2017–18 Azerbaijan Premier League

The 2017–18 Azerbaijan Premier League was the 26th season of the Azerbaijan Premier League. The season began on 11 August 2017 and ended on 19 May 2018.

Azerbaijan Premier League

Season	2017–18
Dates	11 August 2017 – 19 May 2018
Champions	Qarabağ
Relegated	Kapaz
Champions League	Qarabağ
Europa League	Gabala Neftçi Baku Keşla
Matches played	112
Goals scored	255 (2.28 per match)
Top goalscorer	Bagaliy Dabo (13 goals)
Biggest home win	Qarabağ 4–1 Sumgayit (22 September 2017)
Biggest away win	Kapaz 1–6 Gabala (25 November 2017)
Highest scoring	Kapaz 1–6 Gabala (25 November 2017)
Highest attendance	13,300 Kapaz 0–2 Qarabağ (5 November 2017)[1]
← 2016–17 2018–19 → All statistics correct as of 21 May 2018.

Although unconfirmed by UEFA, it was expected that the winners of the league this season would earn a spot in the first qualifying round of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League, and the second and third placed clubs would earn a place in the first qualifying round of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League.^[2]

Qarabağ were the defending champions, who retained the title by winning the championship for the fifth consecutive year.^[3]

Teams

Shuvalan was relegated at the conclusion of the previous season.^[3] Sabail were promoted and participated in the Premier League this season.^[4]

Keşla
Neftçi Baku

Sumgayit

Kapaz

Gabala

Qarabağ

Zira

Sabail

Locations of the 2017–18 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

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Team	Location	Venue	Capacity[5]
Gabala	Qabala	Gabala City Stadium	4,500
Keşla	Keshla	Inter Arena	8,125
Kapaz	Ganja	Ganja City Stadium	25,000
Neftchi Baku	Baku	Bakcell Arena	10,500
Qarabağ	Baku	Azersun Arena	5,800
Sabail	Səbail	Bayil Arena	5,000
Sumgayit	Sumqayit	Kapital Bank Arena	1,500
Zira	Baku	Zira Olympic Sport Complex Stadium	1,400

Stadiums

Gabala	Keşla	Kapaz	Neftchi Baku
Gabala City Stadium	Inter Arena	Ganja City Stadium	Bakcell Arena
Capacity: 4,500	Capacity: 8,125	Capacity: 25,000	Capacity: 10,500
Qarabağ	Sabail	Sumgayit	Zira
Azersun Arena	Bayil Arena	Kapital Bank Arena	Zira Olympic Sport Complex Stadium
Capacity: 5,800	Capacity: 5,000	Capacity: 1,500	Capacity: 1,400

Personnel and kits

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

Team	Manager	Team captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Gabala	Roman Hryhorchuk	Javid Huseynov	Joma	QafqaZ Hotels[6]
Keşla	Yuriy Maksymov	Kamran Aghayev	Joma	Samaya LTD
Neftchi Baku	Tarlan Ahmadov	Ruslan Abışov	Kappa
Qarabağ	Gurban Gurbanov	Rashad Sadygov	Adidas	Azersun[7]
Sabail	Samir Aliyev	Eltun Yagublu	Nike
Sumgayit	Samir Abbasov	Vurğun Hüseynov	Joma	Pasha Insurance[broken anchor]
Zira	Aykhan Abbasov	Anar Nazirov	Joma	Santral Electric
Kapaz	Yunis Huseynov	Shahriyar Rahimov	Nike	Gəncə 4000

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointmentr
Neftchi Baku	Elkhan Abdullayev	Resigned	21 August 2017[8]	7th	Elshad Ahmedov (Caretaker)	21 August 2017[9]
Neftchi Baku	Elshad Ahmedov (Caretaker)	End of tenure as caretaker	11 September 2017[10]	7th	Tarlan Ahmadov	11 September 2017[11]
Keşla	Zaur Svanadze	Resigned	29 October 2017[12]	7th	Ramiz Mammadov (Caretaker)	30 October 2017[13]
Kapaz	Shahin Diniyev	Resigned	18 November 2017[14]	8th	Yunis Huseynov	20 November 2017[15]
Keşla	Ramiz Mammadov (Caretaker)	End of tenure as caretaker	25 December 2017	7th	Yuriy Maksymov	25 December 2017[16]

