Khazar Lankaran FK

Khazar Lankaran FK (Azerbaijani: Xəzər Lənkəran Futbol Klubu) is an Azerbaijani football club based in Lankaran, who play in the Azerbaijan Premier League. The club was founded in 2004 and have played at their current home ground, Lankaran City Stadium, since 2005.

Khazar Lankaran have won the Premier league title only once, and the Azerbaijan Cup three times.

They have a fierce rivalry with Neftchi Baku. The Böyük Oyun rivalry between Neftchi and Khazar has been played since 2004. The club is also a member of the European Club Association, an organization that replaced the previous G-14 which consists of major football clubs in Europe.

History

Early years (2004–2012)

The club was founded in 2004 by Azerbaijani entrepreneur Mubariz Mansimov and dubbed by the local media as "Caucasian Chelsea" due Khazar's strong financial position. Under Agaselim Mirjavadov club won Premier League title during 2006–07 season as well as clinched 2 Azerbaijan Cups. Khazar also managed to win the CIS Cup in 2008 after defeating Pakhtakor Tashkent in the final.

Neftchi FK (Fergana)

FC Neftchi Ferghana (Uzbek: Neftchi Fargʻona futbol klubi, Uzbek Cyrillic: Нефтчи Фарғона футбол клуби; Russian: футбольный клуб Нефтчи Фергана) is an Uzbek football club based in Fergana. They play in the top division in Uzbekistani football and are multiple champions of Uzbekistan.

History

Neftchi was founded 1962 and appeared in the Soviet Second League (Central Asian Division) from 1962 to 1991 under the name Neftyanik Fergana. In 1990, the club advanced to the Soviet First League, winning Soviet Second League, conference East. In 1991 Soviet First League Neftchi ranked at 7th place which was club's highest achievement in Soviet football history. Since 1992, the club has been playing in the Uzbek League, and along with Pakhtakor Tashkent and Navbahor Namangan, continuously participated in all seasons of the Uzbek League without a break.

Rivalries

Uzbek El Classico

Traditionally there is always rivalry between two strongest teams in any League in club football. Since 1992 in Oliy League in Uzbekistan those two clubs were Neftchi and capital club Pakhtakor. Already in first edition of Oliy League in 1992 bothe teams finished first with the same points and were recognised as champions. This competition goes on over the years. The match between Pakhtakor and Neftchi is held since 1992. The first match between the two clubs was played on 25 May 1992 in Tashkent. The match of two rivals became later the name O'zbek Classikosi by analogy with spanish Clasico.

Khazars

The Khazars (Turkish: Hazarlar, Tatar: Xäzärlär, Hebrew: כוזרים (Kuzarim),Arabic: خزر‎ (khazar), Ukrainian: Хаза́ри, Russian: Хаза́ры, Persian: خزر‎‎, Greek: Χάζαροι, Latin: Gazari/Cosri/Gasani) were a semi-nomadic Turkic people, who created what for its duration was the most powerful polity to emerge from the breakup of the western Turkish steppe empire, known as the Khazar Khanate or Khazaria. Astride a major artery of commerce between northern Europe and southwestern Asia, Khazaria became one of the foremost trading emporia of the medieval world, commanding the western marches of the Silk Road and played a key commercial role as a crossroad between China, the Middle East and Kievan Rus'. For some three centuries (c. 650–965) the Khazars dominated the vast area extending from the Volga-Don steppes to the eastern Crimea and the northern Caucasus.

Khazaria long served as a buffer state between the Byzantine empire and both the nomads of the northern steppes and the Umayyad empire, after serving as Byzantium's proxy against the Sasanian Persian empire. The alliance was dropped around 900. Byzantium began to encourage the Alans to attack Khazaria and weaken its hold on Crimea and the Caucasus, while seeking to obtain an entente with the rising Rus' power to the north, which it aspired to convert to Christianity. Between 965 and 969, the Kievan Rus ruler Sviatoslav I of Kiev conquered the capital Atil and destroyed the Khazar state.