as clear favourites, since many of the players playing for the club at the end of the Soviet period remained. The team was coached by Ahmad Alaskarov. Another success came three years later. In 1995, Neftçi, led by Vagif Sadygov, defeated all rivals in the fight for the Cup of Azerbaijan. 1995–1996 season Neftçi finished with a "golden double" — won the national championship and became the owner of the Cup. This success was achieved thanks to the efforts of coaches Vagif Sadygov, Asif Aliyev and Kazbek Tuaev. In 2006, Neftçi managed to win the CIS Cup after defeating FBK Kaunas of Lithuania in the final. In European competitions, the club also have advanced to the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League twice, having defeated Bosnian champions – NK Široki Brijeg – and Icelandic champions – FH Hafnarfjarðar – in 2004 and 2005 respectively. Neftçi advanced to the third round of the 2008 Intertoto Cup, after defeating the Slovak club FC Nitra and the Belgian side K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot in the first two rounds. A long period of decline followed the success of the 2005 to the end of the decade. Despite the appointment of famous names such as Gurban Gurbanov, Vlastimil Petržela, Anatoliy Demyanenko and Hans-Jürgen Gede, the club did not achieve any success and squandered large sums of money on unsuccessful signings. Prospects changed positively in December 2009 when the club's control was given to Sadıq Sadıqov. The takeover was immediately followed by a flurry of bids for high-profile international players such as Bahodir Nasimov, Nicolás Canales, Flavinho, Bruno Bertucci, Eric Ramos, Igor Mitreski and Julius Wobay. In May 2011, coached by Arif Asadov, the club won its sixth championship title. Asadov also become first person in Azerbaijan to win the league title as a coach and football player. However, Asadov was dismissed after the defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the qualifying round of the Champions League 2011–2012 season. In the 2011–12 season, Boyukagha Hajiyev guided Neftçi to another domestic success as club become champions for seventh time in their history. In November 2011, Neftçi celebrated its 1,000th victory in official matches and its 1,000th goal in Azerbaijan League, scored by Araz Abdullayev. European breakthrough (2012–present) In 2012, Neftçi qualified for the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League group stage, being the first Azerbaijani team to advance to this stage in a European competition. Neftçi managed to get