Our prediction for this Europa League match:
Qarabag play host to Nantes at their Azersun Arena in the Europa League group G round 2. Qarabag failed to spoil Freiburg’s party at Europa-Park Stadion, and they face yet another difficult task against les Canaris. Colombia defender Kevin Medina continues to miss out with injury for the home team, Ramil Sheydayev is pushing for a start after scoring a brace in a thrilling 4-3 win over Sabah Baku.
The Ligue 1 side, on the other hand, defeated Olympiakos 2-1 at home in their Europa League opener. Nantes, though, are not regarded as good travellers, which is probably the main reason why we are going to put our money on draw. Fabio is back from a domestic ban, but Mali international Charles Traore remains on the sidelines with a knee injury for the visiting team.
Highlighted Player (Maksim Medvedev):
Maksim Medvedev is an Azerbaijan international who plays for Qarabag as a right-back. Born in Baku, back then Soviet Union, on September 29, 1989, Medvedev is a first-team regular at the Azerbaijan national football team.
He played an important role in the national team during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, but he scored his first international goal in a 1-0 win over Norway on October 8, 2016. Speaking of his club career, Maksim Medvedev is a product of the Qarabag football academy, and he continued playing for the Azeri giants at senior level. His main position is right-back, but he is used as both right midfielder and centre-back as well.
Medvedev made his debut in the Champions League group stages in a 6-0 loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on September 12, 2017. The 175-cm tall footballer wears the No. 5 jersey at Qarabag, and his preferred foot is right.
Highlighted Team (Nantes):
Founded on April 21, 1943 Nantes is a professional football club that compete in French Ligue 1. Les Canaris are considered one of the most famous French clubs and they had a lot of success during the sixties and the seventies. Nantes won their first Ligue 1 title in the 1964/1965 season and 36 years later (2000/2001) they clinched their eighth (last) domestic trophy.
Speaking of the club’s European success, les Canaris did well to make it to the Champions League semis in 1996, but Italian giants Juventus proved to be a big catch for the French outfit. Nantes welcome their rivals at La Beaujoire-Louis Fonteneau and the capacity of the stadium is 38.004.
The likes of Vahid Halilhodzic, Adel Selimi, Michel Der Zakarian, Viorel Moldovan, Mario Yepes, Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps, Claude Makelele, Christian Karembeu and Dimitri Payet are the notable footballers who played for the club in the past. Nantes are well known for their yellow jerseys and that is the reason why they are nicknamed the Canaries (les Canaris).