The winner of the two-legged encounter will go through to the group stages of Europe’s Premier club competition and therefore both sides will be eager to take an early advantage.
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Qarabag FK will host Viktoria Plzen in the first leg of the Champions League qualifying tie at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium in Baku on Wednesday night. Both sides are heading into the match on the back of victories in their respective domestic league fixtures last weekend. The hosts had defeated Sumqayit 2-0 in an Azerbaijan Premier League fixture, while Viktor Plzen got the better of Hradec Kralove 2-1 in a Czech first League match. The winner of the two-legged encounter will go through to the group stages of Europe’s Premier club competition and therefore both sides will be eager to take an early advantage.
❗️ Pouhé dvě hodiny po spuštění prodeje hlásí Doosan Arena vyprodáno! ? V odvetě proti Karabachu nás tedy bude hnát plný dům! ?
? ČLÁNEK ? https://t.co/hYih7WOCJ1 pic.twitter.com/lBNahQpXNQ
— FC Viktoria Plzeň (@fcviktorkaplzen) August 16, 2022
Qarabag overcame Hungarian outfit Ferencvaros in the previous round of the Champions League qualifier courtesy of a 4-2 aggregate victory. After playing out a 1-1 draw in the opening leg at home, Qarabag came out all guns blazing in the away leg and secured a 3-1 victory. Abdellah Zoubir opened the scoring in Budapest before Ibrahima Wadji netted a brace to seal the win for the Azerbainjani side. Meanwhile in their last outing against Sumqayit, the Horseman netted two goals through Musa Gurbanli and Filip Ozobic to earn three points.
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Viktoria Plzen, on the other hand, got the better of Sheriff Tiraspol to get this far in the qualifiers. The Czech outfit secured 2-1 victores in both legs of the tie to move in the play-offs. In the second leg at Doosan Arena, Michal Bilek’s side secured the win courtesy of goals from Jan Kliment and John Mosquera. After that, the Czech side defeated Hradec Kralove to make it two wins from their opening three league games. Tomas Chory and Vaclav Pilar netted for Plzen to earn three points at Mlada Boleslav.
Qarabag boss Gurban Gurbanov is likely to opt for a 4-3-3 formation with Wadji leading the line, and Zoubir and Sheydayev providing the support. Kady Borges is likely to play the role of an attacking midfielder with Qarayev and Jankovic sitting in front of the back-four. As for Viktoria Plzen, Klimnet, who has netted in his last three Champions League qualifiers, is expected to partner Chory up front with Mosquera and Kopic occupying the flanks. Bucha and Kalvach are likely to pull the strings in the midfield.
Qarabag FK probable starting lineup: Mammadaliyev; Bayramov, Huseynov, Vesovic, Mustafazada; Jankovic, Qarayev, Kady, Zoubir, Wadji, sheydayev
Viktoria Plzen probable starting lineup: Stanek; Havel, Pernica, Hejda, Sykora, Kopic, Bucha, Kalvach, Mosquera, Klimant, Chory
The Champions League qualification fixture between Qarabag FK and Viktoria Plzen will take place at Tofiq Bahramov Stadium on Wednesday at 10:15 pm IST.
| Qarabag FK vs Viktoria Plzen | Key details |
| Date | August 17 |
| Venue | Tofiq Bahramov Stadium |
| Kickoff time in Azerbaijan | 8:45 pm |
| Kickoff time in Czech Republic | 6:45 pm |
For the football fans in Azerbaijan, live telecast of the match is available on CBC Sport Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, for those in Czech Republic, they can catch the live action via O2 TV.
