The AZAL Courier
Match16 Nov 2026
AZAL sink to position 10
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market16 Nov 2026
Rashad Medvedev hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AZAL can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Samir Sheydaev keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” AZAL may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Roman Dolgikh in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AZAL this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at AZAL training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Lobato is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad16 Nov 2026
No hiding place for Cavid Medvedev
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cavid Medvedev, and the manager let it.
Match14 Nov 2026
Darluis Paz the difference as AZAL beat Inter
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Darluis Paz. 1‑0 against Inter, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Darluis Paz was the difference for AZAL
Marked 7.99. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
Samir Amirguliyev has seen enough of Gabala
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AZAL, and 0 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
In brief
- Market The Agil Garayev story refuses to die
- Player ratings Nobody could get near Alessio Curci
- Player ratings Nothing got past Vugar Abdullayev