2020–21 Azerbaijan Premier League

The 2020–21 Azerbaijan Premier League was the 29th season of the Azerbaijan Premier League, the highest tier football league of Azerbaijan. The season began on 21 August 2020 and ended on 19 May 2021.[1]

Azerbaijan Premier League
Season2020–21
Dates21 August 2020 – 19 May 2021
ChampionsNeftçi Baku
RelegatedNone
Champions LeagueNeftçi Baku
Matches played112
Goals scored266 (2.38 per match)
Top goalscorerNamik Alaskarov
(19 goals)
Biggest home winQarabağ 6–1 Keşla
(1 November 2020)
Qarabağ 6–1 Sumgayit
(21 November 2020)
Biggest away winNeftçi Baku 0–6 Qarabağ
(8 November 2020)
Highest scoringQarabağ 6–1 Keşla
(1 November 2020)
Qarabağ 6–1 Sumgayit
(21 November 2020)
Longest winning run5 matches
Neftçi Baku
Longest unbeaten run11 matches
Qarabağ
Longest winless run14 matches
Keşla
Longest losing run6 matches
Sabah
All statistics correct as of 4 May 2021.

Neftçi Baku were the champions, winning the league for the 9th time in their history and ending Qarabağ FK’s 7 year winning streak. They qualified for the first qualifying round of the 2021–22 Champions League. Qarabağ and Sumgayit earned places in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League.

Teams

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Locations of the 2020–21 Azerbaijan Premier League teams.
Team in italics is from a zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and is playing its home games in Baku.

Stadia and locations

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Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
Team Year Established Location Venue Capacity[2]
Gabala 1995[3][4] Qabala Gabala City Stadium 4,500
Keşla 1997[5] Keshla ASK Arena 5,800
Neftchi Baku 1906/1937 Baku Bakcell Arena 10,200
Qarabağ 1951/1987 Aghdam Azersun Arena 5,200
Sabah 2017 Absheron Bank Respublika Arena 13,000
Sabail 2016 Səbail Bayil Arena 3,200
Sumgayit 2010 Sumqayit Kapital Bank Arena 1,400
Zira 2014 Zira Zira Olympic Sport Complex Stadium 1,300

Stadiums

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Gabala Keşla Qarabağ Neftçi Baku
Gabala City Stadium ASK Arena Azersun Arena Bakcell Arena
Capacity: 4,500 Capacity: 5,800 Capacity: 5,200 Capacity: 10,200
       
Sabah Sabail Sumgayit Zira
Bank Respublika Arena ASCO Arena Kapital Bank Arena Zira Olympic Sport Complex Stadium
   
Capacity: 13,000 Capacity: 3,200 Capacity: 1,400 Capacity: 1,300

Personnel and kits

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Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team President Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Gabala   Fariz Najafov   Elmar Bakhshiyev   Asif Mammadov   Joma Milla
Keşla   Zaur Akhundov   Yunis Huseynov   Ilkin Qirtimov   Joma Samaya LTD
Neftçi Baku   Kamran Guliyev   Samir Abbasov   Emin Mahmudov   Nike Turkish Airlines
Qarabağ   Abdolbari Gozal   Gurban Gurbanov   Maksim Medvedev   Adidas Azersun
Sabah   Magsud Adigozalov   Ramin Guliyev (Acting Head Coach)   Ruslan Abışov   Nike Bank Respublika
Sabail   Rashad Abdullayev   Aftandil Hacıyev   Rahid Amirguliyev   Nike AzTea
Sumgayit   Riad Rafiyev   Aykhan Abbasov   Vurğun Hüseynov   Jako Pasha Insurance[broken anchor], Azərikimya
Zira   Taleh Nasibov   Rashad Sadygov   Aghabala Ramazanov   Joma Bakcell, Azfargroup

Managerial changes

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Sabah   Željko Sopić Resigned 3 July 2020[6] Pre-season   Vicente Gómez 10 July 2020.[7]
Zira   Zaur Hashimov End of contract 17 July 2020 Pre-season   Rashad Sadygov 17 July 2020[8]
Keşla   Tarlan Ahmedov End of contract 8 August 2020[9] Pre-season   Yunis Huseynov 16 August 2020[10]
Neftchi   Fizuli Mammedov Resigned 11 November 2020[11] 4th   Samir Abbasov 11 November 2020[11]
Keşla   Yunis Huseynov Resigned 24 January 2021[12] 7th   Sanan Gurbanov 25 January 2021[13]
Sabah   Vicente Gómez Mutual termination 11 March 2021[14] Pre-season   Ramin Guliyev (Acting Head Coach) 11 March 2021[14]

Foreign players

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A team could use only six foreign players on the field in each game.

