Three Azerbaijani football clubs went through to the third qualifying round of the European Cup. It is a really historic event for Azerbaijani football, considering that until now such a number of clubs from the Land of Fire have never achieved success at the same time.
The main hope and pride of Azerbaijani fans, the champion of the country, Agdam's Karabakh, performing in the Champions League in the last match beat the winner of the championship of Montenegro – Rudar FC. The first home match ended in a goalless draw, but in the return match the Karabakhis showed character and beat their opponents with the minimum score necessary – 1:0.
Now Karabakh has a more formidable opponent – the Scottish team Celtic. Celtic are certainly much stronger than Rudar, but Karabakh, who in the past year became a real sensation for the clubs of the Old World, went through to the group stage of the Europa League, proving that it can play against famous clubs on an equal basis.
The successful performance of the Azerbaijani clubs in European competitions continued with Baku's Inter FC and Gabala FC from the same city.
Inter, which for the first time in its history is experiencing hard times because of financial difficulties, at the last moment left the Icelandic team Hafnarfjordur speechless: the resultinh draw in Baku (2:2) also allowed the Bakuvians for the first time in the club's history to go through to the third qualifying round. Their opponent at this stage is the Spanish team Athletic Bilbao.
Gabala defeated Serbia's FK Čukarički and will play against the Cypriot team Apollo.
Yesterday, the teams from Armenia and Georgia walked onto the pitch, as it turned out, for the last time this season.
Yerevan's Alashkert beat Kazakhstan's Kairat 2:1, but after two matches left the competition, because Kazakhstan won the first match 3:0. Previously, another two Armenian teams dropped out of the competition in the Europa League. Yerevan's Ulysses in the first qualifying round lost to the Maltese team Birkirkara and Gyumri's Shirak defeated the Bosnian team Zrinjski first, but then lost to the Swedish team AIK.
The European football campaign in the 2015/2016 season has also ended for Georgian clubs. Dila FC from Gori, who participated in the Champions League, lost the return match of the second qualifying round to Belgrade Partizan 0:2 at home, concluding its performance in the most prestigious cup competition in Europe.
Earlier, Dynamo Tbilisi, Dynamo Batumi and Tskhinval left the UEFA Europa League.
In the next round of the Champions League the following teams will meet:
Milsami (Romania) - Skenderbeu (Albania)
CSKA Moscow (Russia) - Sparta (Prague)
Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) - Victoria Plzen (Czech Republic)
Midtjylland (Denmark) - APOEL Nicosia (Cyprus)
Fenerbahce (Turkey) - Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
Panathinaikos (Greece) - Bruges (Belgium)
Young Boys (Switzerland) - Monaco
Videoton (Hungary) - BATE Borisov (Belarus)
Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) - Molde (Norway)
HJK Helsinki (Finland) - Astana (Kazakhstan)
Red Bull (Austria) - Malmo (Sweden)
Steaua (Romania) - Partizan (Serbia)
Celtic (Scotland) - Karabakh (Azerbaijan)
Lech (Poland) - Basel (Switzerland)
Rapid Vienna (Austria) - Ajax (Netherlands)
In the third qualifying round of the Europa League the following teams will play:
Baumit Jablonec (Czech Republic) - Copenhagen (Denmark)
Krasnodar (Russia) - Slovan Br (Slovakia)
Zurich (Switzerland) - Dynamo Minsk (Belarus)
Zilina (Slovakia) - Vorskla Poltava (Ukraine)
Belenenses (Portugal) - Gothenburg (Sweden)
Debrecen (Hungary) - Rosenborg (Norway)
Tun (Switzerland) - Vaduz (Liechtenstein)
Sampdoria (Italy) - Vojvodina (Serbia)
Kukes (Albania) - Lehi (Poland)
Storm (Austria) - Rubin (Russia)
PAOK (Greece) - Spartacus Trnava (Slovakia)
Hajduk (Croatia) - Strømsgodset (Norway)
Kairat (Kazakhstan) - Aberdeen (Scotland)
AIK (Sweden) - Atromitos (Greece)
Charleroi (Belgium) - Zarya (Ukraine)
Brøndby (Denmark) - Omonia (Cyprus)
Rabotnicki (Macedonia) - Trabzonspor (Turkey)
Atletico B (Spain) - Inter Baku (Azerbaijan)
West Ham United (England) - Astra (Romania)
Standard (Belgium) - Željezničar (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Wolfsberg (Austria) - Borussia D (Germany)
Gabala (Azerbaijan) - Apollo (Cyprus)
Elfsborg (Sweden) - Odd (Norway)
Slovan A (Czech Republic) - Hapoel Irony (Israel)
Alt (Austria) - Vitoria Guimaraes (Portugal)
AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) - Istanbul BB (Turkey)
Tirgu Mures (Romania) - Saint-Etienne (France)
Bordeaux (France) - AEK Larnaca (Cyprus)
Southampton (England) - Vitesse (Netherlands)
