Qarabag dey carry strong 3-0 lead go Throttarvollur Stadium for second leg of UEFA Europa League qualifying tie with Vestri on Thursday. The visitors don almost book their place for second qualifying round after commanding victory for first leg last Thursday for Baku.
Vestri, wey be Icelandic second division side, dey hope to avoid third consecutive defeat. But e go hard because Qarabag get plenty European experience. Zakaria Sawo open scoring for first leg before Abdellah Zoubir add another one just before half time. Renaldo Cephas finish the matter with late third goal for Tofiq Bahramov Stadium.
Vestri win Icelandic Cup last season, wey secure them Europa League qualifying spot for first time for history. That cup na their first major trophy ever. But dem also suffer relegation from top flight same season. So now dem dey play Europa League as non-top flight team. First leg no go well for Daniel Osafo-Badu boys as dem need to overturn big deficit.
However, Vestri get three wins for last four home games and dey score average three goals per match for that stretch. Dem go field full squad. For Qarabag side, Gurban Gurbanov don dey coach since 2008 and na one of longest-serving coaches for world football. He fit make changes to squad wey win for Baku because dem get comfortable lead.
Qarabag don reach knockout stage for all three UEFA club competitions before. Last season dem get impressive Champions League campaign, defeating Benfica, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Copenhagen, while holding their own against Chelsea en route to knockout phase. But dem lose 9-3 to Newcastle United for knockout playoffs.
Vestri coach David Lamude dey under pressure because dem dey mid-table for Iceland second division, with only two points from last three league games. After drawing against Throttur Reykjavik and Grindavik, dem lose 5-2 to Fylkir last time out. The 7,000km midweek journey to Baku affect them.
Qarabag don lose Colombian striker Camilo Duran to Celtic, but Gurbanov still get firepower, including his son Musa Qurbanli. Sawo and Zoubir wey score for first leg go feature for attack. Jamaica international Cephas fit start from bench after scoring as substitute for competitive debut.
Vestri possible starting lineup include goalkeeper Marvin Steinarsson, Cafu Phete for defence, and young winger Emmanuel Duah. Macedonian defender Konstantin Cheshmedjiev also fit feature. Dem be only Vestri men with prior European experience before last week debut for Baku.
Winner of this tie go face either Derry City or CSKA Sofia for second qualifying round. For terms of resources and experience, plus geographical distance, big gap dey between these two clubs. Vestri defy long odds to reach this far, but dem go likely drop to Conference League qualifiers after Qarabag finish the job.
