Welcome to the Qarabag FK v Newcastle preview.
Wednesday 18th Feb and a 5.45pm kick-off.
Newcastle United make a trek into uncharted territory this week.
With the long journey to Azerbaijan to face a Qarabag FK team that have achieved a number of eye-catching results in Europe this season.
The Toon have the opportunity to win three away games on the bounce after successful travels to Tottenham and Aston Villa over the last week.
Two thousand fans are making the trip and the travelling Toon Army are sure to be in fine voice as we bid to make the last sixteen of the Champions League for just the second time in our history.
Form
Newcastle have played eight champions league matches so far this season, winning four, drawing two and losing two. Victories have been achieved over Union SG, Benfica, Bilbao and PSV whereas score draws were gained on our travels to Leverkusen and PSG. We lost at home to Barcelona and away at Marseille. We scored seventeen goals in these matches and conceded seven. The fourteen points gained saw us finish twelfth in the thirty-six team league.
Qarabag FK had to get through three two-legged play-offs to reach the group stage, beating Shelbourne 4-0, Shkendija 6-1 and Ferencvaros 5-4. In the group stage they’ve won three, drawn one and lost four of their eight matches. Wins have come against Benfica, Copenhagen and Frankfurt, whilst they held Chelsea to a 2-2 draw. They’ve lost to Bilbao, Napoli, Ajax and Liverpool. They’ve scored thirteen goals and conceded twenty-one. The ten points gained saw them finish twenty-second in the league.
Last time out
Newcastle travelled to Villa Park in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday evening and had to battle against both the opposition and a set of incompetent officials to achieve a fantastic away win.
When 1-0 down at half time due to an offside goal, we roared back in the second half with a well-taken brace from Tonali and a late clincher from Woltemade. The travelling Toon Army felt aggrieved at the goal, a red card not given and a number of penalty claims, including a blatant handball that was ludicrously given as a free-kick outside the box. Thankfully even that referee could find no reason to not send off the Villa ‘keeper when he raced out miles from goal and scythed down Jacob Murphy on the stroke of half-time. This set the tone for an attack-minded second half that secured our second away win in five days.
Quarabag warmed up for this one with a 1-0 away win at Mil-Mugan in the Azerbaijan Premier League. They had to work hard to score the winning goal in the seventy-ninth minute. They currently sit second in the league, just four points off the summit.
Stat attack!
-Newcastle have scored in every champions league match they’ve played in this season.
-The Toon have never before played a competitive match in Azerbaijan.
-This trip is the longest ever in Champions League history with the travelling Toon Army racking up over two and a half thousand miles just to get there.
Memorable match
As Newcastle have never before travelled to Azerbaijan, let’s have a look at a fixture between the two nations that featured a number of Toon connections. In October 2004, England travelled to Baku to do battle in a world cup qualifier against an Azerbaijan team that had already achieved draws against both Wales and Northern Ireland. Then current NUFC players Jenas and Butt were in the starting line up and England were grateful to future Toon flop Michael Owen for the only goal in a nervy 1-0 win. Sol Campbell also played six years before signing for the Toon as England took another step forward in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Played for both
As no player has yet had the honour of representing both clubs, we’ll have to settle for an interesting fact instead.
Qarabag FK play at the Tofiq Bahramov republican stadium. It’s named after the linesman who famously allowed England’s third goal in the 1966 World Cup final despite there being a huge debate on whether or not the ball had crossed the line. A common misconception is that it was a ‘Russian Linesman’ who gave the goal but Bahramov was from Azerbaijan and the stadium was named in his honour after the Azeri gained independence from the Soviet Union.
Managers
Eddie Howe after a 3-1 FA Cup success away at Aston Villa:
“There is a lot to take in. The overriding feeling is that we are really pleased to be through. It was great character from the players to come back from a losing position. It is tough to win here at the best of times but being 1-0 down – I think we did well when we conceded that we didn’t allow the goal and the decision that allowed it to affect us and destabilise our performance. I thought we were unfortunate to go in 1-0 down. It felt like it was one of those games that every decision was going against us. Of course it isn’t intentional, but it was just one of those things that you have to accept. Our players did well to control their emotions and not get themselves sent off for something. It did feel strange. The penalty for handball, I could see it from where I was. It did feel like it was one of those days where it wasn’t going to happen. It’s not easy to play ten versus eleven and to break down a stubborn defensive unit, I think we did that really well in the second half. We want to go as far as we can. We always take the cups seriously. There is a massive prize at stake and the competition will really hot up in the latter stages. There are no easy draws for us.”
Gurban Gurbanov ahead of facing NUFC:
“Newcastle United are a well-known and well-established club. They have a style of play that does not suit us. No team in England wants to play against Newcastle because they do not allow their opponents to play their game. We want to play a brave, intelligent game on our own pitch. Our opponents have the edge on us in a number of ways but I believe my players will give their best. It is a game where we can gain a lot of experience. It is the first time in the history of Azerbaijani football that we will play in the play-off stage of the Champions League.”
Charity
As it is an away match, Newcastle United fans will not be collecting opposite the Gallowgate end, for the food bank. However, you can still help out and all online cash donations are very much appreciated. For further info and/or to donate to the food bank online.
Prediction
Anyone thinking this is something of a bye into the next round could well be in for a rude awakening. Qarabag FK have scored 17 goals in seven home European matches this season and were very good value for their draw with Chelsea. This team are no mugs and the Toon have a lot of travelling to do after hard fought away wins at Tottenham and Villa. These will be far from familiar surroundings for NUFC and if we can grind out a positive result I’ll be more than happy to get them back to St James’ Park. Qarabag FK 1-1 Newcastle.