Azerbaijani football clubs have achieved a historic milestone in UEFA competitions.
As reported by İdman.Biz, this is the first time that all three Azerbaijani representatives starting from the first qualifying round of UEFA tournaments have won both their home and away matches.
National champions Sabah enjoyed a perfect start to their UEFA Champions League campaign by defeating Welsh side The New Saints 2-0 in Baku before securing a 2-1 away victory to progress comfortably.
Qarabag were equally dominant in the UEFA Europa League qualifiers, beating Iceland's Vestri 3-0 in both legs to advance without conceding a goal.
Zira also impressed in the UEFA Conference League, thrashing Georgia's Torpedo Kutaisi 3-0 both at home and away under head coach Rashad Sadygov.
Overall, Azerbaijani clubs played six matches in the opening qualifying round, won all six, scored 16 goals and conceded just once – an unprecedented achievement in the country's European football history.
The closest previous success came in the 2017/18 season, when two Azerbaijani clubs began their European campaigns in the first qualifying round and both won their two-legged ties. Zira defeated Luxembourg's Differdange 2-0 and 2-1, while Inter Baku overcame Serbia's Mladost Lučani with 3-0 and 2-0 victories.
In the second qualifying round, Sabah will face Finnish champions KuPS in the UEFA Champions League. Qarabag have been drawn against Bulgaria's CSKA Sofia in the UEFA Europa League, while Zira will meet Estonia's Paide in the UEFA Conference League.
Neftchi will also enter the UEFA Conference League at the second qualifying round stage, where the Baku club will take on Dinamo Minsk, who eliminated North Macedonia's Sileks in the previous round.
The second qualifying round matches in the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League are scheduled for July 23 and 30.
