Qarabag take on the visitors Viktoria Plzen in the first leg of UEFA Champions League qualification finals. The match will be played on Wednesday, August 17th at Tofiq Bahramov Stadium (Baku).
Qarabag are undoubtedly the main football force of the republic in recent years. And the exception in the form of "silver" of the penultimate draw only confirms the rule. The Horses confidently regained the title. And now they are trying to break into the main round of the Champions League. There, about half a dozen years ago, they managed to make my debut in the “group”. It was not possible to repeat it, but now the wards of Gurban Gurbanov are as close as possible to this. And they had to fight in every round. Azerbaijanis faced problems all the time. They lost the very first match, Lech, but defeated the Poles at home. With "Zurich" they exchanged minimal victories and passed only due to a goal in extra time in Switzerland. Ferencvaros was able to take a draw in Baku. But in Budapest, due to Vaji's double, it was possible to beat Stanislav Cherchesov's wards 3-1. Now it remains to go through the last, but perhaps the most difficult stage.
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Viktoria surprised last season, finishing ahead of the favorite, Slavia Prague, in the fight for 1st place. The previous title was taken in 2018. Excellent result of the new-old coach, Michel Bilek. This allowed to return to the Champions League qualification. Unlike Qarabag, the Czechs started only from previous stage. And they did it confidently. Everything with Sheriff was largely decided in Chisinau, when the visitors were able to win with a score of 2-1. And on Wednesday it turned out to repeat the same result already at home. Although it wasn't that easy. Even having conceded first, the "black-and-yellows" at the beginning of the 2nd half bounced back. Rashid converted a penalty, and the champion of Moldova had 1 goal left to equalize the total score between the opponents. But in the end, Plzen not only held back the opponent from Tiraspol, but also managed to win once again due to the goal from Mosquera.
In 2016, the sides met already in the Champions League qualification. Then they exchanged draws - 0-0 in Pilsen and 1-1 in Baku. And according to the away goal rule, Victoria went on further. Bookmakers are inclined to wait for the victory of Karabakh. But Victoria also performed well in the previous round. We are waiting for bright football and, as a result, “total over 2.0 goals”.
Prediction for the match: Over 2.0 scored goals.
