Idman.biz
"Qarabağ" failed to fulfill its most important home task in the Champions League. The 2:4 defeat to "Ajax" in the sixth round of the main stage cast a big question mark over the team's prospects of advancing to the play-offs. Moreover, the home side's game created a weak impression compared to previous European Cup matches.
According to Idman.Biz, there was a lot of talk before the match about the crisis experienced by the Amsterdam representative, and the results shown during the season were cited as examples. But which big club hasn't gone through difficult times? The opponent's game showed the opposite, and Johann Cruyff's great legacy can never disappear without a trace. "Ajax" is a team that promotes the philosophy of total football, which means that its main advantage is attack. The club has been playing in the Champions League for decades, and its Academy graduates are always the focus of high-level clubs. For this reason, talking about "Qarabağ" being the favorite of the pair was, to put it mildly, a somewhat hasty opinion.
Yes, in terms of the current tournament and the position in the tournament table, the Azerbaijani champion was in a more favorable position. Victories over "Benfica" and "Copenhagen", and a draw with "Chelsea" naturally created unparalleled optimism and great confidence in Aghdam. However, the game with "Ajax" showed that the team still has a lot of work to do to optimize the game model according to European standards.
Last year, both clubs met in the Europa League, and at that time the Dutch won 3:0 in Baku. This time they scored even more – four goals. However, "Qarabağ" took the lead twice in the game. "Ajax", on the other hand, seemed to take the famous Brazilian principle as a basis: "You score as much as you can, and we will score as much as we want." As a result, three goals of the guests were scored in a very short time - from the 79th minute to the 90th minute, and Oskar Glukh scored a double. The efficiency of "Qarabağ"'s attacks was not at the desired level, especially after Nariman Akhundzade and Aleksey Kashchuk appeared on the field. "Ajax" played in its own style, and "Qarabağ", unlike previous European Cup matches, failed to demonstrate tactical flexibility. And it seems that despite the successes in individual games, the team has not yet reached the maturity to play in the play-off stage of the Champions League. This means that it is necessary to focus on more realistic goals - to enjoy the game in the most prestigious club tournament in Europe.
After the defeat in Baku, Gurban Gurbanov's team dropped to the 22nd place with seven points. However, the 24 best teams advance to the next stage. The Azerbaijani champion will play its next games next year - it will host "Eintracht" on January 22, and will face "Liverpool" at "Enfield" on January 29.
Zaki Feyzullayev
