Qarabag Preview: The club from a ghost town taking on Europe's elite.

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It is July 1993 in Baku. Qarabağ are playing the final of the Azerbaijani Cup, on the cusp of completing a first historic domestic treble. Not many had envisioned that Qarabağ, the Black Garden, based in the war-stricken town of Ağdam, would come close to challenging the country’s established heavy weights.

Years later, Sattar Aliyev, the treble winning captain, tells Emanuele Giulianelli of his enduring memory from that game. “During the final, it was the announcer at the stadium in Baku that told us that Ağdam had been occupied. We couldn’t hold back the tears during the game.”

It is November 2025 in Baku. I am sitting in the city’s delightful Seaside City National Park, my feet dangling meters away from the tranquil Caspian Sea. The air is fragrant mist, tinged with the sweet tears of Arsenal fans who watched Eden Hazard rip their side apart at the Olympic Stadium, not too far away. It is two days before Qarabağ take on Chelsea in Baku, but as it always is for Qarabağ, this game is more than just about football.

Ağdam’s Çay Evin [Tea House] was once the only functioning mosque in the Soviet Union. Until 1987, Çörək Muzeyi, the iconic Bread Museum, was open to visitors, showcasing 2,800 displays gathered from across the Soviet Union, including petrified grains of wheat dating back to 7^th Century BC. 300 different kinds of bread were showcased here, including a variety used by Soviet soliders to survive the siege of Leningrad. In 1992, the second of two shells ignited a blaze that destroyed over half the exhibits.

On the 23^rd of July in 1993, the town of Ağdam was levelled to the ground by rockets and artillery fire. The entire population, with estimates wildly varying between 30,000 - 100,000, fled east. Houses were systematically dismantled for construction materials after the exodus of its inhabitants. Qarabağ’s home stadium, the Imaret [Monument], was destroyed too, leaving their home a ghost town for decades inhabited only by cattle and snipers nestled in the surrounding areas. Estimates say it will take 15 years for the government to remove all the active landmines in the area despite clearing more than 31,000 mines up until May 2025. Some publications call Ağdam ‘the Hiroshima of the Caucus.’ Qarabağ have not played at home since, for 32 years.

War, its indelible grief and separation have since taken their toll but have also simultaneously forged Qarabağ’s identity. What began as a fanbase of refugees and displaced people from Ağdam has now commanded the respect of Azerbaijanis across the nation. In 2008 they turned to Gurban Gurbanov, a former Azerbaijan national team player who was, until recently, their all-time top scorer. After no league titles in 14 before he joined, he has led them to 12 league titles in the last 13 seasons. That ascent saw them fight their way into the Europa League playoffs, then into the Champions League playoffs and finally into the hallowed grounds of the group stages themselves – a remarkable achievement. He has been in charge for 17 years now, an Alex Ferguson-esque reverence attached to his name and decisions.

Gurbanov was in charge for both of Chelsea’s last encounters against the club under Antonio Conte – a 6-0 loss at Stamford Bridge best remembered for Davide Zappacosta’s thunderbolt catching Šehić out from 30 odd yards. The reverse fixture was a 4-0 loss where Qarabağ went a man down inside 20 minutes, a red card decision Gurbanov later described as ‘the most incredible I’ve seen in my career.’

Every setback, on and off the field, has ignited a fierce resolve to push on, as if falling away from the limelight would make everyone forget where they come from and what they’ve endured. Every player recruited, even if they’re not Azerbaijani, is made to feel the weight they carry on their shoulders – of a city turned to ash and ruin, of the generations that worked to plant the seed of a home there only to see the earth betray it. Multiple players, like South African Dino Ndlovu, who played for them from 2016-2018, have spoken before games of their responsibility towards Ağdam and their people.

It is this identity that sees Qarabağ hold their own as a scrapper in a field full of heavyweights. Despite their obvious technical deficiencies and their reliance on Azerbaijani players that rarely leave home to ply their trades in top leagues, they have earned the caution and respect of more seasoned peers. They’ve gone from learning from early defeats to holding Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid to draws, both home and away. This season they’ve beaten Benfica away from home, and CL regulars FC Copenhagen 2-0. Even Chelsea’s rotated side might possess more quality, but Qarabağ will not make it easy at the Tofiq Baramov Stadium in Baku.

At the pre-match press conference, I asked Gurbanov if he was considering changing tactics seeing that Chelsea have won only 2 of the 6 games against teams playing a back 5, knowing well that he hasn’t played one against stronger teams like Benfica or Bilbao.

Which sums up Qarabağ in a nutshell - fiercely protective of their identity, on and off the pitch.

On 28th November, 2020, after the most recent round of hostilities ceased, the entire Qarabağ side were finally able to visit Ağdam. Life came a full circle, as the team posed with the Azerbaijani Cup, the trophy they won on that ill-fated day, at the site of the Imarat stadium. A football rolled on the scorched earth as the players had a kickabout in a place most had heard of all their lives but never truly known. The club’s website posted a caption to go with that picture - we are home.

Efforts are already underway to rebuild the city, reconstruct the glorious Juma Mosque and to see Qarabağ play at their spiritual home once more. It will take years before that incredibly emotional moment sees the light of day, but Qarabağ’s story is one that continues to capture the imaginations of fans outside Ağdam. Will they be third time lucky against Chelsea? Not many believe so. But Qarabağ don’t care. They’ve been here before, and they will go for glory.

Massive thanks to Emanuele Giulianelli’s wonderful book - Qarabağ: The Team Without a City & their Quest to Conquer Europe, which you can can buy here.