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Steffen Schmidt - August 22, 2023
Olimpija Ljubljana vs Qarabag
UEFA Europa League Qualification
Date: 24 August 2023, Thursday
Kick-off at 19:00 UK / 20:00 CET
Venue: Stadion Stozice (Ljubljana).
Galatasaray were too strong for Olimpija Ljubljana in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round as the Slovenian champions suffered a 0-4 loss on aggregate on the occasion.
They will now continue the European adventure in UEFA Europa League, making their second appearance in the playoffs of the competition.
The rival comes in the likes of Azerbaijan champions Qarabag and it will represent a very difficult test for the team led by Portuguese manager Joao Henriques.
Olimpija started the new season in the domestic league with a 2-1 defeat at Koper but responded via a run of three straight victories.
The positive thread includes a 4-5 road win over Aluminij on Saturday in a match in which Henriques rested his main stars for this clash against Qarabag.
The visitors were also successful at the weekend, beating Araz Naxcivan 2-1 in front of the home fans.
It was the fourth victory on the spin for Qurban Qurbanov’s men across competitions, a run that involves two separate 2-1 wins over Finnish side HJK in the previous Europa League qualifying round.
Qarabag had previously suffered the Champions League elimination in the second qualifying round, falling 3-4 on aggregate to Polish champions Rakow Czestochowa.
Unlike Olimpija who had never previous been there, Qarabag have regularly featured in the group stages of continental competitions in the last decade.
They came third in the Europa League group with Freiburg, Nantes, and Olympiacos last year before getting eliminated on penalties to Gent in the last 32 round of the Conference League.
We have seen just one goal combined in two H2H clashes between Olimpija and Qarabag in the Champions League Qualifications five years ago. Both teams have changed their squads a lot since then but we still have more than enough reasons to expect a close affair without too many chances on either end.
The main pick will be Under 2.5 goals FT at the 1.75 odds while we will alternatively back Qarabag DNB pick at the 1.80 odds.
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