Garnacho ‘rescues’ Chelsea away at the ‘tiny’ Champions League opponent

06/11/2025 07:02:00 ScoreStream

In the fourth qualifying round of the Champions League, Chelsea went through a tense 90 minutes and were lucky to avoid defeat in Baku against the home ‘tiny’ team Qarabag.

Chelsea escapes defeat at Qarabag

The lower-ranked Qarabag played a tough match and nearly forced the Premier League side to leave Azerbaijan defeated.

Although they started well, the Blues couldn’t keep control against the strong resistance from the hosts.

Chelsea started confidently and scored the opening goal within the first 20 minutes as young talent Estevao took advantage of the chance to put the visitors ahead.

Chelsea escaped defeat at Qarabag thanks to Garnacho

However, rather than making things easier for Chelsea, this goal sparked Qarabag to strike back strongly. The Azerbaijani side launched sharp counterattacks based on speed and wing play, repeatedly unsettling Chelsea’s defense.

One of these counterattacks resulted in Qarabag’s equalizer when Leandro Andrade finished accurately in the 29th minute, leveling the score.

Not stopping there, about 10 minutes later, Qarabag surprised again. Jorrel Hato’s handball in the penalty area led to a penalty, and Marko Jankovic didn’t miss, giving the hosts a 2-1 lead before halftime.

At the start of the second half, coach Enzo Maresca immediately made tactical changes with three substitutions at once to improve the game.

These changes quickly paid off when Alejandro Garnacho – one of the substitutes – scored to equalize 2-2 early in the second half, significantly lifting Chelsea’s spirits.

For the rest of the match, Chelsea pushed hard for the winning goal. Garnacho nearly became the hero with a skillful overhead kick in stoppage time, but Qarabag’s goalkeeper Kochalski made an excellent save.

The game finished 2-2 – a result that accurately reflected the match: Chelsea dominated the play, but Qarabag showed fighting spirit and effectiveness at key moments.

This was a match where Chelsea avoided defeat, but clearly, they still have much to work on if they want to progress far in this Champions League season.

+Starting lineups

Qarabag: Kochalski, Silva, Jankovic, Zoubir, Mustafazade, Leandro Andrade, Duran, Kady, Pedro Bicalho, Jafarguliyev, Medina

Chelsea: Sanchez, James, Tosin, Hato, Cucurella, Andrey Santos, Lavia, Estevao, Joao Pedro, Gittens, George

+Scorers:Andrade 29', Jankovic 39' penalty - Estevao 19', Garnacho 53'

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