Qarabag – HJK

The Azerbaijani team will prove an advantage to their opponents at home arena

Qarabag has been led by Kurban Kurbanov since 2008. By this year, the Azerbaijan head coach has led the club to its tenth league title. In the previous nine seasons, the team consistently played in the group stage of the Champions League and Europa League, and the last two years reached the 1/16 finals of the Conference League. A club with such consistent results in European tournaments and such a wise coach tried to realise their ambitions in the Champions League this season. However, the qualification of the elite European tournament did not turn out well for the Azerbaijani champion. If in the first round Karabakh did not face serious resistance from the champion of Gibraltar, then in the second duel already Azerbaijani team "broke its teeth". In the opening encounter with Rakuv on Polish soil, the teams went into the break without scoring, but in the second half they scored five goals - 3:2. Karabakh tried to rectify the defeat in the return meeting, but only exchanged goals with the Polish champion - 1:1. On Saturday, Kurbanov's wards lost the opening match of the championship to Zirya club, which may indicate a thorough preparation for the arrival of HIK. The bookmakers consider the hosts to be the clear favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 1.51 on their victory. Over the past thirteen seasons, HIK has only three times failed to become the champion of Finland. The rest of the years passed with the finishing advantage of the capital club in the national arena. Last year, Toni Koskela's team finished two points ahead of their nearest pursuer, and currently sit in a tightly-positioned top three before the end of the Finnish regular season. The Finns started their current Champions League qualification with matches against Larne, the champions of Northern Ireland. In the first meeting HIK won 1-0, in the second meeting they allowed their opponents to get a willful victory and had to prove their advantage in extra time. Next, HIK faced Moulde with dignity. Koskel's team won 1-0 at home, but lost away with a double advantage, conceding two goals in the second half. HIK played extremely poorly away in the previous matches, so they should not expect success in Azerbaijan against an experienced opponent.