Away win

Ferencváros (Hungary) – Qarabağ – 1:3
Barnabás Varga, 29 – Marko Janković, 50; Kevin Medina, 67; Musa Gurbanli, 85

Qarabağ played the first leg of the Champions League play-off stage. Our team visited Hungary to face Ferencváros.

Head coach Gurban Gurbanov fielded the following starting XI in the match held in Budapest: 99. Mateusz Kochalski, 44. Elvin Jafarguliyev, 81. Kevin Medina, 13. Bahlul Mustafazade, 2. Matheus Silva, 8. Marko Janković, 20. Kady Borges, 35. Pedro Bicalho, 10. Abdellah Zoubir (c), 15. Leandro Andrade, 90. Nariman Akhundzade.

From the opening minutes, both teams preferred a fast-paced game, and the fans witnessed end-to-end attacks. Several dangerous opportunities were created by both sides. In the 29th minute, the home team took the lead.

Despite falling behind, our players gradually managed to gain control of the game. Especially in the second half, Qarabağ fully dictated the match. As a logical outcome, in the 50th minute Marko Janković struck a stunning long-range goal to equalize. Seventeen minutes later, Kevin Medina put our team ahead with a precise header from a corner kick. The final word came in the 85th minute when Musa Gurbanlı sealed the victory.

Thus, our team came from behind to secure a determined 3:1 victory.

It should be noted that the return leg of the play-off stage against Ferencváros will be held on August 27 in Baku. The match will take place at the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium and will kick off at 20:45.