Qarabağ dismantled Shkëndija 5:1 in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. With this emphatic win, Qarabağ secured a 6:1 aggregate victory and booked their spot in the next phase of the competition.

photo by FK Qarabağ: Nariman Akhundzade celebrates with Klisman Cake in the backround

Despite Qarabağ being the one who started pressing right from the start, it was the Macedonian champion to score first. A counter attack in the 10th minute ended with Besart Ibraimi perfectly finding Fabrice Tamba, who scored to level the score.

Unfortunately, Shkëndija’s lead lasted only 6 minutes as Klisman Cake scored an unlucky own goal. Two minutes later Kady Borges brought Qarabağ a 2:1 lead.

After that second goal the Shkëndija players seemed down in motivation. The Azeri champion added two more goals before the break through Nariman Akhundzade in the 33rd minute and Marko Janković from the spot in the 35th after Kamer Qaka brought down Akhundzade in the box.

The Azeri side added a fifth goal in the 59th minute through Leandro Andrade, sealing the rout. Shkëndija failed to mount any meaningful comeback, ending their Champions League hopes for the season.

Highlights:

“Congratulations to Qarabağ, they deserved the win and were much better. I have nothing to add about this 1:5 defeat. We played poorly in the first half, conceded many early goals and had problems with both physical intensity and tactics. We will analyze and prepare for the Europa League play-offs. We did not expect this result, but we must learn from it,” said Shkëndija’s head coach Jeton Bekjiri after the match.

Shkëndija now continues in the play-off for the Europa League where will face the defeated team in the Champions League clash between Hungarian champion Ferencvaros and Bulgarian champion Ludogorets. They are playing their return leg tonight.