Azerbaijani Premier League outfit FK Qarabag surpassed their very own milestone in UEFA club competition through a shock victory over Rosenborg BK in the wake of a decade-long anniversary celebrating the nation’s first away triumph. The mementous win came in the second batch of qualifiers for the inaugural Europa League, a prestigous and recognised platform than the now-defunct Intertoto Cup which was the backdrop for Qarabag’s prior success on the European continent.
Restraining the 20-time Norwegian champions to a goalless stalemate in Trondheim last week, Qarabag approached the return leg entirely aware that expectations regarding their own progression were muted even with the scoreline elegantly balanced. Step forward Scandinavian linchpin Rosenborg, one of the customary suspects of the UEFA Champions League who have enjoyed progression to the group stages on no fewer than eleven occasions between 1995 and 2006. Logically superior in every aspect associated with a football club - finances, facilities, calibre of playing staff, heritage and such - Rosenborg would surely casually saunder over the carcass of a tattered Qarabag to await the challengers beckoning at the next hurdle.
Predictions focused on Rosenborg’s restoration to dictating domestic honours as they currently stand unbeaten with a mid-season lead of four points at the pinnacle of the charts, whereas Azerbaijan’s top-flight is in transition from one season to the next and would suggest any clubs involved in European competition would buckle under the peak fitness levels of their rivals. The signs of a perplexing outcome, however, were in motion from the first leg as the draw ensured an unscathed Qarabag could lure Rosenborg back into their own territory and instigate home advantage.
Rashad Sadygov’s timely strike after 45 minutes assured the celebrations ten years ago were eclipsed to leave Azerbaijan with a representative in the Third Qualifying Round, proving once and for all that naïve assumptions are a false disguise in the sport. Rosenborg were sent packing, wounded, mortified and wordless in the anticipation that their Tippeligaen lead will prevail into championship glory and not sink in the same regret as their European conquest. The challenge posed by FC Honka of Finland looms for Qarabag, so perhaps we won’t have to wait another decade until the next continental blow is struck…
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