Qarabağ FK vs Lech Poznan – 12/07/2022
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On Tuesday, Qarabag FK will host Lech Poznan at Tofiq Bahramov Stadium, trailing by a goal going into the second leg following last week’s 1-0 defeat in the 1st leg in Poland.
Azerbaijani champions Qarabag, lost for the first time in their European history to Polish opposition as Lech Poznan captain Mikael Ishak scored the decisive goal but Qarabag now return to the more familiar surroundings of their Tofiq Bahramov Stadium where they will be confident in turning around this 1st qualifying round tie.
? UEFA Çempionlar Liqası
⚔️ I təsnifat mərhələsinin cavab oyunu
“Qarabağ” ? “Lex”
? 12 iyul
? 20:00
? Tofiq Bəhramov adına Respbulika stadionu
? CBC Sport#QarabağFK #UCL #QFKLPO pic.twitter.com/sOC2Br5mK7— Qarabağ FK (@FKQarabagh) July 10, 2022
It is now up to long-serving coach Gurban Gurbanov – who led his team to the knockout stages of last season’s Europa Conference League – to deliver a home victory to continue the run and having been unbeaten in their last 11 home games in all competitions (which includes eight wins), Qarabag will fancy their chances in overturning this slender 1-0 deficit on Tuesday evening.
Kady, Qarabag’s joint top scorer last season, will once again lead their challenge, netting five goals in the Conference League last term, while having joined from Hapoel Tel Aviv earlier this summer, Marko Jankovic is now eligible for his first competitive start.
Van den Brom began his tenure as Lech Poznan coach with a win, but it didn’t take long for the ex-Anderlecht manager’s promising start to fade as the Polish visitors lost to 2-0 to Rakow in the Polish Super Cup, with the Dutch coach having to shuffle his starting XI due to the unfortunate timing of the fixture.
On the European front, Lech Poznan have had limited exposure in the last decade, as the Railwaymen have only appeared in four Europa League or UEFA Cup group stages, with one knockout phase qualification in 2011.
However, Lech are now aiming to make an impact on Europe after celebrating their 100th anniversary by winning Ekstraklasa for the eighth time last season on the domestic front, but limited results away from home in this competition show Lech Poznan have won 2 and lost 2 to date.
Despite losing in the Super Cup last weekend, Lech Poznan look set to be full strength in Baku, as John van den Brom selects a XI similar to that which started the 1st leg, Antonio Milic, Jesper Karlstrom and Radoslaw Murawski are most likely to retain their spots.
Qarabag with home advantage though may just sneak a narrow win in this return leg.
