Qarabag vs Bayer Leverkusen

Tofiq Bahramov Stadium sets the stage for the first leg of Qarabag’s Europa League last-16 tie against high-flying Bayer Leverkusen.

Qarabag fans must be having a sense of deja vu as they’ve been unfortunate enough to be taking on Europe’s most in-form side for the third time this season. Maybe the third time would be the charm after losing both Europa League group-stage H2Hs via a combined score of 6-1. Confidence stems from Qarabag’s outrageous knockout playoff round performance against Sporting Braga, with the perennial Azerbaijani champions ousting the Portuguese powerhouse 6-5 on aggregate. Though a 2-0 (regulation time) home defeat doesn’t bode well, Gurban Gurbanov’s men will have an added motive to defy the odds in this match-up after only claiming one draw across eight previous European clashes against German opposition (L7). Worryingly enough, they’ve only won once across their last four competitive home outings, conceding 3+ goals on three occasions.

Meanwhile, visiting Bayer Leverkusen took advantage of another Bayern Munich blip to extend their lead at the Bundesliga summit to ten points with a 2-0 win at Cologne, getting ever closer to a first-ever top-flight title. That victory stretched their German record-unbeaten run to 34 matches on the spin (W30, D4) across all competitions, strengthening their bid to make it three wins out of three against Qarabag. Anything less would be a significant surprise, given Die Werkself’s formidable form on their recent travels, which has seen them win 12 of their last 13 competitive games on the road (D1). Not only did Leverkusen manage seven clean sheets during that 13-game sequence, but they’ve also netted 2+ goals on 11 occasions, highlighting the potential for grabbing a landslide first-leg lead.