“The Qarabağ Fairy Tale” continues with the second Champions League win

Gurban Gurbanov’s squad continues to rewrite the history of Azerbaijani football, doing so once again after the defeat of their younger counterparts.

As is well known, just a few hours before the senior teams’ match, the youth squads of the same clubs faced off in the UEFA Youth League. The Qarabağ U19 team was crushed by their peers from Copenhagen – 0:5. Recall that in the first round, our youth had also suffered a heavy defeat against Benfica – 1:7.

However, just as in Lisbon and in Baku, the senior team sensationally avenged the juniors, winning 2:0 and once again giving millions of Azerbaijani fans a real celebration.

Yes, we saw it. We saw the second consecutive victory of an AZERBAIJANI CLUB in the main stage of the Champions League!

We saw an AZERBAIJANI FOOTBALLER recognised as the “Player of the Match” in a Champions League game. Remarkably, this title went to Qarabağ defender Elvin Jafarguliyev, who, only a few months ago, was being criticised by almost everyone.

We saw that a team from the country of the great storyteller, Hans Christian Andersen, could be defeated by an Azerbaijani STORYTELLER – Gurban Gurbanov, who has written the next chapter of his “Qarabağ  Fairy Tale” for our country.

We saw that Gurbanov, like a master storyteller, is becoming ever more famous, and if this continues, Azerbaijani football fairy tales may soon become just as renowned as Denmark’s beloved children’s stories.

We watched in awe as OUR team transformed on the field – Qarabağ clearly demonstrated how seamlessly it can switch between attacking and defensive modes, and how effectively it can play on the counter just as it does when pressing forward. The brilliant goal by Emmanuel Addai in the 83rd minute, scored immediately after repelling the opponent’s most dangerous attack, is a perfect example.

Until that very 83rd minute, Aghdam’s side hadn’t once managed a shot on target in the second half. Meanwhile, Copenhagen had naively believed they could equalise if they just applied a little more pressure on Gurban Gurbanov’s players.

But thanks to a brilliant counterattack initiated by Qarabağ goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski, the Aghdam team finished off the Danes, extinguishing even their faint hope. Moreover, had substitute Musa Gurbanov been a bit sharper in the dying minutes, the score could have become even more decisive.

As it stands, Qarabağ has scored five goals and conceded two, and has six points after the first two matches of the Champions League group stage. Six points!

Now, Aghdam’s team needs to collect just a couple of points in the remaining six matches to secure at least a top-24 spot and continue their Champions League campaign. But, who knows – why not aim for the top eight and write another chapter of the “Qarabağ Fairy Tale”? True, it will be extremely tough (see the schedule below), but Gurbanov and his team have already proven time and again that nothing is impossible for them. Isn’t that right, gentlemen?

Schedule:

• Athletic Bilbao — Qarabağ — October 22

• Qarabağ — Chelsea — November 5

• Napoli — Qarabağ — November 25

• Qarabağ — Ajax — December 10

• Qarabağ — Eintracht — January 21, 2026

• Liverpool — Qarabağ — January 28

By Vugar Vugarli, exclusively for Caliber.Az