Marked for Brahim Konaté
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match6 Nov 2027
No mercy from Zira
Karvan will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Zira were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.40, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market8 Nov 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zira is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Zira can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
A performance of 8.21 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Zira
Antônio Falcão 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.
Match8 Nov 2027
Halfway: Zira sit in position 7
17 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Oct 2027
Chastening afternoon for Zira
A 1‑5 beating by Sabah was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match16 Oct 2027
6 goals as Zira and Sabah go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Zira and Sabah, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Boardroom18 Oct 2027
The numbers do not look good at Zira
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad18 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Ruan Renato reaches 200 appearances
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Marked 8.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ange Mutsinzi, and the manager let it.
Boardroom18 Oct 2027
Nobody left the Zira 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Oct 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikola Karaklajić
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zira lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match2 Oct 2027
Nowhere to hide for Zira
0‑3 against Neftchi, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ruan Renato and Zira agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Zira
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martins Júnior was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
185% of the income goes out in wages at Zira
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Zira
Santino Dudar and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Brahim Konaté, and the manager let it.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Inquest at Zira
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Shahriyar Bayramov to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Sep 2027
Nikola Karaklajić damages knee ligaments — 41 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 41 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
Chastening afternoon for Zira
A 0‑3 beating by Gabala was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Zira training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martins Júnior 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.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Time is catching up with Aleks Pihler
Everybody at Zira saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 33 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Squad20 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom20 Sep 2027
Doors closed at Zira
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Boardroom20 Sep 2027
The numbers do not look good at Zira
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market23 Aug 2027
Zira say no — this time
The offer from Sporting Baku for Elçin Əlicanov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Match21 Aug 2027
Zira make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Zira have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Martins Júnior 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match21 Aug 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Davit Volkovi. 1‑0 against Shamakhi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
A mark of 7.92, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Too much change too quickly at Zira
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
Eren Aydın is still paying for one afternoon at Zira
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Brahim Konaté
“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.
In brief
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
-
Boardroom
Zira counting the cost
-
The dugout
Eren Aydın knocks on the manager's door
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Aug 2027
The phone has started ringing about Jérémie Gnali again, and this time the name on the line is Bunyodkor. Zira are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Everything agreed with Araz-Nakhchivan, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Zira
Guima and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Martins Júnior 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Zira will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
In brief
-
Market
Experience through the door at Zira
-
Market
Zira bring in an old head
-
The dugout
Brahim Konaté gets picked when it counts
-
Squad
Michał Koj is not saying it is over
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Jul 2027
“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 Zira, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Zira can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Market5 Jul 2027
A season away well spent by Fuad Bayramov
18 games, 0 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Zira now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Zira
Santino Dudar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market5 Jul 2027
The phone has started ringing about Aydın Bayramov again, and this time the name on the line is Kapaz. Zira are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Brahim Konaté commits to Zira for another 3 years.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Henrique Gelain, and the manager let it.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Zira sign 6 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Nahid Əliyev slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Nahid Əliyev is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zira can pretend not to have heard.
Market28 Jun 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zira have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market28 Jun 2027
Zira say no — this time
The offer from Sabah for Brahim Konaté was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Zira training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martins Júnior 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jun 2027
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Too much change too quickly at Zira
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
Qismət Alıyev gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Qismət Alıyev is on it.
Market28 Jun 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Zira know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Jun 2027
The bid was some way short and Zira did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market14 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Jabrayil waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zira is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Zira
Guima and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Zira are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Boardroom14 Jun 2027
Wages eat 96% of everything Zira earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Maycon Cleiton is on it.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Zira
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and João Gabriel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market14 Jun 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Davit Volkovi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Zira that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Jabrayil waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zira is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market7 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zira can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Zira know it.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Martins Júnior 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
Eren Aydın told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Eren Aydın has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Zira.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Hacıağa Hacılı pulls a muscle — 17 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 17 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Zira
Salim Hashimov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Market7 Jun 2027
Zira have made Martins Júnior available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
In brief
-
The dugout
Brahim Konaté gets picked when it counts
-
Boardroom
Open for business: Zira enter the window
-
The dugout
Brahim Konaté knocks on the manager’s door
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zira is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 May 2027
Martins Júnior 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.
Squad10 May 2027
A falling-out at Zira
Santino Dudar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout10 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Henrique Gelain, and the manager let it.
Squad10 May 2027
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Zira will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout10 May 2027
Brahim Konaté gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Brahim Konaté is on it.
Market10 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Davit Volkovi signs something — a contract at Zira or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout10 May 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Martins Júnior has written the date down.
Loan watch10 May 2027
18 appearances at Jabrayil and the goals have stopped going in. Zira lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Apr 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Martins Júnior 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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Giorgi Papunashvili, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Zira
Antônio Falcão 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.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
108% of the income goes out in wages at Zira
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Maycon Cleiton has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Zira will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market19 Apr 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Giorgi Papunashvili signs something — a contract at Zira or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Martins Júnior has written the date down.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Brahim Konaté knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zira, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Apr 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zira will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market12 Apr 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zira is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Zira know it.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Zira
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ismayil Ibrahimli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Henrique Gelain
“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.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Brahim Konaté has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Zira will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market12 Apr 2027
The name of Davit Volkovi keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zira say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Ezekiel Morgan: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zira have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market15 Mar 2027
Elçin Əlicanov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zira they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Zira are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Zira training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ismayil Ibrahimli 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Cornel Râpă is not the player he was
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market15 Mar 2027
The name of Davit Volkovi keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zira say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad15 Mar 2027
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Zira has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Zira. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Mar 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Zira can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ruan Renato and Zira agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Zira training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martins Júnior 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Stéphane Acka wants to finish where he started
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Zira now know that too.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Brahim Konaté, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zira may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market15 Feb 2027
Elçin Əlicanov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zira they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Zira
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martins Júnior was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zira this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
5 new faces, and Zira are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stéphane Acka, and the manager let it.
Squad15 Feb 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market15 Feb 2027
The name of Davit Volkovi keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zira say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match18 Nov 2026
Zira through in the cup
A 2‑1 win over Gabala, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match18 Nov 2026
Cruel end for Gabala as Zira pounce
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Zira scored in the 119th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Squad23 Nov 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Brahim Konaté goes up and wins it — 7.96
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.96 for the rest of it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Zira
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martins Júnior was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Martins Júnior, and the manager let it.
Match21 Nov 2026
Three points for Zira, 1‑0 the final word against Karvan in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.14 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Nobody on the pitch touched Davit Volkovi
7.73, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Zira had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
In brief
-
The dugout
The manager’s verdict
-
The dugout
Zira keep their word to Eren Aydın
-
The dugout
Jérémie Gnali dropped after a run of poor form