At the pre-match press conference Roman Hryhorchuk, head coach of Gabala, joked they would win 6:0 over Samtredia – however, Gabala managed to win 5:1.

Samtredia held a meeting in Slovenia and won both two friendly matches. Gabala is an insuperable obstacle for the Georgian clubs. After this match it is hard to believe that Samtredia will achieve success in the second leg. The failure of Samtredia is the fault of weak defence line. Besides that, Theo Weeks did whatever he wanted and scored three goals.

The Azerbaijanis scored three goals in the first half. Samtredia started the second half better, the club controlled the ball and Lasha Shergelashvili scored a goal – 3:1. However, Gabala managed to score other two goals and the match finished 5:1.

Gia Tsetsadze, head coach of Samtredia, stated the club had no special goals at European tournaments but he also added they would fight till the end. However, yesterday’s match did not prove it.

Gabala – Samtredia 5:1 (3:0)

Baku, Bakcell Arena

Gabala (4-2-3-1): Bezotosnyi; Abbasov, Stankovic, Vernydub, Ricardinho; Kvekveskiri, Sadiqov; Zenjov (Mutallimov 83), Weeks (Aliyev 86), Ozobic; Dabo (Eyyubov 77)

Head coach: Roman Hryhorchuk

Samtredia (4-2-3-1): Migineishvili; Mchedlishvili, Gogiashvili, Sandokhadze, Shergelashvili; Datunaishvili, Manjgaladze (Tsnobiladze 71); Jikia (Gamkrelidze 46), Arabuli, Razhamashvili; Zivzivadze (Markozashvili 58)

Head coach: Gia Tsetsadze

Goals: 1:0 Stankovic (16), 2:0 Zenjov (19), 3:0 Weeks (30), 3:1 Shergelashvili (59), 4:1 Weeks (69), 5:1 Weeks (72)

Yellow cards: Zenjov (65), Weeks (70) - Jikia (44), Markozashvili (62), Migineishvili (73)

Statistics – Goal attempts: 17 (8) – 13 (5) Ball possession: 54%-46% Corner kicks: 5:7 Offsides: 1:2 Fouls: 15:13

Referee: Denis Scherbakov (Belarus)