GARABAGH'S BREAKTHROUGH

The qualifying round of the European Cup is over. As usual among Azerbaijani football clubs, only FC Garabagh has managed to reach the group stage of the tournament. In the play-off qualification round of the Europa League, the Aghdam club defeated the Slovenian Olimpija. The return meeting at the Tofig Bahramov Stadium in Baku ended with draw (1:1). Since Garabagh won the first away game (2-0), it will continue the competition. Thus, Gurban Gurbanov's team got the right to play in the group stage of the European Cup, while Olimpija will compete in the Champions League.

New record

Making it to the group stage for the tenth time, the Azerbaijani champion in fact set a new record. Along with Garabagh, only 15 teams play in the same stage on a regular basis. But Garabagh is the only European club, which has passed the stage this way ten years in a row, starting from the classification stage. There is no second such team in Europe! Real Madrid, Bayern, Barcelona and PSG have always received the right to play directly in the group stage during the last decade thanks to the high ranking of countries representing them in UEFA.

After drawing the lot, Garabagh found itself in Group H. The Azerbaijani champion is now in the same group with Bayer (Germany), Molde (Norway) and Hecken (Sweden).

A total of 32 teams will compete at this stage. They are divided into 8 groups, with 4 clubs in each. The winner of the group will make it to the 1/8, and the runner-up - to the 1/16 finals. The third place gives the right to play in the play-offs (1/16 finals) of the Conference League. The Europa League group stage will be held in September 21-December 14, 2023.

Ready to please the fans

In his interview with R+, head coach of Garabagh, Gurban Gurbanov, commented on the draw of the Europa League group stage. He believes Garabagh got into a difficult group: "The teams in our group were also dangerous in the classification stages of the tournament. It was not easy at all to reach the group stage. There are no easy opponents there. Bayer is a team from a Top-5 country. Moulde and Hecken are also clubs with European Cup experience and are ambitious. We will get to know our rivals better in the coming days. In any case, we will use every chance to win. We want to achieve good results and please our fans. So we have some interesting games ahead of us."

On the last day of the transfer window, FC Garabagh parted with goalkeeper Shahruddin Magomedaliyev. The goalkeeper left Azerbaijan, signing a contract with Turkish club Adana Demirspor. His post of Garabagh's goalkeeper will now be contested between Luka Gugeshashvili and Andrei Lunev. The last choice will be made by Gurbanov.

New old rivals

Indeed, Gurbanov was right when he said that Garabagh got into a difficult group. There are no weak teams in the Europa League, the second highest club competition of the continent, with its undisputed favourite being Bayer of Germany. The team from Leverkusen is currently leading the Bundesliga with the maximum score. We can safely assume that both games with the Germans will not be easy.

Norwegian club Moulde made it to the Europa League after losing in the Champions League to Turkish Galatasaray. The current squad consists mainly of Norwegian players, as well as Danish internationals Anders Hagelskjær and Christian Kappis from the US. Garabagh has already played against the team three years ago. In the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, the Aghdam club lost to Norwegians in a penalty shootout (5:6) with score 0:0.

Sweden's Hakken, one of Garabagh's rivals, won its only Allsvenskan championship last year. Hakken is a debutant of the Europa League, although it is a three-time winner of the Sweden Cup. This is the first time the club has reached the group stage of the European Cup. Before that, it only reached the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League twice.

"There will be no easy fight in the group. We will play the matches with full responsibility. Our goal is to become the winner of the group. We have to take all the games seriously, even if they consider us favourites. Euphoria after the game against Roma (0-1, 0-0) in the semi-finals of the Europa League last year makes us even more focused and attentive. Yes, we are favourites, but our opponents must be taken seriously," Bayer head coach Xabi Alonso commented on the draw.

The season in the Europa League starts on September 21. In the first round, Garabagh will host Norwegian club Molde in Baku.