FC Qarabag strives to play in main stage of UEFA Champions League

A press conference has been held after the match FC Qarabag-PFC Ludagorets match, Azernews reports.

The match held as part of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, ended with a score of 7:2 in favour PFC Ludagorets.

At the press conference, the head coach of FC Qarabag Gurban Gurbanov responded to questions from the media.

"I congratulate my players. Even if we lost, I would not be displeased. Because I enjoyed the game. We saw the strength of the opponent in Baku. There was a style of play that we didn't like. We had to prevent this," he said.

Gurban Gurbanov underlined the FC Qarabag conceded goals due to inattention in the first half.

"But gradually we took control of the situation. Before the match, we talked with the players that it is important to be calm and stay in the game until the end. There was excitement in the first minutes. Later, everything was fine. I was not hopeless in the game before. After the defeat in Baku, I said that we have seen many such games. We endured until the end in tense matches. I congratulate our fans and our people on the occasion of the victory," said Gurban Gurbanov.

According to head coach of FC Qaraba?, such games make the team grow.

"We develop as a club and become more characterful. Such football is more popular. Especially when I see adrenaline in the fans, I am very happy about it," he added.

Gurban Gurbanov also touched on the games they will play against the Croatian club "Dinamo" (Zagreb) in the playoff stage:

"I don't know about the opponent yet. Because all our thoughts were in this encounter. "Dinamo" starts the fight directly from the playoff stage. It is a team with a lot of experience. We will have time to get to know the opponent better. As the stages are passed, more serious teams are waiting for you. We should be ready for it, we should quickly forget the joy of the current match. We have experience. We are playing in the UEFA Champions League play-offs for the third time. We try to be as ready as possible for the match. Having injured players can cause us problems. It is very important to make rotations in such matches."

The head coach outlined that he wants the current team to participate in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League:

"All of them are players who suffer a lot. We all want to play in the main stage of the UEFA Champions League. We have done a great job so far. We want to please our fans."

The 2024–25 UEFA Champions League is the 70th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 33rd season since it was rebranded from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.

This is the first season under a new format, where in the league phase each team plays eight games against different opponents, but all 36 teams are ranked in a joint group.

The final will be played on May 31, 2025 at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany. The winners of the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League will automatically qualify for the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League league phase, the 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup, the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup, and earn the right to play against the winners of the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League in the 2025 UEFA Super Cup.