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Qarabağ (C)	28	20	5	3	37	13	+24	65	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Gabala	28	14	7	7	43	26	+17	49	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
3	Neftçi Baku	28	14	4	10	39	28	+11	46
4	Zira	28	12	8	8	36	30	+6	44
5	Sumgayit	28	11	7	10	34	33	+1	40
6	Keşla	28	8	7	13	29	39	−10	31	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[a]
7	Səbail	28	6	5	17	19	39	−20	23
8	Kapaz (R)	28	3	5	20	18	47	−29	14	Relegation to the Azerbaijan First Division

Source: UEFA, 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.^[17]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Keşla qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning 2017–18 Azerbaijan Cup.

Results

Clubs will play each other four times for a total of 28 matches each.^[18]

Games 1–14 Home \ Away GAB KAP KES NEF QAR SEB SUM ZIR Gabala — 0–2 3–0 2–1 1–0 3–1 1–0 1–1 Kapaz 1–6 — 0–1 0–1 0–2 2–3 0–3 0–3 Keşla 1–2 3–2 — 0–2 0–2 1–0 1–1 0–1 Neftçi Baku 2–3 0–0 3–1 — 1–3 2–0 2–1 1–2 Qarabağ 2–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 — 1–0 4–1 0–0 Sabail 1–3 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–2 — 0–2 0–1 Sumgayit 0–1 2–1 3–1 1–0 1–1 0–0 — 2–1 Zira 2–1 3–0 1–1 1–0 2–3 2–1 3–1 — Source: [citation needed] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Games 15–28 Home \ Away GAB KAP KES NEF QAR SEB SUM ZIR Gabala — 3–0 1–1 1–2 0–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 Kapaz 0–1 — 1–1 1–2 0–1 2–1 1–1 0–0 Keşla 1–1 0–2 — 2–1 3–0 1–1 1–2 2–1 Neftçi Baku 1–0 1–0 3–2 — 0–0 3–1 2–2 1–1 Qarabağ 0–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 — 1–0 2–0 2–0 Sabail 2–1 1–1 0–1 0–4 0–1 — 0–1 0–1 Sumgayit 0–2 2–1 2–1 2–0 0–1 1–2 — 1–2 Zira 1–1 2–1 1–2 0–3 1–2 1–1 1–1 — Source: [citation needed] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of match played 21 May 2018

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Bagaliy Dabo	Gabala	13
2	Amil Yunanov	Sumgayit	10
3	Steeven Joseph-Monrose	Gabala	9
4	Mahir Madatov	Qarabağ	8
	Ignacio Herrera	Neftçi
6	Richard Gadze	Zira	7
7	Famoussa Koné	Gabala	6
	Richard Almeida	Qarabağ
	Javid Imamverdiyev	Sumgayit
	Rahman Hajiyev	Neftçi
11	Vusal Isgandarli	Zira	5
	Dino Ndlovu	Qarabağ
	Mirabdulla Abbasov	Neftçi
	Filip Ozobić	Gabala
	Milan Đurić	Zira
	Ruslan Abışov	Neftçi
	Dani Quintana	Qarabağ

Clean sheets

Updated to matches played on 21 May 2018.

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Ibrahim Šehić	Qarabağ	13
2	Dmytro Bezotosnyi	Gabala	9
3	Rashad Azizli	Neftçi	6
	Farhad Valiyev	Sumgayit

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Mahir Madatov for Qarabağ against Neftçi Baku. (11 August 2017)
• Fastest goal of the season: 26th second,
  • Bagaliy Dabo for Gabala against Kapaz (25 November 2017)^[19]

See also

• Azerbaijan Premier League