2024-04-29 19:40:52
The semi-final stage of the Azerbaijan Cup has ended.
According to İdman.biz, after the matches between “Qarabag” and “Neftchi” and “Gabala” and “Zira”, which took place as part of the return games, the finalists were determined.
Clear victory
A “clean victory” for one of the sides was recorded in both pairs of the semi-final stage. In other words, the same team won both matches. Karabakh’s victories over Neftchi were won with a big difference – 4:0, 4:1. “Zira” did not give “Gabala” a single chance – 2:1, 2:0.
“The king is dead”, so is the “vizier”
After the semi-final, the cup was left without an owner. Gabala, the last winner of the tournament, stopped the fight. Who the phrases “The King is Dead” and “Long Live the New King” will refer to will be determined in the final on June 2. The loser was not only the winner of last season, but also the finalist. Neftchi, which lost to Gabala in the decisive match a year ago, lost the chance to win the cup this time too. It is interesting that the last finalists were excluded from the tournament by the participants in the final, which took place before the Neftchi – Gabala match.
The finalists have returned to the finals
Although the two finalists of last season stopped fighting, 4 participants from that match have the opportunity to play in the decisive match. Ruan Renato, Rafael Utzig and Magsad Isaev, who won the cup with Gabala a year ago, are close to winning the title again. Cesar Meza Colli, who at that time suffered a defeat from Neftchi, also has the opportunity to play in the final again. All four of these players are already Zira players.
Friends kicked out the visitors
The semi-final was also memorable for the struggle between local and foreign specialists. Azerbaijani coaches Gurban Gurbanov and Rashad Sadikhov examined their foreign colleagues Miodrag Bozovic and Kakhaber Tskhadadze. The visiting specialists were knocked out of the Cup by local coaches, whom Gurbanov himself called “close friends.” In both pairs, younger specialists defeated their experienced colleagues. This means that after a year-long break, the finals will again be held without a foreign head coach.
The strongest everywhere
The final participants are the current leaders of the Premier League. “Qarabag” and “Zira”, two of the strongest teams in the championship, left behind all their rivals in the cup. True, the representative of Baku, unlike the Agdam club, which has already won gold medals, still has to defend second place. The representative of the village has a 2-point advantage, and there are 5 rounds left before the end of the fight for silver.
Azerbaijan Derby in the “2024 Version”
The fights between “Karabakh” and “Neftchi”, considered the Azerbaijani derby, have received a new trend since 2024. This year, the Agdam club scored 4 goals in each match and won by a large margin. Gurbanov’s students, who beat their opponents with a score of 4:1 in the championship, as well as 4:0 and 4:1 in the cup, will try to continue this tradition in the XXXIII round. Qarabag did not give the opponent a chance in the first two matches of the current season – 2:0, 2:0. In general, the Agdam team won 6 derbies in a row.
Third farewell to Europe
After the semi-final matches of the cup, the chance of another team to qualify for European competition disappeared. “Gabala”, an outsider in the Premier League, said goodbye to the cup, which was the only hope of going to the European competition. Before Tskhadadze’s wards, “Araz-Nakhchivan” and “Kapaz” had no theoretical chance of getting into Europe. At the moment, there are six candidates left for three tickets to the European Cups. If Qarabag qualified for the Champions League, then Zira, Sumgayit, Neftchi and Sabah are the main contenders for the remaining three places. “Sabail” and “Turan Tovuz” have theoretical chances of this.
It should be noted that on June 2, the final between “Qarabag” and “Zira” will take place at the Liv Bona Dea Arena.
Vugar Khairullaev
İdman.biz