For the Azarbaijan club, qualification matches are becoming a constant, while for the Swiss it is the first time after 11 years of absence.
Between transfer market negotiations and preparation for the new season, there are those who have already started their European journey with immediately decisive matches, from inside or outside. After the first round of the Champions League preliminaries, it’s time to think about the next step: the first round matches of the second round will be played between Tuesday and Wednesday, with the return scheduled a week later. Among the most interesting crossings at this stage is the one between Qarabag and Zurich, with the first leg on Tuesday at 6 pm in Baku: according to the bookmakers, the Azerbaijani are the favorites, but there is little distance between the two teams.
In Europe
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Qarabag and Zurich are two teams we have already seen in the Champions League group stage, both against Serie A clubs: the Azeris took part in the final phase of the competition in 2017/18, in the group with Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and Roma; the Swiss team instead qualified in 2009/10, when they found themselves in the group with Milan, Marseille and Real Madrid. Zurich returned to play for Champions League qualifiers 11 years after the last time, when they were stopped by Bayern Munich in the preliminaries. While for the Qarabag it is the eighth attempt in the period from 2014 to today: the Azerbaijani club has always passed the second round, coming out six times in the third and qualifying in 2017/18.
The results
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In short, for the Qarabag it is becoming a constant. But Zurich have a more glorious history in Europe at the highest levels: the Swiss reached the semi-final of the European Cup in 1963/64 (against Real Madrid, then defeated in the final by Inter) and in 1976/77 , with the elimination at the hands of Liverpool, then champion against Borussia Moenchengladbach. How do the two teams come to this challenge? Qarabag made it through the first round against Lech Poznan, winning the return home 5-1 after losing 1-0 in the first leg; Zurich enters the race now and comes from the heavy 4-0 immediately on the field of Young Boys on the first day of Super League, the Swiss championship.
July 18, 2022 (change July 18, 2022 | 11:31)
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