NINTH TIME IN GROUP

National football champion Garabagh FC of Azerbaijan will play in the group stage of European competitions for the ninth time. The club from Aghdam, which has qualified for this season's Champions League with clubs from Poland and Switzerland, has already accomplished its maximum goal for this season. The minimum was to qualify for the group stage of one of the three European competitions. The next rounds will determine in which of the European competitions the champion of Azerbaijan will play.

Competing for every inch of the field

After defeating the Swiss champion Zurich (3-2) in Baku, the Aghdam club, as expected, faced even stronger opposition in the return leg on July 27. The Azerbaijani champion needed extra time in Zurich to progress to the third round of Champions League qualification, missing just a couple of minutes to avoid further stress and play out in overtime. But everything ended well finally.

The game in Zurich started with a cold shower for Garabagh. On the fourth minute of the match, team’s captain Maxim Medvedev cut the ball into own goal, thus levelling the score on the total of two games. But head coach Gurban Gurbanov and his team have managed to make a revolution in the match: at the beginning of the second half Garabagh equalised the score and took the lead on the sum of two games.

Now the Swiss champion had to score another goal. On the 96 minute of the match it looked as though the Aghdam club would pull through. But a harmless cross into Garabagh's penalty area turned into a rush and a series of mistakes by defenders. Goalkeeper made two errors, but Zurich managed to score at the third attempt and pushed the game into extra time. By the way, the rule applied since last season's Euro Cups (that an away goal gives no advantage) was in Garabagh’s advantage this time. Had it not been for this innovation, the main period of the match in Zurich would have ended 2-1 in favour of the hosts and the Swiss champion would have advanced thanks to the previous match played in Baku.

The teams had to play another 30 minutes to decide the winner. Aghdamians were lucky, as Owasu Kwabena scored a second goal putting Garabagh up in the next round after 120 minutes (2-2).

The next opponent of Garabagh will be Hungarian champion Ferencvaros. The first match will take place on August 3 at 20:00 in the Tofig Bahramov Republican Stadium. The return leg will be played in Budapest on August 9 at 22:00.

If Garabagh succeeds, it will qualify for the Champions League play-offs. Otherwise, the club will qualify for the Europa League.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino congratulated Garabagh on reaching the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League and wished them good luck.

Gurbanov: I want to hug every player

At the end of the match, Garabagh head coach Gurban Gurbanov commented on the draw in the return match against Switzerland's Zurich: "We can talk a lot about the game and the players. Instead I want to congratulate and embrace each of my players. The game we had today was also a good fight for us. We saw that athletes deserved to play for Garabagh, a strong team. Today my guys fought for all 120 minutes. In the beginning of the game there was more tactical fight but then it turned into a real battle.”

Gurban Gurbanov believes that his team deserved the outcome of the match: "Fortunately, everything ended in our favour. Earlier I said that Zurich was a very unusual opponent. We saw that again today. When the ball is often in the air, it's not the best match for us. Despite this, the guys were able to achieve what they wanted. I congratulate everyone and I wish Zurich success in the future.

"The minutes at half-time before extra time were a little tense. But we discussed everything in football language. I trust my players. I have always said that such matches make us more experienced. Even if we lose in them, I am not upset. Because it's one of the most interesting and stressful moments in football. Therefore, it is important to experience such emotions both for the coach and the players. At half-time I just told them that they can rely on my support and gave them some instructions to be more attentive during rival attacks", the head coach of Garabagh said.