6 games, 5 defeats, 1 win. This is Qarabag's statistics in the Europa League this season.

Strange as it may be, it is reality. We must accept it. The Aghdam representative is on a streak of failure in the European Cups. What is the reason for this? Why can't the "old horses" show good results in the Europa League? Let's investigate...

New format, strong opponents...

In the 2024/25 season, UEFA made changes to the format of the European Cups. There is no longer a group stage. Normally, the fight for the Aghdam club in the Europa League should have ended yesterday. However, Qarabag has 2 more games ahead. The format change did not work for the Aghdam club. Because if Gurban Gurbanov and his assistants used to analyze 3 teams and learn their secrets, now they have to study 8 different teams. Of course, this is not so easy for a club that plays in a weak league like the Azerbaijani championship. It is more convenient to learn the secrets of 3 teams. You can find ways to beat them in 4 months. But when the number increases, things get complicated. In short, the change in format did not work for the Aghdam representative.

Opponents at the Champions League level

It must be admitted that the draw did not smile at "Qarabagh". Opponents such as "Tottenham", "Ajax", "Lyon" are, of course, stronger than the Aghdam representative. As Gurban Gurbanov said, "slow horses" are still not strong enough to defeat this type of opponents. No matter how much determination we showed, small mistakes put the team in a defeated position. All 3 other opponents that the Aghdam team faced were Scandinavian representatives. Of these, we were able to defeat only "Bude-Glimt". Teams that are in our own language were able to analyze "Qarabagh" well and win.

Insufficient squad

This half-title may seem strange. However, "Qarabagh" is experiencing a shortage of squad. Of course, this idea applies to the Europa League. The Aghdam representative has 1-2 players in their squad who will enter the field and strengthen the team. This factor also causes the "old horses" to often lose in the tournament. Look, apart from "Qarabag", there is no pure striker who will play in the center of the attack. Musa Gurbanli could not recover after the injury. Nariman Akhundzade is a right winger. Redon Cica was not booked for the Europa League.

The Aghdam representative has only 3 center backs. 2 of them are injured. The absence of Bahlul or Medina causes a gap in the defense. Although Mateus Silva can play here, he cannot perform as a real center back.

Of course, this squad is enough to become a champion in the Misli Premier League. Because the squad with Musa, Nariman, Addai playing in the starting lineup easily defeats "Neftchi", "Sabah", "Kepez", "Zira". But things are not so easy in the Europa League...