GUEST OF THE BAYER

During a break in the Azerbaijani football championship, Garabagh club's head coach Gurban Gurbanov travelled to Germany. He visited the camp of Bayer Leverkusen, where he met with their head coach Xabi Alonso. He wanted to learn from the Spanish coach's training methods and gain some experience at the German club's camp.

A Garabagh carpet for Alonso

Gurban Gurbanov gave his colleague from Bayer a Garabagh carpet as a gift, and they had a fruitful discussion. Gurbanov, 51, has visited many famous clubs such as Barcelona, Galatasaray and Chelsea in the past and met with their managers - Josep Guardiola, Frank Rijkard and Antonio Conte. He is always curious about the working methods of his distinguished peers and eager to enhance his skills. His approach to his work, which has earned him the best coach of the year award in Azerbaijan several times, deserves praise. He says that football is constantly changing, and to maintain success, one has to keep improving oneself and be open to innovation.

The head coach of Garabagh told reporters that he was "impressed by Bayer's playing style and results". He was interested in learning about the working principles of Xabi Alonso, who had a rich football career under many great coaches. The Spanish expert has achieved a lot of success in coaching in a short time. He said, "I wanted to learn more about Alonso's working methods, as well as those of the coaches he worked with. He played for different professionals with different playing philosophies. I learned a lot from him. Our meeting and communication was very productive and helpful for me."

He also recalled that one of Garabagh's opponents in the group stage of the Europa League was Bayer. Both teams advanced to the next round from the first and second places respectively.

A good experience

Gurban Gurbanov said that he communicated with his colleague during the games: "Both matches with Bayer were a good experience for us. We faced a lot of challenges on the road. When we played in Baku, my team did not back down from the fight and showed good spirit for 90 minutes. But we still lost on penalties. We have to admit that Bayer is stronger. The German club has reached the finals of major tournaments. I was intrigued by Xabi Alonso's work ethic and his game vision. He was a successful footballer both in the national team and in top clubs. Now he has built a strong team at Bayer. He has an unbeaten run both in the Bundesliga and in European cups. Leverkusen has very few losses. We talked with Alonso on various topics. I hope our relationship will not end with this trip. I would like to have more of them, they help me to gain experience."

Bayer's head coach Xabi Alonso was also happy with the exchange of experience and said that he would cheer for Garabagh in the Europa League: "I know that your next game will be against Portuguese Braga. I wish you good luck in this match. I will support Garabagh."

On February 15, Garabagh will face Portuguese Braga in the play-off of the Europa League. The first game will be away, and a week later the teams will meet in Baku.

Gurbanov shared with us his thoughts on the importance of the match with the Portuguese club: "The match will be tense. Portuguese clubs like to change tactics often and are characterised by hard fighting. They have a lot of experienced players in their squad. Both games will be difficult for Garabagh. But we are not afraid of the opponent and we will try to play worthily at this stage."