Marked for Rufat Abdullayev
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match2 Dec 2026
The small margins put AZAL out
Out, 1‑2 to Qarabag, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market7 Dec 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
An order from above at AZAL: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at AZAL
Darluis Paz was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Samuel Lobato falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
“I watch every AZAL game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kapaz runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Darluis Paz, and the manager let it.
Match5 Dec 2026
AZAL get the job done against Sumgayit
A 1‑0 win over Sumgayit, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Oct 2026
9 matches without a win for AZAL
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around AZAL are no longer polite ones.
Market5 Oct 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match3 Oct 2026
The goals have deserted AZAL
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at AZAL can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Darluis Paz 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.
Squad5 Oct 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.
Loan watch5 Oct 2026
“I watch every AZAL game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kapaz runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Agil Madatov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match3 Oct 2026
Sumgayit left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AZAL, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Cavid Medvedev and AZAL agree another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at AZAL
Roman Dolgikh was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market10 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Agil Jafarov again, and this time the name on the line is Inter. AZAL are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at AZAL training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Afran Dadashov 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. AZAL will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Kapaz have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Rufat Abdullayev. The answer from AZAL has not changed — yet.