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6 Player 7 Player 8 Player 9 Player 10 Player 11
Gabala   Jurgen Goxha   Raphael Alemão   Vinko Međimorec   Merab Gigauri   Stefan Vukčević   James Adeniyi   Nicolas Rajsel   Yaovi Akakpo
Keşla   Eugeniu Cociuc   Sílvio   Anatole Abang   Sadio Tounkara   Stanislav Namașco   Mijuško Bojović   César Meza Colli   John Kamara
Neftçi   Bruno Telushi   Rener Pavão   Thallyson   Steeven Joseph-Monrose   Mamadou Kane   Keisuke Honda   Sabir Bougrine   Yusuf Lawal   Mamadou Mbodj   Vojislav Stanković   Ahmed Ahmedov
Qarabağ   Kevin Medina   Patrick Andrade   Uroš Matić   Filip Ozobić   Jaime Romero   Abdellah Zoubir   Owusu Kwabena
Sabah   Kévin Koubemba   Mario Marina   Amadou Diallo   Tiemoko Fofana   Zurab Ochihava   Julio Rodríguez   Filip Ivanović   Saša Stamenković   Álvaro Villete   Dmytro Klyots
Sabail   Luka Imnadze   Nicholas Hagen   Peyman Keshavarzi   Florijan Kadriu   Hendrick Ekstein   Milovan Petrovikj   Alie Sesay
Sumgayit   Martin Balco   Hojjat Haghverdi   Mehdi Sharifi   Dzhamaldin Khodzhaniyazov   Mehdi Jannatov
Zira   Matheus Albino   Davit Volkovi   Dimitrios Chantakias   Clésio   Nemanja Anđelković   Lazar Đorđević   Rodrigue Bongongui   Facundo Melivilo   Filipe Pachtmann

In bold: Players that capped for their national team.

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Neftçi Baku (C) 28 18 5 5 47 25 +22 59 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Qarabağ 28 16 9 3 64 18 +46 57 Qualification to Europa Conference League second qualifying round
3 Sumgayit 28 10 9 9 30 31 −1 39
4 Zira 28 8 14 6 28 28 0 38
5 Sabah 28 7 8 13 28 38 −10 29
6 Keşla 28 5 11 12 25 40 −15 26 Qualification to Europa Conference League second qualifying round
7 Gabala 28 5 11 12 23 44 −21 26
8 Sabail 28 5 9 14 21 42 −21 24
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Head-to-head away goals scored (only if two teams); 6) Goal difference; 7) Goals scored.[15]
(C) Champions

Fixtures and results

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Clubs played each other four times for a total of 28 matches each.

Season statistics

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Top scorers

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As of matches played 19 May 2021
Rank Player Club Goals
1   Namik Alaskarov Neftçi 19
2   Mahir Emreli Qarabağ 18
3   Filip Ozobić Qarabağ 11
4   Ali Ghorbani Sumgayit 9
5   Davit Volkovi Zira 8
  Rahim Sadikhov Sumgayit
7   Mirabdulla Abbasov Neftçi 7
  Owusu Kwabena Qarabağ
9   Amil Yunanov Sabail 6
  Abdellah Zoubir Qarabağ

Clean sheets

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As of matches played 25 February 2021
Rank Player Club Clean sheets
1   Matheus Albino Zira 7
2   Shahrudin Mahammadaliyev Qarabağ 6
3   Agil Mammadov Neftçi 5
4   Anar Nazirov Gabala 4
  Mehdi Jannatov Sumgayit
6   Stanislav Namașco Keşla 3
  Nicholas Hagen Sabail
8   Saša Stamenković Sabah 2
  Aydin Bayramov Sumgayit

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Azərbaycan Premyer Liqasının startı müəyyənləşdi". www.pfl.az (in Azerbaijani). PFL. 8 August 2020.
  2. ^ Azərbaycan Peşəkar Liqası (in Azerbaijani)
  3. ^ "Qəbələ – 10". gabalafc.az (in Azerbaijani). Gabala FK. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  4. ^ Establishment of SC Qabala Archived 23 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Arts, Sports & Events". Official Khazar University website. 2006. Archived from the original on 27 March 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
  6. ^ "SABAH FC PARTED WAYS WITH ZELJKO SOPIC". sabahfc.az/. Sabah FC. 3 July 2020.
  7. ^ "SABAH FC OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCE VICENTE GOMEZ AS NEW HEAD COACH". sabahfc.az/. Sabah FC. 10 July 2020.
  8. ^ ""Zirə" PFK – nın baş məşqçisinin adı məlum olub. Komandanın yeni baş məşqçisi Rəşad Sadıqov olacaq". fczire.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Zira FK. 17 July 2020. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  9. ^ ""Keşlə" FK-nın məlumatı". www.keshlafc.az (in Azerbaijani). Zira FK. 8 August 2020.
  10. ^ ""Keşlə" Futbol Klubunun məlumatı". www.keshlafc.az (in Azerbaijani). Keşla FK. 16 August 2020.
  11. ^ a b ""Neftçi"də yeni baş məşqçi" (in Azerbaijani). Neftchi PFK. 11 November 2020.
  12. ^ "Yunis Hüseynov istefa verib". keshlafc.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Keşla FK. 24 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  13. ^ "Sənan Qurbanov "Keşlə"də!". keshlafc.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Keşla FK. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  14. ^ a b "VİSENTE QOMESLƏ YOLLAR AYRILDI". sabahfc.az (in Azerbaijani). Sabah FC. 11 March 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  15. ^ "Premyer Liqa: Season rules". Scoresway. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
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