Former Man United man rescues Chelsea

In the early morning of November 6, Chelsea disappointed when they were held to a draw by Qarabag in the fourth match of the Champions League qualifying round.

Chelsea disappointed when held to a draw by Qarabag in the Champions League - Photo: REUTERS

Having to travel to Azerbaijan to visit Qarabag, Chelsea is still considered much stronger than the home team.

In fact, the reigning FIFA Club World Cup champions controlled the ball up to 61%, launched 12 shots and had the opening goal in the 16th minute by Estevao but could not leave with three points.

Despite dominating the game, Chelsea lacked solidity in defense and that hurt them.

In the 29th minute, central defender Jorrel Hato (Chelsea) was defeated by Camilo Duran in a one-on-one fight in front of the penalty area.

Duran then turned the ball to get past Tosin Adarabioyo and fired a shot that hit the post. Leandro Andrade was there in time to score the rebound, equalizing the score.

A poor day for midfielder Hato was highlighted by a handball in the penalty area in the 37th minute. The referee immediately awarded Qarabag a penalty kick and Marko Jankovic did not miss the opportunity to score to increase the score of the match.

Chelsea played better but missed many opportunities against Qarabag - Photo: REUTERS

At the start of the second half, coach Enzo Maresca decided to refresh the attack by bringing on Enzo Fernandez, Alejandro Garnacho and Liam Delap. Chelsea's substitution soon paid off when Alejandro Garnacho scored to equalize 2-2 for the visitors.

In the 53rd minute, Garnacho dribbled down the right wing and made a cross, the ball bounced off a Qarabag defender and then bounced back to him. Garnacho controlled the ball a few more times and then shot diagonally to equalize the score.

This is Garnacho's second goal for Chelsea since moving to the team from Man United.

In the remaining minutes, Chelsea put intense pressure on Qarabag's goal and created many scoring opportunities. However, the away team's strikers unfortunately missed all of them, causing them to leave with only 1 point.

After the fourth round, Chelsea is ranked 12th on the rankings with 7 points. Qarabag also has 7 points but is temporarily ranked 15th.

In the qualifying round (formerly group stage) of the 2025-2026 Champions League, each team will play 8 matches against 8 different opponents (4 home matches, 4 away matches). After the group stage, the clubs will be ranked based on their match results.

The top 8 clubs will qualify for the round of 16. The next 16 clubs (9 to 24) will participate in a play-off round with 2 home and away matches to determine the remaining 8 spots for the round of 16.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nguoi-cu-cua-man-united-giai-cuu-chelsea-20251106053629184.htm