Gurban Gurbanov watched on as Newcastle United defeated Qarabag at St James’ Park.
The result confirms United’s progress into the last 16 of the Champions League.
Gurban Gurbanov keen to direct comments towards the Newcastle United fans: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Newcastle fans. They applauded our good attacks and the goal we scored…and sometimes even cheered us on. I would also like to thank our fans who have been with us this season and supported our team until the end. We also tried to make them happy.”
Whilst Qarabag lost 3-2, it was a marked improvement on the home leg.
Gurban Gurbanov seeing his team torn apart thanks to an Eddie Howe masterclass and the NUFC players carrying out his plans so well, Newcastle 5-0 up at half-time in that match in Baku and cruising to a 6-1 victory.
The travelling Qarabag fans must have feared something as bad, when Newcastle went two up within six minutes.
However, a combination of Qarabag rallying and United understandably easing off to an extent, meant the visitors could take pride from their match on Tyneside.
Gurban Gurbanov commenting: “I want to thank my players, because they have had a long and exciting campaign in the Champions League. I’m very pleased with each of them for the game, the performance and the character they showed. They also showed themselves in the best possible light against Newcastle today. We conceded two goals early on, but the team managed to regroup and never gave up.”
Qarabag have done themselves and their manager proud this season in the Champions League.
The best that any Azerbaijan club has ever done in the competition.
They came through three qualifying rounds and they won three and drew against Chelsea in the Swiss League stage.
Gurban Gurbanov reflecting on the club’s Champions League campaign: “Every game was a great experience for us. In the league phase, we played against big clubs who operate in different systems. For us, the biggest experience was the games against the English clubs. Of course, I would have liked us to play better in those games, but I think we managed to show our best side.”