Where are Sabah from? What to know about Man United's Champions League opponents new to European competition

The UEFA Champions League is often a proving ground for both European giants and those new to the continental football scene.

While only a handful of clubs can truly claim a chance at winning the Champions League title each year, there are many other storylines up and down the competition which make the tournament truly special.

One is Azerbaijani side Sabah FK, a brand new club which has qualified for the league phase of a European competition for the first time in the team's brief history.

Not only that, but their coach has a fascinating background which is now being brought to the public eye, as Sabah were drawn against the likes of Manchester United, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, and Villarreal in the Champions League, which will increase the club's profile considerably.

MORE: How to watch 2026/27 UEFA Champions League matches in the United States

Where are Sabah from?

Sabah FK are located in Masazir, Azerbaijan. The locale is a suburb of Baku, the nation's capital, which resides on the far eastern side of the country on the Caspian Sea.

They play their home matches at Bank Respublika Arena, a 9,000-seat venue that opened in 2014.

The club currently competes in the Azerbaijan first division, known as the Azerbaijan Premier League, having won the league title last season, their first top-flight championship. They have also won the domestic league cup two years running as well.

MORE: A full rundown of the entire Champions League fixture schedule for the 2026/27 competition

When was Sabah founded?

Sabah FK were founded in 2017, first competing in the second tier of Azerbaijani football that season. They backdoored their way into promotion to the top flight in their first year of existence, finishing fifth in the league but seeing each of the four teams above them in the league either fail to earn a top-flight license or decline promotion.

From there, they would finish in increasing position for for of the next five seasons, finishing second in the 2022/23 campaign. That earned qualification to the UEFA Conference League, where they fell in the qualifying rounds. The same fate would befall them in their next two attempts in Europe, including in 2025/26 when they qualified for the Europa League via a domestic cup title, but could not make it out of the qualifiers.

They would finally win their first league title in the 2025/26 season, earning qualification to the Champions League. It was there they would make a magical run in the qualifying rounds, defeating The New Saints, KuPS, Aarhus, and Hapoel Be'er Sheva in order to reach the league phase of Europe's top competition.

Who are Sabah's key players?

The main goal scorer for Sabah is Joy-Lance Mickels, a 32-year-old winger born in Germany with Rwandan citizenship. He scored 19 goals in 25 Azerbaijan league matches last season, which led all goal scorers in the competition. His strong form earned Mickels a call-up to the Rwandan national team, appearing in two matches back in March.

Mickels already has eight goals on 11 matches across all competitions this season, including four in the Champions League.

Sabah also get goals from 31-year-old winger Veljko Simic, a new signing from Turkish club Sivasspor this summer.

The club captain is 33-year-old Kazakhstan international goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov, who joined on a free from Kazakh club Tobol Kostany in the summer of 2025.

According to Transfermarkt, the club's most valuable player is 27-year-old Polish left-back Tymoteusz Puchacz, who joined this past summer from German club Holstein Keil and is valued at around €2.5 million.

Who is Sabah's coach?

The current manager of Sabah FK is Valdas Dambrauskas, a 49-year-old Lithuanian who has previous experience at big Eastern European clubs such as Zalgiris, Ludogorets Razgrad, Hajduk Split, and Omonia Nicosia among many other sides.

Dambrauskas has a fascinating background, never having played football professionally.

In 2002, a 25-year-old Dambrauskas, then an engineering student, appeared on Lithuania's version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire (called Sesi nuliai — milijonas, which translates to "Six Zeroes — A Million" in English), winning a prize of 4,000 litas, or approximately $1,000 U.S. dollars.

He used this money to move to England and earn his football coaching badges, beginning his coaching career with amateur club London Tigers, before being hired to coach in the Lithuania national youth setup.

In 2014, he secured his first senior club managerial role with second-tier Lithuanian club FK Ekranas, before being hired by Lithuanian giants and regular Champions League qualifying participants Zalgiris in 2014. He managed to win every domestic title with the club, including a domestic quadruple in 2016, but a massive slump in late 2017 resulted in Dambrauskas's resignation, bringing his three-year tenure to an end.

He bounced around multiple European clubs until being hired by Sabah in June of 2025. He helped them win their first-ever league title in the 2025/26 campaign, and would later secured a spot in the 2026 Champions League league phase for the first time ever in club history.