København v Qarabağ: play-off facts and stats
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Article summary
In coach Ståle Solbakken's 100th game as a coach in UEFA club competitions, his København side need to overturn a 1-0 deficit to take a group stage place at Qarabağ's expense.
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FC København boss Ståle Solbakken will look to mark his 100th game as a coach in UEFA club competitions with a win to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Qarabağ FK and take his side to the UEFA Champions League group stage.
Previous meetings
• Prior to Qarabağ's 1-0 success in the first leg, the clubs met in the 1998/99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round, with FCK easing to a 10-0 aggregate victory (6-0 home, 4-0 away).
• That tie was also the only time either side has played a club from their opponents' country.
Match background
• FCK have lost only one of their last ten European home games (W6 D3 L1); Qarabağ have won both of their continental away fixtures this season.
• København have seen off Slovakia's MŠK Žilina (3-1 away, 1-2 home) and FK Vardar of FYR Macedonia (0-1 away, 4-1 home) to reach the play-offs.
• FCK have won only two of their six UEFA Champions League play-off ties, ousting Rosenborg BK on away goals in 2010/11 and APOEL FC 2-1 on aggregate last season. They have lost to APOEL (2009/10), FC Viktoria Plzeň (2011/12), LOSC Lille (2012/13) and Bayer 04 Leverkusen (2014/15).
• In 2016/17, FCK finished third in their UEFA Champions League group and went on to the round of 16 in the UEFA Europa League, losing 3-2 on aggregate to eventual runners-up AFC Ajax.
• København qualified for the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League by winning the Danish championship for the 12th time last season.
• This is Qarabağ's fourth UEFA Champions League campaign; in each of the previous three, they were eliminated in the third qualifying round.
• In 2016/17, the Azerbaijani club reached the UEFA Europa League group stage – for the third year in a row – after being knocked out of the UEFA Champions League. They have never progressed to the round of 32, however.
• Qarabağ qualified for the UEFA Champions League after winning the Azerbaijani Premier League for the fifth time in 2016/17 – their fourth championship in a row.
• They got this far by beating Georgian champions FC Samtredia in the second qualifying round (5-0 home, 1-0 away) and Moldova's FC Sheriff (0-0 home, 2-1 away).
Team and coach links
• København coach Solbakken scored twice in a 5-0 win when Norway hosted Azerbaijan in a 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier, while Qarabağ counterpart Gurban Gurbanov came on as a second-half substitute. Both men started the return match, a 1-0 victory for Norway in Baku.
Coach profiles
• In his second spell as København coach, Solbakken has led the club to seven Danish titles. A midfielder, he was capped 58 times by Norway and ended his career at FCK after being diagnosed with a heart problem. He has also coached in Norway, Germany and England.
• Qarabağ boss Gurbanov is Azerbaijan's highest-scoring international with 12 goals in 62 matches and played in Russia and Ukraine as well as Azerbaijan. Coach since 2008, he has steered Qarabağ to domestic championships in the last four seasons.
Penalty shoot-outs
• København won their only previous UEFA penalty shoot-out:
3-2 v Ferencvárosi TC, 2003/04 UEFA Cup first round
• Qarabağ have never been involved in a penalty shoot-out in UEFA competition.