# Azerbaijani Derby

Azerbaijani Derby is an Azerbaijani football derby between ''Neftçi PFK'' and "Qarabağ FK''.The match between these two teams is always in the spotlight of the Azerbaijani football community and is always distinguished by its principledness. The player who scored the most goals in the derby is Reynaldo.

## History

The participation of these clubs in all the championships organized by AFFA, and often the competition for the championship, makes the games between the two clubs very important. The principledness in the games of these two teams led to this game being called the "Azerbaijani Derby". These clubs did not meet in any game during the USSR. The time came and the Soviet Union collapsed. Like all former Soviet countries, Azerbaijan became independent. Neftchi, along with other clubs, is already participating in the national championship organized by AFFA. Thus begins the long-running ''Neftçi-Qarabağ'' matchs. The clubs met for the first time in 1992 and the game in Baku ended 1-1, while in Agdam ,Qarabağ beat their rival (2-1). In general, at first, the superiority of Qarabağ was clearly visible in the "Azerbaijani Derby". If we look at the statistics, we can see that the in Qarabağ-Neftçi games held in the Azerbaijani championships before 2000,Qarabağ won 6 matches and Neftçi won 3 matches,11 games ended in a draw.However, the peak of the financial problem in Qarabağ since 2000 and the very weakening of the team make Neftçi a strong side in this derby. Neftçi's biggest victory in the derby (4-0) took place at that time.Also, in 2001, Neftçi won a technical victory in this derby, as Qarabağ included 4 unlicensed players in the squad.In general, the technical score was recorded in 3 games between these teams. The first technical score took place in 1994 in the 1/4 final match of the Azerbaijan Cup. Neftçi's refusal to play against Qarabağ due to internal problems caused Aghdam to win 3-0 in both games.

## Players with affiliation with both teams

Although the teams have always been rivals, they are known for their close ties. We can also see that many players in Azerbaijani football even wear the uniforms of two clubs. The first player to change between the two clubs was a goalkeeper who moved from Qarabağ to Neftçi in the 1970s and is known to fans as ''Sasha''. Then the famous football player Elbrus Abbasov transferred from Qarabağ to Neftçi.Thus, in the 70s, there was a striker named Elkhan in the Qarabağ team, and those who saw the game of this player, who scored in every game, say that the second Banishevsky grew up in Azerbaijan. Thus, the player became famous in Baku , and Neftçi's selectors came to Agdam in 1971 to watch his game. They like watching the player's game live and immediately invite him to Neftçi. However, this player does not leave Agdam due to personal problems. In this case,Neftçi's coaches take young Elbrus Abbasov, who is considered to be Elkhan's replacement, to Baku.However, in the first years, Elbrus Abbasov could not be effective in Neftçi, and the young footballer went to Ganja. However, in 1975, the USSR returned Neftçi player Elbrus Abbasov, who played in the first division, and a year later Abbasov was the top scorer in the first division with 28 goals and took Neftçi to the Soviet Top League.The footballer was also one of the 20 most popular footballers in Soviet times, according to a 2013 study by the popular Russian football magazine ''Football and Hockey''.During the years of independence, there were many players who changed between the two clubs. The first of them is Tarlan Ahmadov. Ahmadov, who was Neftçi's player and played for Neftçi for a long time, later transferred to Qarabağ.Another memorable transfer is Rashad Sadygov. The player first started playing in Qarabağ, and in 2001 was one of the four unlicensed players who caused Qarabağ's technical defeat.The footballer, who later moved to Şəfa and then to Neftçi, returned to Qarabağ, after Gurban Gurbanov was appointed head coach of Qarabağ.Former captain of the Azerbaijani national team Rashad Sadigov faced a similar situation.Thus, Sadigov, who started playing in the children's team "Qarabağ" in 1996 and became the champion of Azerbaijan among teens , moved to "Neftçi" after starting his professional career in Turan.However, the player, who was sent to the second team due to problems at the club, later left Neftçi.In 2009, Sadigov returned to Qarabağ, which will be considered his old team. At different times, players such as Mushfig Huseynov, Aslan Karimov, Aftandil Hajiyev, Bakhtiyar Musayev, Vadim Vasliyev wore the uniforms of both clubs and were leaders in both teams.Although the head coach of Qarabağ, Gurban Gurbanov is considered to be a pupil of Dashgin club, he spends the last days of his football career in Neftçi. His assistants Zaur Tagizade and Elchin Rahmanov are known for their performances in Neftçi.

## Supporters

Both teams have huge fan bases and supporter groups.Qarabağ has fan groups such as ''Imarat Tayfa'', ''Qarabağ Ordu'', and Neftçi has fan groups such as ''Forza Neftçi'' and ''NeftçiMania''.

## Comparison of country-wide successes
### Sucsesses of ''Neftçi''

* Azerbaijan Premier League:
** Gold medals (9) — 1992, 1995/1996, 1996/1997, 2003/2004, 2004/2005, 2010/2011, 2011/2012, 2012/2013, 2020/2021
** Silver medals (4) — 2000/2001, 2001/2002, 2006/2007, 2018/2019
** Bronze medals (6) — 1994/1995, 1998/1999, 1999/2000, 2005/2006, 2007/2008, 2017/2018
* Azerbaijan Cup:
** Winner (6) — 1994/1995, 1995/1996, 1998/1999, 2003/2004, 2012/2013, 2013/2014
** Finalist (3) — 2000/2001, 2011/2012, 2015/2016
* Azerbaijan Supercup:
** Winner (2) — 1993, 1995
** Finalist (1) — 2013

### Sucsesses of ''Qarabağ''

* Azerbaijan Premier League:
* Gold medals (8) — 1993, 2013/2014, 2014/2015, 2015/2016, 2016/2017, 2017/2018,2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/2024
* Silver medals (4) — 1993/1994, 1996/1997, 2012/2013, 2020/2021
* Bronze medals (3) — 2003/2004, 2009/2010, 2010/2011
* Azerbaijan Cup:
Winner (6) — 1993, 2005/2006, 2008/2009, 2014/2015, 2015/2016,2016/2017
Finalist (3) — 1995/1996, 1997/1998, 1999/2000
* Azerbaijan Supercup:
* Winner (1) — 1994

## Statistics of individual games

| Competition | Game | Neftçi Baku | Draw | Qarabağ |
| Azerbaijan Premier League | 98 | 23 | 31 | 44 |
| Azerbaijan Cup | 23 | 5 | 6 | 12 |
| Total | 121 | 28 | 37 | 56 |
The player who scored the most goals is Reynaldo (Qarabağ) - 9 goals.

## Interesting facts

Neftçi failed to beat Qarabağ in 11 games, ie 4 years or 1873 days.
Gurban Gurbanov, the current coach of Qarabağ, is the player who scored the most goals for Qarabağ in Neftçi's squad.
Qarabağ has won 10 of the last 20 matches, teams have drawn 7 matches and Neftçi has won 3 matches.
* Source: