Champions League: Qarabag, admired by Sparta and Rangers

The 2025/2026 UEFA Champions League season has officially kicked off.

Azerbaijani champions Qarabag will begin their campaign from the second qualifying round, Idman.biz reports.

According to the draw results, Gurban Gurbanov’s side will face the winner of the tie between Shelbourne (Ireland) and Linfield (Northern Ireland). Qarabag will play the first leg away on July 22–23, with the return match held a week later in Baku.

Qarabag ranked 13th

Qarabag is among the most successful clubs in Champions League qualifying history. The Azerbaijani side has played 51 matches on their way to group stage attempts, winning 24, drawing 16, and losing just 11 times. They’ve scored 80 goals and conceded 40, collecting a total of 88 points, placing them 13th overall, with an average of 1.57 points per match.

Despite this strong showing in qualifiers, Qarabag has only reached the group stage once, in the 2017/2018 season, where they were drawn alongside Chelsea, Roma, and Atletico Madrid. They earned a point against Atletico but finished bottom of the group.

Dinamo Zagreb leads the ranking

Dinamo Zagreb holds the record for most matches in UCL qualifiers, having made 108 appearances over 18 campaigns in the past 20 years, collecting 207 points. They lead Dynamo Kyiv by 33 games and 62 points.

Other notable teams in the top five include Celtic, BATE Borisov, and Rosenborg. While the Belarusian and Norwegian sides have declined, Celtic often enters directly into the playoff rounds.

Qarabag could climb two places

Qarabag could improve its position in the ranking this season. They are just 3 points behind 12th-placed APOEL, who are not participating this year, increasing Qarabag’s chances of overtaking them. Catching up with Partizan (101 points) and Salzburg will be more difficult. Like Qarabag, Salzburg will enter in the second round, but their "League Path" opponents are expected to be stronger. Partizan, like APOEL, is also not competing this year.

Qarabag is also among the teams with the fewest defeats and goals conceded in UCL qualifying history, statistics that clubs like Sparta and Rangers could envy.

Top 20 most successful clubs in UEFA Champions League qualifiers

Komanda	O	Q	H	M	Q	X
1	Dinamo Zaqreb	108	61	24	23	203-107	207
2	Dinamo Kiyev	75	43	16	16	141-74	145
3	Seltik	72	41	12	19	129-66	135
4	BATE	74	33	24	17	98-77	123
5	Rusenborq	62	37	10	15	115-60	121
6	Şerif	88	33	18	37	92-87	117
7	Kopenhagen	64	32	16	16	111-68	112
8	FCSB	64	30	21	13	117-84	111
9	Maribor	64	31	13	20	85-70	106
10	Partizan	62	28	17	17	103-69	101
11	Zalsburq	58	29	14	15	88-61	101
12	APOEL	58	25	16	17	75-44	91
13	Qarabağ	51	24	16	11	80-40	88
14	Srvena Zvezda	55	23	19	13	86-55	88
15	HİK	58	25	13	20	84-63	88
16	Sparta	52	26	9	17	79-59	87
17	Ludoqorets	58	25	11	22	94-71	86
18	Reyncers	48	22	13	13	79-46	79
19	Legiya	44	23	10	11	63-40	79
20	Şaxtyor	40	22	10	8	66-38	76