In the opening round of the Misli Premier League, Shafa lost 2-0 to Zira.

After the match, Shafa's head coach Zaur Hashimov spoke to the media:

"We played interestingly for our first game. We fought more. Zira has been training for six or eight weeks.

We started with 12 players. There are some players left from last season, and there are new players as well. We have taken everything into account. We couldn't find local players in some positions. We need time. I'm not saying this as an excuse. We came to Zira to earn points. We hadn't lost in the friendly matches. This is our first defeat. It's normal to have misunderstandings. We are a new collective. We performed well today."

Regarding Arsen Agcabeyov's absence:

"He was injured in the match against Qabala. He was only able to join training yesterday."