Sport24.az
"Qarabag" played its next game in the UEFA Europa League yesterday. The team led by Gurban Gurbanov lost to Romanian FCSB with a score of 2:3 in Baku.
The Azerbaijani champion was again unable to win at home in the Europa League. There are many reasons for this.
The fact that the "Khokhan Horses" were not fully ready after the winter break was also evident in the first official match in the Premier League (3:2) last week. Although three points were gained in the meeting with "Shamakhi", it was clear that things would be difficult in the match with the Romanian club. Although the team took the initiative in the first minutes, they could not prevent the opponent from distinguishing themselves from the standard position later. In fact, the statistics of the match also make us think. "Qarabag" hit one accurate shot on goal during the game, and it resulted in a goal (in the second goal, the opposing player scored an own goal).
The absence of Yassin Benzia, who could not participate in the training camp due to personal reasons, and Badavi Huseynov, who had just recovered from his injury, did not go unnoticed by the team. We also missed Juninho, who moved to Brazil's "Flamengo" club during the winter transfer period. Although Nariman Akhundzade scores goals and assists in the Azerbaijan Premier League, he is not visible in the continental tournament. Perhaps the meeting with FCSB was an opportunity for the member of our national team to show himself. Akhundzade could not say "Juninho is not here, I am here..."
Also, we would not be mistaken if we say that the Aghdam club has not adapted to the new format in European Cups. The increase in the number of teams and games made the work of our representative extremely difficult. In previous seasons, the coaching staff tried to obtain information about three teams and their players. Now there are eight teams to face. Giant clubs such as "Ajax", "Lyon", "Tottenham" also became our rivals in the draw. Gurban Gurbanov's team can analyze their opponents more easily in the matches they play. For example, the Aghdam team, which lost to the Bulgarian representative "Ludogorets" in the Champions League game in Baku, made the opponent regret coming to the field a week later and signed a 7:2 victory in extra time. In the main stage of the Europa League, you only have a chance to face each team once.
Of course, "Qarabag" will try to cope with this in the upcoming season. But it is imperative to make changes to the squad, and at least find a striker at the level of Juninho.
