The ‘riders’ hold the honour of being the only Azeri club to have played in the Champions League
Qarabag FK will face Villarreal this Thursday in the second game in Group I of the UEFA Europa League (Thursday, 6:55pm). The Azeri club, founded in 1951, has a history marked by sporting exile.
Originally from the city of Agdam in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Qarabag has played as a home team in Baku since 1993, due to the geopolitical conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
After the tensions between the two countries have been raging over the past few weeks, UEFA has decided that the tie against Villarreal, which was scheduled to be played at the Tofik Bakhramov Stadium in Baku, will be played on Turkish territory, specifically at the Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium in Istanbul.
Total dominance in Azeri football
Qarabag FK have been national champions for the last seven seasons in a row. Consistent winners of the Azeri championship, their greatest achievement on an international level has been competing in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League in the 2017/18 campaign, being the first and only club in Azerbaijan to have participated in the maximum continental competition. It should be noted that last season the ‘Qarabag riders’ also played in the group stages of the UEFA Europa League.
Photograph: Agencias.
