Sabah didn't exist a decade ago. They were founded in 2017, won their first Azerbaijani title last season, and a week after their first Champions League win they get a former European champion: Sabah vs Dortmund is at the Baku Olympic Stadium on Tuesday 20 October.
Baku is three hours ahead of the UK, so this is one of Tuesday's early games: 20:45 local time, 17:45 BST, 18:45 in Germany and 12:45pm ET.
From founding to the Champions League in nine years
Sabah have grown into Azerbaijan's new force very quickly. In 2025/26 they won the Azerbaijani Premier League by nine points from Qarabag, the country's long-time standard bearer, and retained the Azerbaijani Cup under their Lithuanian coach, Valdas Dambrauskas.
Qualifying took them past The New Saints, KuPS, Aarhus and Hapoel Be'er Sheva. Against Be'er Sheva they lost the first leg 2-1 and won the return 5-2 after extra time. Forward Veljko Simic finished as the top scorer in qualifying with six goals.
Sabah Baku
Borussia DortmundThe league phase started badly. At Old Trafford in September, Manchester United won 4-0 and Sabah didn't manage a shot on target. They answered at home against Slavia Prague: Kaheem Parris scored early in the second half, and Joy-Lance Mickels, who scored 19 league goals last season, added a late second when Slavia's goalkeeper and defence fumbled the ball over the line. That 2-0 gives them three points, more than most people expected after Manchester.
Sabah normally play at their own base in Masazir, but their Champions League home games go to the 68,000-capacity Baku Olympic Stadium, which hosted the 2019 Europa League final and games at Euro 2020.
Baku Olympic Stadium. Photo: Nasibli95, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
No major injuries have been reported, and Dambrauskas will settle on his side after the weekend's league game. Expect them to defend in numbers and look for Mickels and Simic on the break.
Dortmund's busy fortnight
Niko Kovac's side are second in the Bundesliga with 13 points from five games, level with leaders Freiburg. They won their first four league matches before Friday's 2-2 draw with Werder Bremen, when they led 2-0 through Daniel Svensson and Nico Schlotterbeck before Ludovit Reis and Niclas Fullkrug struck late. "We only have ourselves to blame," Kovac said afterwards.
In Europe, Serhou Guirassy scored twice in the 3-2 win over Villarreal on his 100th appearance for the club, though he also turned a late free kick into his own net. The night was overshadowed when 18-year-old Konstantinos Karetsas was carried off on a stretcher with circulatory problems and taken to hospital for tests.
Dortmund haven't lost in seven games since the German Super Cup defeat to Bayern in August. They go to Bodo/Glimt on Wednesday, onto an artificial pitch inside the Arctic Circle, before the long flight to Baku. Julian Ryerson (rib) and Emre Can (knee) were missing going into the Norway trip, and Carney Chukwuemeka has had a muscle problem.
A Sabah vs Dortmund prediction
This is the first competitive meeting between the clubs. Dortmund should have too much: Guirassy is a reliable finisher and they've won six of their seven games since the Super Cup. Their habit of switching off late cost them two points against Bremen and nearly cost them against Villarreal, though, and with the Arctic trip and the journey east in their legs, Sabah will fancy it if they're still in the game after an hour.
I'll go 3-1 to Dortmund. Even so, a home goal would be another landmark for Sabah, and a draw would be the biggest result in the club's short life and put them in real contention for a play-off place.
You can watch Sabah vs Dortmund free on DAMITV, no signup, from our Champions League live streams page. Dortmund followers can use the Borussia Dortmund live stream page and our Bundesliga streams for league games, and Spanish speakers have Champions League en vivo. Line-ups and stats will go up on the UEFA match page.
