Qarabag vs Chelsea: Head-to-head

The Blues have only previously faced Qarabag during the 2017/18 campaign. That also came in the Champions League with another Italian head coach, Antonio Conte, at the helm.

We were convincing winners at Stamford Bridge, recording a 6-0 victory that saw Pedro, Davide Zappacosta, Cesar Azpilicueta, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Michy Batshuayi on target. An own goal from Maksim Medvedev rounded off the scoring.

In the return fixture in Baku, a 4-0 win was secured. Eden Hazard opened the scoring through a penalty before a Willian brace sandwiched another spot-kick converted by Cesc Fabregas.

This trip to Baku will be our third, following our visit after our group match in 2017 and the UEFA Europa League final in 2019, when we beat Arsenal 4-1. Both games were played at the Baku Olympic Stadium.

This week, we will be playing at the 31,000-capacity Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium for the first time.

Head-to-head all competitions

Played 2
Won 2
Drawn 0
Lost 0

Chelsea's biggest Champions League away wins

Galatasaray 0-5 Chelsea | 1999/00 | First group stage
Schalke 0-5 Chelsea | 2014/15 | Group stage

Chelsea stats

The Blues are competing in our 20th Champions League campaign. We have made the knockout stage on each of our past eight appearances.

We have lost just three (Juventus away in 2021, Dinamo Zagreb away in 2022 and Bayern Munich away this season) of our past 26 matches in the Champions League group/league stage, winning 17.

We are seeking our fifth-straight away win in all competitions, a feat last achieved with a five-game streak in late 2024.

Chelsea have scored in each of our last 18 European games since a 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid in April 2023.

The Blues marked our 200th game in the Champions League proper with a 5-1 home win against Ajax last time out. Goals from Estevao Willian, Tyrique George and Marc Guiu made us the first team to have three teenage scorers in a match in the history of the competition.

Our starting XI against Ajax had an average age of 22 years and 163 days. It was the youngest in this season’s Champions League and the second-youngest ever by an English club in the competition. The average age of the team that finished the game was 21 years and 49 days.

In the same match, Estevao (18 years, 181 days) became our youngest Champions League scorer, beating the record held by Marc Guiu (19 years, 291 days) for 33 minutes. Reggie Walsh (17 years, 2 days) became the youngest player to appear in the competition for Chelsea.

Milestones

Chelsea’s next goal in the Champions League will be our 350th in the competition, including qualifiers.

Against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, Enzo Maresca won his 50th match in his 79th game as Blues head coach, a win rate of 63.29 per cent.

Reece James’ next start will be his 150th for the club in all competitions.

Qarabag stats

Last season

Azerbaijan Premier League - Winners
Azerbaijan Cup - Lost 3-2 after extra time to Sabah in the final
Champions League - Lost 5-0 to Dinamo Zagreb in the play-offs
Europa League - 36th in the league phase
Top scorer all competitions - Leandro Andrade 17

Qarabag debuted in the Champions League qualifiers in 2014/15, defeating Valletta 5-0 on aggregate before being eliminated by Red Bull Salzburg.

In the two years that followed, the outcomes were similar. However, in 2017, the team defeated Copenhagen on away goals during the play-off round, becoming the first Azerbaijani club to reach the group stage. They drew both matches against Atletico Madrid, but lost twice each to Roma and Chelsea.

Since then, Qarabag have competed in the qualifying rounds in all but one season. This year they defeated Ferencvaros 5-4 on aggregate in the play-off round to progress to the competition proper for the second time, and first for eight years.

Qarabag became the first Azerbaijani side to win a match in the Champions League proper when they came from two goals down to defeat Benfica 3-2 in Lisbon on matchweek one.

Including qualifying, Qarabag have won seven of their nine Champions League matches this season (two defeats), including three of the four at home.

The Azerbaijani side have scored 16 goals in their last six Champions League matches, with Leandro Andrade scoring in four of those games.

Qarabag have lost all seven of their games against English opposition by an aggregate score of 21-1. All those contests were against London sides – Tottenham (three times), Arsenal (twice) and Chelsea (twice).

Champions League league phase results

Benfica (a) W 3-2
Copenhagen (h) W 2-0
Athletic Bilbao (a) L 1-3

Champions League scorers: Andrade 2, Addai 1, Duran 1, Kashchuk 1, Zoubir 1

In 2024/25, Qarabag won their 11th league title in the past 12 seasons, finishing 15 points clear of second-placed Zira. In the cup final they suffered a shock defeat to Sabah, losing 3-2 after extra time.

Qarabag beat Imisli 2-0 on Friday to move second in the Azerbaijan Premier League with 20 points from nine games. They are one point behind leaders Turan Tovuz with a game in hand.

Last five results

Kapaz (h) W 1-0
Turan Tovuz (a) W 2-1
Athletic Bilbao (a) L 1-3
Shamakhi (h) D 0-0
Imisli (h) W 2-0

Head coach Gurban Gurbanov has been in charge of Qarabag since 2008.

Gurban Gurbanov's record against Chelsea

Won: 0
Drawn: 0
Lost: 2

Matchweek three ine-up

Tuesday 22 October
Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Qarabag
Team (4-2-3-1): Kochalski; Silva (Bolt 79), Mustafazada, Medina, Cafarquliyev; Bicalho (Jankovic 56), Kady; Duran (Kashchuk 67), Andrade (Addai 56), Zoubir (c); Akhundzade (Bayramov 67)
Scorer: Andrade 1

Discipline

There are no suspensions.

As from the first match in the league phase, players and team officials are suspended for the next competition match after three cautions, that did not result in a red card, as well as after any subsequent odd-numbered caution (fifth, seventh, ninth, etc).

In addition, all yellow cards expire on the completion of the quarter-finals and are not carried forward to the semi-finals.

Champions League yellow cards: 5
Buonanotte 1, Estevao 1, Fernandez 1, Santos 1, Tosin 1, Maresca 1

Champions League red cards: 1
Joao Pedro 1

Match officials

Referee: Sebastian Gishamer
Assistant referees: Roland Riedel, Santino Schreiner
Fourth official: Walter Altmann
VAR: Manuel Schuettengruber