BREAKTHROUGH

This day will really go down in the history of Azerbaijani football. For the first time two Azerbaijani clubs - "Qarabag" and "Qabala" have won a place in the group stage of the [UEFA] Europa League, managing to get through the quite complicated filter of the qualifying rounds. Moreover, whereas a few years ago we could only dream of the group stage, now the fans have already got used to the idea of their clubs making it into the European cups before the winter. For the second time in a row "Qarabag" has managed to get into the group stage of the Europa League; before this only the "Neftci" club managed to play in it.

Incidentally, in the present season the "Neftci" players were already knocked out of the Europa League in the first stage, being beaten by the far from strong Montenegro team "Mladost". Against the backdrop of "Neftci", the "Inter" team's participation in the Europa League is regarded as almost heroism. The team, which is in deep financial trouble, managed to get through two stages of the qualifying round, although before the European cups started everyone was expecting them to face defeat at the hands of the "bankers". But pure enthusiasm and good luck was not sufficient to get them through into the group stage.

The Azerbaijani champions "Qarabag" who hold the country's championship cup entered the competition in the League of champions. At the first stage, "Qarabag" won in two games against Montenegro's "Rudar [Pljevja]". In the second stage, "Qarabag" was faced with a fairly fearsome opponent in the Scottish team "Celtic", which turned out to be invincible for the "The Horsemen [Atlilar]". But "Qarabag" managed to get into the play-off for the Europa League; it came up against a fairly well-known Bern club, the Swiss "Young Boys". 

In the game with that club, which was regarded as the favourite both in its odds, its budget and in its achievements, the Azerbaijani champions showed that this is by no means what is important. In the first away-game in Bern "Qarabag" won with a minimum score of one nil, having managed to "miss" heaps of opportunities. In Baku "the Horsemen" managed to be more responsible about taking advantage of the opportunities, breaking through their rivals' defences three times, while not letting anything into their own goal.

The splendid game played by Ronaldo Almeida, Cavid Tagiev and Afran Ismayilov should particularly be noted.

As regards the group stage, "Qarabag" drew really tough opponents. In the battle for the play-off the Azerbaijani champions are to play "Tottenham [Hotspur]" from England, "Monaco [Fontvieille]" from France and "Anderlecht" from Belgium.

The schedule for "Qarabag's" games in the Europa League

17.09.2015  "Tottenham" - "Qarabag" 

01.10.2015 "Qarabag"- "Anderlecht" 

22.10.2015 "Monaco" - "Qarabag" 

05.11.2015 "Qarabag" - "Monaco"

26.11.2015 "Qarabag"- "Tottenham" 

10.12.2015 "Anderlecht" - "Qarabag"

In an interview with Regionplus, "Qarabag's" chief coach Gurban Gurbanov shared his thoughts on the victory attained and the results of the draw: "I am very pleased that we have been able to make it to the group stage for the second season in a row. This was the very least that we had been aiming for. The competition in the group will not be easy, but we will play and fight it out to the end. It would not be true to say that we were unlucky in the draw. God willing, everything will go well. Playing against such grandees is possibly more important than winning.

These are teams with a good reputation and huge experience. Just for one of them to come to Baku is a pleasant event for our fans as well as for the whole of Azerbaijani football too. I think that it will serve as a massive spur to the development of our football. To play against such teams is the dream of any coach and football player. We have been given this opportunity. We shall try to play a worthy game against our opponents. We have no intention of giving up."

Joyful news came in from Athens following "Qarabag's" win. There "Qabala" had won the match against the distinguished "Panathinaikos" club, in spite of the ardent support of the home fans.  A 2:2 draw took our club into the group stage for the first time. What is more, "Qabala", together with the Norwegian "Rosenborg [Ballklub]" club set the record of the season in Europe. Of the 80 teams that managed to make it through to the group stage of the European cups only these two clubs were able to get through all four qualifying stages, entering the competition in the first round of the knock-out cycle.

We would like to recall that "Qabala" consistently beat the following clubs in the competition: "Dynamo" from Tbilisi (1:2, 2:0); "Cukaricki" from Serbia (0:1, 2:2); "Apollon [Limassol]" from Cyprus (1:1, 1:0) and finally "Panathinaikos" from Greece (0:0, 2:2). Put together by Roman Hryhorchuk in just a year, the team has played really well throughout its history.

When "Qabala" signed Hryhor-chuk, many people were skeptical about this choice, considering it to be the wrong one. But time has shown that the successes of "Chernomorets [Black Sea]" club in the Europa League when Hryhorchuk was the chief coach were not accidental. In copying this success with the "Qabala" club, Hryhorchuk may definitely be said to be one of the best foreign experts working with Azerbaijani teams. As regards the group stage, in the Europa League "Qabala" is to play against "Borussia" from Dortmund, the Greek PAOK and "Krasnodar" from Russia. 

The schedule for "Qabala" games in the Europa League

17.09.2015 "Qabala" - PAOK 

01.10.2015 "Krasnodar" - "Qabala" 

22.10.2015 "Qabala" - "Borussia"

05.11.2015 "Borussia - "Qabala" 

26.11.2015  PAOK -"Qabala" 

10.12.2015 "Qabala" - "Krasnodar"

In an interview with R+, chief coach Roman Hryhorchuk noted that all "Qabala's" opponents in the group stage are fairly strong: "We understand that all our opponents in the group are prestigious teams, strong players with a high level of skill. The game against each of them will be a hard one. I'm not even thinking about what place they will occupy in the group yet. Very little time is left. We need to try and make sure we are well prepared. A lot still needs to be done. It is not important whether we have played against these teams before. All three teams in the group are very strong. Each of them has their own good points, but we need to take the same attitude to all of them."

Making it into the group stage for the second time in a row, "Qarabag", has received 2,400,000 euros from UEFA. By knocking out four teams from the draw, "Qabala" will receive even more - 3,260,000 euros. For every win in the group tournament our clubs will earn 360,000 euros and for draws - 120,000 euros.

Both "Qarabag" and "Qabala" are in talks with new football players. Each of them intends to beef up their team with two foreign players. If the talks are successful, the new players will arrive in Azerbaijan in a few days' time.

Both clubs have expressed the desire to play their matches at the Tofiq Bahramov stadium. At the given time, they are in correspondence with UEFA officials regarding this issue. It would be impossible to have the matches in the group tournament at the central arena where the grass pitch is in a poor state. Therefore AFFA [Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan] and the Ministry of Youth and Sport are preparing to replace the grass pitch with a new surface brought from Holland. 

So, two of our clubs have made it through to the group stage, and 12 very interesting matches await the fans. But that is not the limit. The fans are looking forward to the next step, namely the Azerbaijani clubs making it through the group, for which they do at least need to take second place.