V. Dambrauskas' trained 'Sabah' broke into the Champions League

2026-08-25 22:21 © Sabah

Valdas Dambrauskas clearly etched himself into Lithuanian football history.

The Lithuanian-coached Baku "Sabah" broke through to the UEFA Champions League, and V. Dambrauskas will become the first strategist from our country to work in the main stage of this tournament.

Azerbaijan champions won decisive home matches after extra time 5:2 against Beer Sheva "Hapoel" and won the series with an aggregate score of 6:4.

The guests started the match better, taking the lead in the 10th minute with a goal from Igor Zlatanovich.

Christian Nwachukwu equalized the score at the end of the first half.

In the 61st minute, the guests were again led by Gyu'us Mizrahi, and "Sabah" faced a difficult situation.

In the 72nd minute, the hosts' hope was revived by Umarali Rakhmonaliev.

With the last shot in regular time, "Sabah" took the lead through Tellur Mutallimov, which meant that the teams would need to play extra time.

In extra time, "Sabah" was much more active, and in the 100th minute, "Hapoel" was left to play short-handed when Djibril Diop received a second yellow card.

Soon, "Sabah" took advantage of their numerical superiority when Orphe Mbina scored with a header.

"Sabah" solidified their victory in the 115th minute with Joy-Lance Mickels.