The AZAL Courier
Match21 Aug 2027
No end in sight to AZAL's wait for a win
21 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at AZAL has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Cavid Medvedev damages knee ligaments — 15 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 15 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match21 Aug 2027
A hiding for AZAL
Beaten 0‑3 by Zira, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market23 Aug 2027
Medeama come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and AZAL did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Allen Rozum is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Namig Nadirov 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Qara Bayramov 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.
Match21 Aug 2027
3 matches without a goal for AZAL
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
Nobody left the AZAL dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
In brief
- Market The Qara Bayramov question follows AZAL around
- Market Cavid Mammadov leaves for nothing
- Market Rufat Huseynov leaves for nothing