DRAWS MADE. WILL IT BE LUCKY?

The attention of the football community last week was centered on Nyon, Switzerland, where the draws were made for the 2013-2013 European cup competitions. This time, Azerbaijani clubs will face opponents from Albania, Finland, Macedonia and Malta.

In the Champions League, "Neftchi" will play against "FC Skenderbeu" from Albania. In the Europa League, "FC Qarabag" will face Macedonia's "Metallurg", "FC Inter Baku" will travel to Finland's "FC Mariehamn" and "Xazar-Lankaran" will play against "Sliema" from Malta.

"Neftchi" vs. "Skenderbeu" 

Playing in the continental tournaments since 1994, "Neftchi" will meet with an Albanian club for the first time. In general, this will be the first competitive game between clubs of the two countries. Last year, "Inter-Baku" played a friendly match with "Skenderbeu" and the game ended in a goalless draw.

"Skenderbeu" plays its home games in a 12,000-seat stadium in the city of Korca. The opponent of "Neftchi" does not have extensive experience of participation in European cup competitions and has never qualified into the next stage. In 2011, "Skenderbeu" stopped its Champions League campaign after losing to Cyprus' "APOEL", while last season it was eliminated at the hands of Hungary's "Debrecen". In the UEFA rankings the Albanian team is ranked 334th, while "Neftchi" is in 227th position. It is interesting that, just like "Neftchi", the club from Albania is unparalleled in the local championship the third consecutive year. "Skenderbeu" has a fairly competitive squad. The team which has defeated "Debrecen" from Hungary at home will certainly try to show its strength in the fixture against "Neftchi". But the champion of Azerbaijan is still the favorite in this pair and must win.

Old friend 

In the qualifying round of the Europa League, the silver medalists of Azerbaijan and Macedonia, "Qarabag" and "Metallurg", have been drawn against each other. Established in 1964, "Metallurg" played in the first national championship of Macedonia. But after finishing in 15th place in 1992/93, the team from Skopje was relegated into the lower division and returned to the elite only 15 years later in 2008. Since then, "Metallurg" has been one of the strongest clubs in Macedonia. In the last three seasons, it finished second in the national championships and in 2011 won the Cup and the Super Cup of the country. It plays its home games in a 3,000-seat stadium.

It was "Qarabag" that "Metallurg" faced in its debut season in European cup competitions in 2010/11. Then the Agdam team knocked out the Macedonian club after winning 4-1 in Baku and drawing 1-1 away from home. Now the Macedonian club has been granted the right to avenge its defeat. But Qurban Qurbanov's team must still win despite changes in its squad, as "Qarabag" is ahead of "Metallurg" both in terms of the budget and the skill of its players. In the event of qualification for the next round, the club from Agdam will play against Polish "FC Piast".

"Inter" to play against a debutant of European cups

"Inter-Baku" will play against "Mariehamn" from Finland, representing the Aland Islands. Although the club was founded in 1919, it joined the national championship only in 1945. For many years it resided in a lower division and only in 1977 did it make it to the top flight. But it did not stay there for long and rolled down to the lower division again.

The second revival of "Mariehamn" took place recently. The team has been competing in the top league since 2004. It finished last year's championship in fourth place. In this year's competition it is also in fourth place with 24 points. It plays its home matches in a 4,000-people stadium.

The team includes players of the Finnish national team and different countries. One way or another, the Azerbaijani club has got to overcome the Finnish barrier, as this is a debut of "Mariehamn" in Europe. For Azerbaijan's bronze medalist the minimum goal should be to pass at least two stages of the Europa League.

Nonetheless, the "bankers" should not underestimate their opponents and prove their strength on the pitch. If "Inter" qualifies for the next stage, its next opponent will be the winner of the "Celje" (Slovenia) - "Troms?" (Norway) match.

Expected double from John Toshack 

The Azerbaijan Cup finalist, "Xazar-Lankaran", has been drawn against the most successful club of Malta, "Sliema Wanderers", in the European League. The team, established in 1909, has been the champion of his country 26 times and won the national cup 20 times. But the team has been unable to taste the joy of championship for eight years now, while the cup has been elusive for the last four years.

"Sliema" is also ahead of everyone else in Malta for the number of games played in European cup competitions - 82 games! The latest victory occurred in 2003. By the way, the current coach of "Xazar-Lankaran", John Toshack, has experience of winning "Sliema". In 1982, the club "Swansea" (Wales), where J. Toshack was a player-coach, defeated the Maltese 12-0.

The team plays home games in a same-named stadium (18,000 people). Last season the team finished third in the national championships, thereby obtaining the right to compete in European competitions. In the UEFA rankings "Xazar-Lankaran" and "Sliema" occupy 322nd and 403rd places respectively.

"Xazar-Lankaran" is also ahead of rivals in terms of the budget, skill of the players and the experience of the coach. If successful, the next rival of the Azerbaijani club will be "Maccabi" from Haifa (Israel).

Thus, the draws have been quite favorable for the Azerbaijani clubs. Let's see whether it will prove lucky.