Barcelona (Spain).

Pot 2: Arsenal (England), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), Atlético Madrid (Spain), Benfica (Portugal), Atalanta (Italy), Villarreal (Spain), Juventus (Italy), Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany), Club Brugge (Belgium).

Pot 3: Tottenham Hotspur (England), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), Ajax (Netherlands), Napoli (Italy), Sporting CP (Portugal), Olympiacos (Greece), Slavia Prague (Czech Republic), Bodø/Glimt (Norway), Marseille (France).

Pot 4: Copenhagen (Denmark), Monaco (France), Galatasaray (Turkey), Union Berlin (Germany), Qarabağ (Azerbaijan), Athletic Bilbao (Spain), Newcastle United (England), Pafos (Cyprus), Kairat (Kazakhstan).

By Vugar Vugarli, for Caliber.Az