Qarabağ become the first Azerbaijani club to reach a Champions League knockout tie — then lose 9-3 to Newcastle
Qarabağ came through four Champions League qualifying rounds in the summer of 2025 — Shelbourne 4-0, Shkëndija 6-1 and Ferencváros 5-4 on aggregate — to reach the 36-team league phase for a…
Qarabağ came through four Champions League qualifying rounds in the summer of 2025 — Shelbourne 4-0, Shkëndija 6-1 and Ferencváros 5-4 on aggregate — to reach the 36-team league phase for a second time. This time they went further than any Azerbaijani club before them, finishing 20th of 36 and inside the top 24, which put them into the knockout play-offs. The league phase produced the two best results in the country's European history: a 3-2 comeback win away at Benfica on matchday one, in which Leandro Andrade became the first Cape Verdean to score in the competition, and a 3-2 home win over Eintracht Frankfurt on 21 January in which Bahlul Mustafazadə scored a stoppage-time winner — the first Champions League goal by an Azerbaijani.
The play-off draw sent them to Newcastle United. The first leg in Baku on 18 February finished 6-1 to Newcastle; the return at St James' Park on 24 February ended 3-2, with Camilo Durán and Elvin Cəfərquliyev replying for Qarabağ in front of 50,068. Aggregate 9-3.
Domestically the same season ended without the title for the first time in years.