The primary upset of the UEFA Champions League season is formally within the books, with Azerbaijan’s Qarabag accumulating their first-ever win within the competitors correct with a dramatic 3-2 consequence at Benfica on Tuesday.
Benfica, a spherical of 16 participant in final season’s Champions League and this summer season’s Membership World Cup, took a 2-0 lead after simply 16 minutes because of objectives from Enzo Barrenechea and Vangelis Pavlidis and appeared poised for a simple victory. Qarabag then mounted a formidable comeback, which started with Leandro Andrade’s Thirtieth-minute objective. They had been degree within the Forty eighth minute because of Camilo Duran’s strike from an angle and took the lead for the primary time within the 86th minute, with Oleksiy Kashchuk turning earlier than scoring from shut vary.
It’s a formidable feat for Qarabag, who at the moment are the primary crew from Azerbaijan to win a match within the Champions League after a nine-plus-hour flight from Baku to Lisbon. Tuesday’s win may now be Qarabag’s most notable sporting feat however the Azerbaijani champions add this accomplishment to a formidable checklist of firsts, all of which sign that they may very well be a surprisingly aggressive crew on this season’s version of the Champions League.
This is what to know concerning the crew chargeable for Tuesday’s most gorgeous consequence.
How did Qarabag beat Benfica?
Qarabag had been dominant in possession at first however Benfica obtained off to a fast begin with 4 pictures and two objectives by the sixteenth minute, whereas the guests had zero pictures to talk of at that time. The Azerbaijani facet, although, scored with their first shot within the Thirtieth minute from Andrade and completed the primary half with loads of momentum. At halftime, Qarabag had outshot Benfica six to 5 and had 1.15 anticipated objectives to the hosts’ 0.66.
Benfica picked issues up within the second half, outshooting Qarabag 9 to 4 however the high quality of pictures from each groups was missing after the break. Duran’s Forty eighth-minute equalizer solely positioned additional onus on Benfica to revive their lead however the Portuguese facet put simply one among their 9 second-half pictures on course. It paved the way in which for Kashchuk’s game-winner within the 86th minute, an indication of Qarabag benefiting from Benfica’s wasteful night at Estadio da Luz in Lisbon.
Who’s on Qarabag’s crew?
Qarabag’s squad is primarily made up of expertise from Azerbaijan however their squad contains a number of worldwide gamers, together with every of Tuesday’s goalscorers. Andrade, a Cape Verde worldwide who handed by means of the academy of Benfica’s rivals Sporting Lisbon, was their prime goalscorer final season and at the moment has three objectives in eight video games throughout all competitions to begin this marketing campaign.
They’re managed by Gurban Gurbanov, Azerbaijan’s former report goalscorer who has been answerable for the crew since 2008.
How did Qarabag qualify for the Champions League?
Qarabag entered Champions League qualification within the second spherical and beat Eire’s Shelbourne, North Macedonia’s Shkendija and Hungary’s Ferencvaros to succeed in the Champions League’s league part.
What’s Qarabag’s historical past in European competitors?
Qarabag, the 12-time Azerbaijan Premier League winners who’ve gained all however one league title for the reason that 2013-14 season, grew to become the primary crew from their nation to succeed in the Champions League correct within the 2017-18 season and exited that season’s competitors within the group stage. They’ve reached the UEFA Europa League competitors correct on a number of events relationship again to the 2014-15 season and reached the spherical of 16 within the 2023-24 season earlier than dropping 5-4 on combination to that season’s finalists Bayer Leverkusen, which marked their deepest run in a European competitors. Additionally they participated within the UEFA Convention League twice, reaching the knockout phases on each events.
Qarabag’s remaining Champions League schedule
- Matchday 2: Copenhagen (h)
- Matchday 3: Athletic Membership (a)
- Matchday 4: Chelsea (h)
- Matchday 5: Napoli (a)
- Matchday 6: Ajax (h)
- Matchday 7: Eintracht Frankfurt (h)
- Matchday 8: Liverpool (a)
