NO ALTERNATIVE TO GARABAGH

The Premier Football League of Azerbaijan wrapped up the 2021-2022 season. There were no surprises, as expected. FC Garabagh from Aghdam was ahead of its rivals and became a champion of the league for the ninth time and ahead of schedule.

After saying goodbye to European competitions, Garabagh, who made the play-offs in the UEFA Conference League for the first time in their history, now focused all attention on the local championship. It proved to be the clear favourite in most matches and became unattainable for other clubs. Despite the efforts of Neftchi and Zira, they could not beat Garabagh. 

This season Garabagh scored 21 wins in 28 games, losing just once. With 72 goals in the Premier League, the Aghdam club's players have also exceeded in individual scoring. Brazilian Kadi Borges became the top scorer of the season with 12 goals. With its progressing performance, Garabagh has proved their superiority to other clubs with their results. With its periodical appearances in European championships, Gurban Gurbanov's team has already become a truly European team. Unfortunately, other Azerbaijani football clubs are yet to make progress in this direction.

Garabagh showed their true power and secured first place ahead of schedule. Among the main factors of Garabagh’s success are stability and truly team-play, a strong and disciplined squad and skilful coaching. Garabagh, which will strengthen the team during the summer transfer season, can make another breakthrough to the group stage of European competitions this year as well. In terms of performance, Garabagh is quite capable of fighting on equal terms with the leading clubs of Europe.

After winning the championship, the club management signed a new contract with Gurban Gurbanov. He will be the head coach of the team for another three years. By the way, he has been working with the team since 2008. During this time, FC Garabagh has won the Azerbaijani championship eight times, won the national cup four times and made it to the group stage of UEFA club tournaments eight times.

The value of Karabakh

This is what Gurban Gurbanov said about the latest achievement of his team: "There are people who continue to contribute to our success behind the scenes. I thank all our ordinary employees. Also, I am grateful to the management for fulfilling all our wishes and making our success possible. I want my players to always be fighters and patriots. I do not want to single out any of our districts, but Garabagh is a different story. Anyone who is not a fighter has no place in this team. We can lose, not be champions, but we must fight for sure".

According to Gurbanov, the President of Azerbaijan attaches special attention to Garabagh. "Therefore, we have no right to be irresponsible and apathetic. I will demand from the players to fight all the time. I congratulate them. Not only for the championship, but also for the game. We finished just as we started. It was important to maintain stability throughout the season. It is easy to achieve success, but it is difficult to make it sustainable. We have to focus all our attention on the next season. Both the players and coaches will remember the first success the most. For me, every championship is important, it is extremely important to retain that title. In this case, the upcoming season is more important.”

Second and third...

Neftchi (Baku) finished their 85th season with the second. With 15 wins in 28 games under Samir Abbasov, the white-and-blacks were remembered with their unstable performance. The coach's conflicts with players and fans affected the team's overall performance. After losing points against ‘average’ teams and their main rival Garabagh, Neftchi became the second best.

The battle for the third place was mainly between Zira, Gabala and Sabah. Sabah lost most of their matches, but began to change for the better after Murad Musayev stepped in as the team’s new head coach. He changed the look of the team, and Sabah began to show genuine team play. But despite his determination and perseverance, Sabah (Baku) failed to get a license to European championships.

Gabala, which has demonstrated miracles with its small budget, was not among the medallists, yet it did achieve the main goal. It has once again got qualified to play in the UEFA Conference League. The perseverance of head coach Elmar Bakhshiyev and the determination of the players played a special role in this success.

FC Zira led by Rashad Sadigov won the bronze medal of the championship. It is also Sadigov's first award as a coach. Zira competed on equal terms with the leaders and also reached the final stage of the national cup.

The weakest clubs in the championship were Shamakhi and Sumgayit. They did not match the level of the Premier League, and did everything to please their opponents only. Although they finished the last, both clubs will compete in the top flight next season too. According to AFFA, ten clubs will be represented in the Premier League in the new season. The above-mentioned clubs will be joined by Kapaz and Turan Tovuz from Ganja.

Following the 2021-2022 season, Garabagh will qualify for the Champions League, while Neftchi, Zira and Gabala will take part in the UEFA Conference League. The European Cup draw will take place on June 14, with the first matches to be played in July.