Bayer Leverkusen will host Qarabag FK in Group H of the Europa League. Following victories over Molde and Hacken, two Scandinavian teams, the two teams are tied for sixth place in Group H.
Preview (Bayer Leverkusen vs. Qarabag FK)
Only Bayern Munich held Xabi Alonso’s team to a 2-2 draw at the Allianz Arena last month. They have kept Leverkusen from winning all 11 of their games this season across all competitions. Leverkusen is a strong favorite to win the Europa League after making it to the semifinals the previous year. They have significantly improved since hiring Alonso a little more than a year ago. The Spaniard took over the team in the Bundesliga’s relegation zone.
Twelve months later, with 22 points from eight games, they remained atop their domestic standings after an outstanding 2-1 victory against Wolfsburg on Saturday. Although Stuttgart, Bayern, and Borussia Dortmund are all within two points of Leverkusen. Their supporters are starting to have dreams of winning the Bundesliga for the first time ever. They did so in the 1987–88 season when they overcame Espanyol on penalties. This is a huge club bereft of success, though, as they have only added one DFB-Pokal to their trophy cabinet. As such, they will be concentrating on securing qualification to the knockout stages as soon as possible.
The Azerbaijani champions, however, shouldn’t be taken lightly after winning both of their initial matchups 1-0 against Molde and Hacken. The Horsemen have never advanced past the group stages of Europe’s secondary tournament, despite having participated in the Europa League group stage seven times previously. Gurban Gurbanov will be eager to make it eight times lucky for his team. After all, the 51-year-old has coached Qarabag since 2008 and has experienced it all. In the past ten seasons, he has won nine of them, thereby leading Azerbaijani football to dominance. With 20 points from 10 games, they appear well-positioned to win the title again this year, even though Zira FK is currently leading the standings.
The high point for Qarabag was qualifying for the Champions League group stage for the first and only time in the 2017–18 campaign. In both of their encounters with Diego Simeone’s team, they ended up drawing with Atletico Madrid.
Team News
Both Arthur and Ayman Aourir will be out for Leverkusen due to significant tendon and knee injuries, respectively. Alonso is probably going to make a few adjustments for this game, with keeping them atop the Bundesliga standings maybe being his first objective. Because of this, players like Florian Wirtz, Nathan Tella, and Robert Andrich—who were only added to the bench for Saturday’s away triumph against Wolfsburg—are ready for starts. A knock may keep Montenegro full-back Marko Vesovic out of Qarabag’s lineup, but Gurbanov seems to have a fully healthy team for the lengthy journey to Germany.
The 68-cap former international from Azerbaijan might try to give another start to the same team that defeated Hacken 1-0 in Sweden, as they proved they could win both at home in the Azersun Arena and away from it. This could be a closer match than many anticipate if Alonso makes the wholesale changes. Having won both of their first-round matches, they will also be more assured than normal in European events. Leverkusen should still have enough talent to win Group H with three straight wins.
Bayer Levekusen 1 – 0 Qarabag FK
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