Qarabağ v Monaco background

Qarabağ FK will look to continue their impressive defensive record in recent European home games when they take on AS Monaco FC again in UEFA Europa League Group J.

Previous meetings
• Lacina Traoré scored in the 70th minute to give Monaco a 1-0 win in the sides' first meeting, on matchday three. It was the Principality outfit's first encounter with Azerbaijani opponents.

• Qarabağ are yet to win in five matches against French sides (D2 L3) but twice held AS Saint-Étienne (0-0, 1-1) in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage.

Form guide
• Qarabağ have not conceded in five European home games – three 0-0 draws followed by two victories.

• Qarabağ have scored just seven goals in nine European fixtures this term but conceded only five – three of them at Tottenham Hotspur FC (1-3) on matchday one.

• Monaco are unbeaten in three Group J games (W1 D2), scoring once in each of those matches.

• This is Qarabağ's second UEFA Europa League group stage campaign. They narrowly missed the cut for the round of 32 last season, having become the second Azerbaijani team to make it to a major UEFA group stage – after Neftçi PFK in 2012/13 – and the first to win a group game.

• Monaco were successful in their only previous UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League group stage campaign, making it to the round of 32 in 2005/06.

Trivia and links
• The journey from Monaco to Baku is around 3,500km.

• Qarabağ's Richard Almeida attempted the most passes in the first three matchdays – 243, with a 90% completion rate.

• Qarabağ midfielder Alharbi El Jadeyaoui was born in Strasbourg and played for French clubs Tours FC (2004/05), LB Châteauroux (2005–08), Stade Brestois 29 (2008/09), EA Guingamp (2009–12), SCO Angers (2012–14) and RC Lens (2014–15).

• Qarabağ's Dutch forward Rydell Poepon was on loan at Valenciennes FC last season, scoring seven goals in 35 Ligue 2 outings.

• Qarabağ are one of ten sides in the group stage who qualified for Europe this season as domestic champions, along with KF Skenderbëu (Albania), APOEL FC (Cyprus), FC Viktoria Plzeň (Czech Republic), FC Midtjylland (Denmark), KKS Lech Poznań (Poland), FK Partizan (Serbia), Celtic FC (Scotland), Molde FK (Norway) and FC Basel 1893 (Switzerland).

The coaches
• Qarabağ coach Gurban Gurbanov is still his country's highest-scoring international with 12 goals in 62 matches and played his club football in Russia and Ukraine as well as Azerbaijan. Coach since 2008, the former striker has led Qarabağ to domestic titles in the last two campaigns.

• Venezuelan-born Leonardo Jardim has been Monaco boss since 2014. A coach from his mid-20s onwards, he managed SC Beira-Mar and SC Braga in the Portuguese top flight, then tried his luck in Greece with Olympiacos FC before earning a second-place Liga finish with a young Sporting Clube de Portugal squad in 2013/14.