Dortmund v Qäbälä background
Friday, October 23, 2015
Article summary
The right combination of results could guarantee Dortmund a place in the UEFA Europa League round of 32 as they take on Qäbälä for a second time in Group C.
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Article body
Borussia Dortmund will book their place in the UEFA Europa League round of 32 with a win against Qäbälä FK, provided FC Krasnodar also beat PAOK FC.
Previous meetings
• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's hat-trick underpinned a 3-1 victory for Dortmund when the sides met in Baku on matchday three in what was Qäbälä's first encounter with German opponents.
• Dortmund faced Qäbälä's domestic rivals Qarabağ FK in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League play-offs, Shinji Kagawa scoring twice as they triumphed 4-0 at home and 1-0 in Baku.
Form guide
• Dortmund are unbeaten in seven European games under new coach Thomas Tuchel (W6 D1). Hat-tricks have been scored in three of those fixtures – Henrikh Mkhitaryan got three against Wolfsberger SV (5-0) and Marco Reus scored a treble versus Odds BK (7-2) before Aubameyang took centre stage on matchday three.
• Qäbälä are without a victory in five European contests (D3 L2) since eliminating Apollon Limassol FC in the third qualifying round. They have yet to win in five UEFA away fixtures this term (D2 L3).
• Dortmund are in this group stage for only the second time, having failed to make it to the knockout phase in their only previous appearance, in 2010/11.
• Qäbälä are making their UEFA group stage debut this season; this is only their second European campaign.
Trivia and links
• The journey from Qabala to Dortmund is just under 3,300km.
• Aubameyang had eight shots on target in the first three matchdays – more than any other player in this season's group stage.
• Qäbälä midfielder Olexiy Gai turns 33 the day after the game.
• Qäbälä and Rosenborg BK are the only clubs who have made it all the way from the first qualifying round to the group stage in this season's competition.
The coaches
• Tuchel is in his first season as Dortmund coach after replacing Jürgen Klopp in the summer. Tuchel, 42, rose to prominence in a five-year stint in charge of 1. FSV Mainz 05, but took 12 months out before assuming his current role.
• Qäbälä's Ukrainian coach Roman Hrygorchuk made his name in Latvia, where he won three domestic titles with FK Ventspils from 2006 to 2008. He took charge at Qäbälä in December 2014 after a four-year spell at FC Chornomorets Odesa.
