Qarabağ v Internazionale background

Qarabağ FK can become the first Azerbaijani side to claim a place in the spring phase of a UEFA club competition when they host FC Internazionale Milano in UEFA Europa League Group F.

• Qarabağ will finish second if they beat Inter, or if both they and AS Saint-Étienne draw on matchday six.

• Inter are already certain to finish top of the section.

Form guide
• Danilo D'Ambrosio and Mauro Icardi scored the goals as Inter beat Qarabağ 2-0 in Italy on matchday two.

• Inter won 3-1 on their only previous trip to Azerbaijan, beating Neftçi PFK in 2012/13, when Neftçi were the first Azeri side to compete in the UEFA Europa League group stage.

• Qarabağ have not won in their last three European home games this season (D2 L1), while Inter are unbeaten in three on the road in UEFA competition (W2 D1).

Trivia and links
• Qarabağ's meeting with Inter will be their 12th European match this term, matching Neftçi's Azeri record from 2012/13. No team from Azerbaijan has ever reached the spring phase of a major UEFA competition, but this is already the country's most successful club group stage, Qarabağ having become the first Azeri side to win a UEFA group stage game and exceed Neftçi's three-point haul from two years ago.

• Qarabağ are among ten national champions in the group stage along with GNK Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), Legia Warszawa (Poland), FC Steaua Bucureşti (Romania), AC Sparta Praha (Czech Republic), Aalborg BK (Denmark), ŠK Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia), HJK Helsinki (Finland), FC Salzburg (Austria) and Celtic FC (Scotland).

The coaches
• Qarabağ coach Gurban Gurbanov is Azerbaijan's all-time top scorer at international level with 14 goals. He played in Russia but enjoyed perhaps his most celebrated years with Neftçi, where he later started out as a coach. In charge at Qarabağ since 2008, he led the club to their second title – after a 21-year wait – last season.

• In charge at Inter since May 2013, Walter Mazzarri was dismissed as Inter coach on 14 November after a disappointing start in Serie A.

• Inter's new boss is Roberto Mancini, who coached the club from 2004 to 2008, winning three Serie A titles and two national cups. A forward, most notably for UC Sampdoria and SS Lazio, he was capped over 30 times for Italy, with recent coaching adventures taking him to Manchester City FC – where he won the 2011/12 English title – and Galatasaray AŞ.