Idman.biz
"Qarabağ" failed to fulfill its most important home task in the Champions League. A 2:4 defeat to "Ajax" in the sixth round of the main stage put a big question mark on the team's prospects of qualifying for the play-offs. Moreover, the home side's game made 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 experienced 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 the graduates of its Academy are always in the spotlight 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, the Azerbaijani champion was in a more favorable position in terms of the current tournament progress and the position in the tournament table. Victories over "Benfica" and "Copenhagen", a draw with "Chelsea" naturally created unparalleled optimism and great confidence in Aghdam residents. However, the game with "Ajax" showed that the team still has a lot of work to do on optimizing the game model in accordance with 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. Although "Qarabağ" took the lead twice in the game. "Ajax" seemed to have adopted the famous Brazilian principle: "You will score as much as you can against us, and we will score as much as we want." As a result, the guests' three goals were scored in a very short period of time - from the 79th minute to the 90th minute, and Oscar Gloukh 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, while "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 Champions League play-off stage. This means that it is necessary to focus on more realistic goals - to enjoy the game in Europe's most prestigious club tournament.
After the defeat in Baku, Gurban Gurbanov's team fell to 22nd place with seven points. However, the next stage will include the 24 best teams. The Azerbaijani champion will play its next games next year - it will host "Eintracht" on January 22, and will face "Liverpool" at "Anfield" on January 29.
Zaki Feyzullayev
