Yesterday, the Spanish Cup witnessed a stunning upset as fourth-division underdog Barbastro defeated LaLiga side Espanyol 2-0. This remarkable feat has sparked conversations about the possibility of a similar underdog story in Azerbaijani football.
It has been years since an Azerbaijani team emulated such heroics in national cup matches, Idman.biz reports.
Unlike Spain, Azerbaijan does not have a fourth division, and teams from the Regional League, which could be considered equivalent in strength, are not permitted to participate in the Cup.
However, clubs from the First and Second Divisions, which do compete in the tournament, rarely manage to match the strength of Misli Premier League teams. For several seasons now, top-tier clubs have consistently dominated their lower-league counterparts with decisive victories.
This season alone, we’ve witnessed seven such instances.
In the second qualifying round:
• Sabail defeated Dinamo 6-0,
• Kapaz crushed Aghdash 6-0,
• Turan Tovuz outclassed Hypers Guba 7-2,
• Shamakhı triumphed over Shamkir 6-1,
• and Araz-Nakhchivan overwhelmed Shahdagh Gusar 4-0.
Even in yesterday's Round of 16 games, while the scores were closer, Premier League teams like Sabail and Araz-Nakhchivan managed to win with minimal effort.
Historically, this disparity is not new. Last season, elite teams won all 11 matches in the second qualifying round and the Round of 16, with a combined score of 49-5. Similar patterns were observed in the 2022/23 season, where First Division teams suffered a humiliating 0:16 aggregate defeat over four games.
The last time an Azerbaijani team achieved a Barbastro moment was in the 2020/21 season when Kapaz shocked Premier League side Sabah with a 2-1 victory. Since then, lower-division teams have lost 26 consecutive matches with a combined score of 12:109.
Could we witness another upset today? While surprises are always possible, the overwhelming dominance of Premier League teams makes it seem unlikely.
The first matches of today's cup fixtures will kick off at 4:00 PM.
Vugar Kheyrullayev
Idman.biz