"Qarabag were moments away from knocking Bayer Leverkusen out of the Europa League Round of 16 last season”
Idman.biz reports that this was said by Rob Daly, the Tottenham commentator.
“Juninho was Qarabag’s top scorer last season with 31 goals – a composed finisher and able to hold up the ball. But it is the striker’s pressing ability that bore fruit in their 7-2 Champions League qualifier win at Ludogorets last month.
Having robbed a central defender on the halfway line, the Brazilian, wearing number 18, raced through to score himself. His deceptive change of pace to win the ball was reminiscent of Heung-Min Son’s goal against Jordan Pickford.
Juninho also did this last season against Leverkusen. During a thrilling first leg performance, he pinched the ball from a ponderous Jonathan Tah in the centre circle, before charging up field to set up the opener.
That aforementioned speed is also a weapon used to race in behind opposition defences. After winning the ball in his own half, midfielder Patrick Andrade knew to play a quick pass in behind Bayer – with Juninho proving too fast for Tah, running clear to score.
How they nearly beat Leverkusen
Those games against Bayer Leverkusen hint at how they will play tonight. Like Spurs, Xabi Alonso’s side use a high line and press aggressively.
Qarabag, in the first leg, only had 33% possession but generated more attempts and hurt Leverkusen (going 2-0 up before it finished 2-2) by playing the ball forward quickly when they won it.
In the second leg, they had even less possession (28%) having gone down to 10 men. Despite that, Qarabag went 2-0 up again before suffering a heartbreaking 3-2 loss - conceding twice in added time.
Changing style for the opposition
Generally, Qarabag like to have the ball, like they did in their Champions League play-off against Dinamo Zagreb, but the Azerbaijani side lost 5-0 on aggregate.
Head Coach Gurban Gurbanov has been in charge since 2008 and is an advocate of possession-based football.
A conversation with Pep Guardiola, during a 2012 visit to Barcelona, reinforced is his world view. But one suspects they’ll pick their moments tonight – a ploy possible thanks to a prolific group of forwards.
The forward options
Along with Juninho, the 2023/24 numbers are impressive for other Qarabag stars -attacking midfielder Yassine Benzia (16 goals, 15 assists), right winger Leandro Andrade (15 goals, 18 assists) and left winger Abdellah Zoubir (15 goals, 19 assists).
All four could start in the 4-2-3-1 formation used in Qarabag’s Champions League qualifiers this season and against Leverkusen six months ago. Penalty-taking left-back Tural Bayramov is a threat too – boasting a rocket of a shot if he gets near the area.
Spurs changes
Spurs play their fourth of seven games in a 21-day spell and, in last week’s win at Coventry City, Ange Postecoglou made eight changes.
“We were always going to play these guys because we've got Europe starting,” he said post-match. “The last thing I want to do is throw guys in out of necessity.”
Spurs hung in the Carabao Cup game despite an “outstanding” Coventry performance, and ultimately, it gave first starts this season to Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Ben Davies.
“Some key players for us got some good minutes that mean when we do need to make changes moving forward, they've already played and they're ready to go."
Idman.biz
