Who are Sabah? Man United’s tiny rivals have manager who started career by winning £1k on quiz show

Manchester United’s Champions League opponents on Thursday could fit their entire population into Old Trafford… four times over.

Michael Carrick‘s side are taking on Azerbaijani minnows Sabah, who are based in the small 19,000-person town of Masazir.

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Everyone who lives in Masazir, which is 30 miles north of the capital Baku, could take a seat in stadiums across the Premier League.

But at Old Trafford, where Sabah will be playing this week, they could all fit into the 74,000-seater iconic ground four times.

That shows the magnitude of this special fixture for Sabah, as they prepare to face one of the world’s biggest clubs.

And what a rapid rise it has been for such a young team…

When were Sabah founded and how did they get here?

Sabah were only founded as a club in 2017, so in just nine years of existence, they have reached the Champions League.

In fact, the meeting with Man United comes exactly nine years and two days after their creation on September 8, 2017.

They made history last season by taking their biggest step as a club, winning the Azerbaijan Cup and their first Azerbaijan Premier League title, eight years after gaining promotion to the top flight in 2018.

The Owls were only promoted on a technicality too, as they finished fifth in the First Division table, but the four teams above them were unable to get a license to play in the Premier League.

Sabah have taken full advantage of that since, going on to topple the dominant Qarabag, who had won 11 of the last 12 titles.

And that handed them a place in the Champions League play-offs, where they beat The New Saints, KuPS, Aarhus and Hapoel Be’er Sheva to incredibly reach the league phase.

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Who is Sabah’s manager and what is his story?

Sabah are managed by Lithuanian coach Valdas Dambrauskas, who has only been in charge of the club since last summer.

Dambrauskas led them to a historic double to mark a huge moment in the team’s journey as well as his own unique path.

The 49-year-old managed to kickstart his coaching career by winning a quiz show and claiming a £1,000 prize.

He won the cash on the Lithuanian equivalent of the popular UK show ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ in 2002 when he was 25.

“It’s true, it’s part of my story, but I really believe that it’s a little overrated as it happened so long ago,” Dambrauskas told talkSPORT.

“It was about £1,000, but at the time in Lithuania, it was not in Europe and the prices were completely different.

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“The annual salary was maybe the equivalent of the money that I won…. so for this money I could buy a flat, but the dream was bigger than that and I came to England and that’s how it started.”

Adding further detail to his career in football, Dambrauskas explained: “I never played professional football, but since 1990, I knew that I wanted to be a coach, I wasn’t going to be a player.

“We didn’t have good conditions to play football. I’m from a very small town with only 5,000 people, never played organised football.

“In 2000, I was working in Norway and I saw how people there were following the Premier League, they were watching it and they had a club they were supporting.

“I knew Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool…and when I got back home, I had a plan that one day I had to get to England, because one day that could be a chance to do something good in coaching.

“And then this quiz came along…but even without that I believe that I would have found a way.”

United v Sabah will be live on talkSPORT on Thursday night with commentary from Sam Matterface and former Manchester United assistant manager Mike Phelan.