Has Qarabağ FK finally caught its rhythm? Azerbaijani footballers inch closer to Champions League group stage

After a narrow victory in North Macedonia in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, many local fans watched the return match in Baku against Shkëndija with anxiety. Yes, looking at the results, Gurban Gurbanov’s team has advanced through each qualifying round quite confidently. But, to be honest, neither the fans nor the football experts saw that championship-level play—the very style that earned Qarabağ FK the nickname “the Barcelona of the Caucasus.” The team, so to speak, played for the result—and so far, they have been getting it.

A terrible start to the match at the equally terrible (I mean the state of the football pitch – author’s note) Tofig Bahramov stadium only heightened concerns about Qarabağ’s overall form. Already by the 10th minute, following an excellent pass from Shkëndija’s captain Besart Ibraimi, Fabrice Tamba scored against Qarabağ.

And that’s when something just clicked for Gurban Gurbanov’s squad. Maybe they were upset about making such a blunder in front of their home fans, or maybe the players finally realized that trying to win with minimal effort could lead to a heavy defeat… But from that moment on, the team seemed like a different one. Qarabağ launched a full-scale assault on the opponent’s goal, forcing Shkëndija’s goalkeeper Babukarr Gaye to pull the ball out of his net four times in less than 20 minutes. And if it weren’t for the excellent performance of the North Macedonian keeper, the final score could have been far more disastrous than 5:1 — in the second half, Qarabağ’s players managed to score only one goal.

Now, in the Champions League playoff round, Qarabağ will face a much tougher opponent — Hungarian Ferencváros, who defeated Bulgaria’s Ludogorets 3-0 on aggregate in the third round (first leg 0-0, second leg 3-0).

As a reminder, the two teams already met in the third qualifying round of the Champions League in 2022, when Qarabağ advanced on aggregate (1-1, 3-1), securing a confident away victory. What will happen this time is hard to predict, but such a convincing win over Shkëndija gives grounds to say that the Aghdam side has finally found their rhythm and gained momentum on their challenging path to the Champions League group stage. In this matchup, it’s not the Hungarian club but Qarabağ who are the favourites. The Azerbaijani team is closer than ever to qualifying for the Champions League group stage for the second time in their history…

It’s worth noting that Qarabağ will play the first leg away on August 19, with the return match at home on August 27.

Vugar Vugarli, exclusively for Caliber.Az