Bayer ready to renew Qarabağ acquaintances – Bundesliga

Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen take their treble quest back to Azerbaijan to face Qarabağ in their UEFA Europa League last 16 first leg on Thursday (kick-off: 6.45pm CET).

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Last season’s Europa League semi-finalists, Leverkusen will be keen to go one step further in the competition this term, but the Bundesliga leaders will be looking no further than next opponents Qarabağ. The sides were drawn to face each other for the very first time in the group stages, with the Werkself enjoying back-to-back wins. A 5-1 triumph at the BayArena was secured thanks to goals from Florian Wirtz, Victor Boniface, Edmond Tapsoba and an Álex Grimaldo double. Boniface netted a 94th minute penalty to give Bayer a 1-0 win in the corresponding fixture in Baku. Grimaldo was on target again at the weekend as Bayer extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to 10 points with a 2-0 win against Cologne, a game in which Frimpong also found the net. The flying full-backs – who have now racked up 32 top-flight goal involvements between them – may be expected to be heavily involved once again in Baku this week, although Nathan Tella is also an option for the visitors. Alonso, who is only missing Boniface and Arthur, has confirmed Matěj Kovář will start in goal and is also expected to rotate in the likes of Josip Stanišić and Amine Adli. 

Runaway leaders in the Azerbaijan Premier League this season, Qarabağ’s progress to the Europa League Round of 16 was dramatic. A 6-5 aggregate victory against Portuguese side Braga in a knockout round play-off came courtesy of Nariman Akhundzade’s goal in added time of extra-time. That feat led the Horsemen to this stage of the competition for the first time in the club’s history and they will now be eager to avenge Leverkusen for those aforementioned group stage losses earlier in the campaign. Gurban Gurbanov’s side have a solid home record in European competition, having lost just two of their last 16 games at the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, albeit one of those coming against the Werkself in Europa League Group H last November.   

Watch: Leverkusen go 10 points clear with Cologne win 

Match stats

• The injured Boniface tops Leverkusen’s Europa League scoring chart with four goals, but a total of 10 Werkself players have netted in Europe this season.
• Kovář tops the Europa League for keeper efficiency, preventing 4.3 goals more than he was expected to concede (two from an xG of 6.3).
• Leverkusen are unbeaten in a German record 34 competitive fixtures this season, including six wins from six in the group stage.
• Among those six group wins were two over Qarabağ (5-1 H, 1-0 A).
• The last team to register more consecutive wins in a Europa League campaign was Villarreal in 2020/21 (nine) – the eventual champions.
• Qarabağ have lost seven of their eight UEFA competition meetings with Bundesliga clubs (plus a 1-1 draw with Freiburg last season).

Probable teams

Qarabağ: Lunev – Silva, Mustafazade, Hüseynov (c), Bayramov – Almeida, Janković – Andrade, Benzia, Zoubir – Juninho
Out: Jafarguliyev (suspended), Medina (knock), Romão (suspended)
Doubtful: –
Coach: Gurban Gurbanov 

Leverkusen: Kovář – Stanišić, Tah (c), Hincapié – Frimpong, Xhaka, Palacios, Grimaldo – Hložek, Wirtz – Adli
Out: Arthur (thigh), Boniface (groin)
Doubtful: –
Coach: Xabi Alonso 

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Robert Andrich added in the pre-match press conference: “We saw in the group stage what we can expect there. We won 0-1 there but it wasn’t an easy game. They are strong in the offensive and it will not be as easy as people are making out.”

© IMAGO/BEAUTIFUL SPORTS/Buriakov

View from Leverkusen

Alonso has been speaking to the media on the eve of the game, saying: “It’s good that we already know our opponent because it’s not easy to play there. It’s no longer the group stage, we are in the knockout stages now and the moment is completely different. We need to play to that and be intelligent in our game.”

© IMAGO/BEAUTIFUL SPORTS/Buriakov

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Qarabağ form

Despite holding a 4-2 first-leg lead, Qarabağ survived a Braga fightback in Baku to advance through the play-offs 6-5 on aggregate after extra-time to reach the knockout stages of a European competition for the first time in their history, having finished second in Group H behind Leverkusen. Domestically, the two-time defending champions of Azerbaijan are running away with things, boasting a 23-point lead at the top with 25 games played and well on course to retain the title with 11 matches to go. They beat Neftchi Baku 4-1 on Sunday and haven’t lost in the league since October.

Head-to-head

The two group encounters are the only previous times Leverkusen have come up against Azerbaijan’s Qarabağ. Goals from Florian Wirtz, Victor Boniface, Edmond Tapsoba and a Grimaldo (pictured) brace helped Bayer to that 5-1 win at the BayArena on Matchday 3. It then took a 94th-minute Boniface penalty to maintain that 100 percent winning record in Baku.

© IMAGO/RHR-Foto

The story so far

Leverkusen completed a perfect group stage in 2023, including victories against last-16 opponents Qarabağ (5-1 and 1-0). The Werkself also saw of Häcken of Sweden (4-0 and 2-0) and Molde of Norway (2-1 and 5-1) to book their place straight into the round of 16, bypassing the play-offs.

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Welcome!

Follow all of the action and build-up from Bayer Leverkusen’s UEFA Europa League round of 16 first-leg clash against Qarabağ right here!