Both looking to book a spot in the revamped League Phase of this season's Champions League, Qarabag FK and Dinamo Zagreb will meet in Baku for the second leg of their playoff clash on Wednesday night.
The Horsemen have plenty of work to do in order to ensure that they remain in UEFA's elite club competition, whereas the Blues know that even a defeat could be enough for progression.
Match preview
![Coach Gurban Gurbanov of Qarabag FK looks on as his side face Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the second leg of the Europa League Round of 16 - 14/03/2024 [on July 28, 2024]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/30/gurban-gurbanov.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Coach Gurban Gurbanov of Qarabag FK looks on as his side face Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the second leg of the Europa League Round of 16 - 14/03/2024 [on July 28, 2024]")
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Winning their domestic title for the past three seasons, Qarabag have established themselves as the dominant force in Azerbaijani club football, but they are on the brink of dropping out of the Champions League at the playoff phase following a woeful first leg in Croatia last week.
Despite dominating the contest in terms of possession and creating a reasonable amount of clear-cut chances, the Horsemen were unable to breach the net of Dinamo goalkeeper Ivan Nevistic, with the hosts recording a three-goal success courtesy of a strike from Marko Pjaca and a Sandro Kulenovic brace.
Moving away from the continental stage for a second, Qarabag have struggled in the Azerbaijani Premier League at the beginning of the 2024-25 season, losing 1-0 at home to Turan Tovuz on Saturday afternoon, meaning that Wednesday's hosts have now lost back-to-back matches for the first time since October 2023.
Needing to overturn a three-goal deficit in Baku during the second leg, it is unlikely that the Horsemen will reach the proper phase of the Champions League for the first time since the 2017-18 term, when the Azerbaijanis finished bottom of a group containing Chelsea, Roma and Atletico Madrid.
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Since returning from their respective summer schedule, Dinamo Zagreb have been absolutely sensational in competitive action, recording five straight victories across the Croatian HNL and the Champions League, including a three-goal battering of Qarabag during the first leg.
The in-form Blues maintained their 100% record domestically this summer courtesy of a narrow win over HNK Gorica on Saturday, when a Kulenovic double either side of the half-time whistle was enough to sentence Jurica Prsir's strike to the category of a mere consolation.
Winning the Croatian top flight in each of the last seven years, Dinamo Zagreb are the force to be reckoned with domestically and also a regular performer on the continental stage, managing successes over the likes of Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur in recent campaigns.
With last season's leading marksman Fran Brodic departing to Hungarian outfit Ujpest over the summer break, the Blues are now more reliant on the talents of Bruno Petkovic in the attacking third, with the 29-year-old providing two assists across two league appearances so far this term.
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Team News
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Opening the scoring in the 7-2 second-leg win over Ludogorets Razgrad in the previous round, Brazilian star Juninho will be looking to provide a similar spark of inspiration for Qarabag on Wednesday night.
Netting a brace in that particular match earlier this month, Yassine Benzia is the chief creator for the Horsemen and should start in the engine room for this one.
Dinamo Zagreb remain without the services of right-back Sadegh Moharrami, with the 28-year-old suffering a serious cruciate ligament injury in February.
The Blues are also unable to call upon the talents of midfielder Arijan Ademi, who is expected back in a few weeks from a niggling muscle issue.
Additionally, the visitors are short of options on the left side of their backline, with youngster Mauro Perkovic fighting back from a hamstring strain.
Qarabag FK possible starting lineup:
Buntic; Silva, Mustafazade, Medina, Jafarquilyev; Romao, Andrade, Bayramov, Benzia, Zoubir; Juninho
Dinamo Zagreb possible starting lineup:
Nevisitic; Ogiwara, Theophile-Catherine, Mmaee, Pierre-Gabriel; Misic, Pjaca, Sucic, Baturina, Hoxha; Petkovic
We say: Qarabag FK 1-1 Dinamo Zagreb (Dinamo Zagreb win 4-1 on aggregate)
Needing to go all out for a big win on Wednesday night, Qarabag are likely to take an attacking approach, meaning that there could be space at the back for the visitors to exploit.
We feel that an early goal for the Horsemen will strike fear into the eyes of the Blues, who will go on to record a draw on the night and advance into the Champions League.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
