Sabah and The New Saints open a new European story in the first qualifying round of the Champions League
Azerbaijan's Sabah FC and Wales's The New Saints FC will play in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League for the 2026/27 season, in a tie that brings together clubs from very different football environments. According to UEFA's announcement after the draw held on 16 June 2026 in Nyon, the first match will be played in Azerbaijan, while the return leg is scheduled to take place on the pitch of the Welsh champion. In this stage of the competition, 28 clubs take part, divided into 14 seeded and 14 unseeded teams, and UEFA has confirmed that the first legs are scheduled for 7 or 8 July, while the return legs will be played on 14 or 15 July. The exact dates and kick-off times had not yet been officially confirmed at the time the article was prepared, which is particularly important for supporters and travel organisation. The New Saints entered the draw as a seeded team, but the pairing itself brings clear sporting uncertainty because Sabah, although a new name in the Champions League, comes from a season in which it took the top position in Azerbaijani football for the first time.
First match in Masazir, return leg at Park Hall
According to The New Saints' announcement, the first match should be played at the Bank Respublika Arena in Masazir, and the return leg at Park Hall. The Welsh club stated that dates, kick-off times and ticket information would be announced later, after the completion of the usual organisational coordination with UEFA. For TNS, that schedule means it will open its European season with one of the longest possible away trips in the early qualifying phase, with travel to the Caucasus and different climatic, logistical and football conditions from those to which it is accustomed in the domestic league. Sabah, on the other hand, will have the advantage of home ground in the first match, but also the obligation to confirm the status of the new Azerbaijani champion in front of its supporters. In Champions League qualifying, an early goal, travel and differences in the rhythm of preparations often have a major influence, especially when clubs meet for the first time and have no head-to-head history.
This pairing is also interesting because of the contrast in European experience. The New Saints has for years regularly represented Welsh club football in European qualifiers, while Sabah is still a rising club in the European context. According to TNS's announcement, this will be the Welsh champion's first meeting with an opponent from Azerbaijan, and at the same time Sabah's first appearance in UEFA's elite club competition. Such a context opens two different ambitions: TNS wants to confirm continuity and make use of its seeded status, while Sabah wants to show that the domestic title is not an isolated success, but the beginning of a more serious European cycle. For the winner of the tie, the reward is continuation of the path in the second qualifying round of the Champions League, while the defeated side, according to the rules explained by the FAW for Welsh clubs, moves into the UEFA Conference League qualifiers.
Sabah enters the Champions League as the new champion of Azerbaijan
Sabah entered the 2026/27 season after the most successful domestic campaign in the club's history. According to the official table of the Professional Football League of Azerbaijan, the club finished the 2025/26 Misli Premyer Liqası season in first place with 78 points from 33 matches. With a record of 24 wins, six draws and only three defeats, Sabah finished ahead of Qarabağ, Azerbaijan's long-standing European representative, which ended the season with 69 points. Sabah's goal difference particularly stands out, with 75 goals scored and 25 conceded, indicating a team that built its domestic title not only on results but also on a stable balance between attacking production and defensive solidity. For a club founded only in 2017, such a rise carries additional weight, because in less than a decade it has gone from a new project to a Champions League debutant.
Sabah's official club history states that the club was founded on 8 September 2017 and that in the 2017/18 season it competed in the First Division. After fulfilling the licensing requirements, the club was granted the right to play in the Azerbaijani Premier League from the very next season. The first major European step came after the 2022/23 season, when Sabah finished second in the championship and qualified for the UEFA Conference League for the first time. That information is important for understanding the speed of the club's growth: in a short period, Sabah transformed from an ambitious domestic project into a team that began measuring itself against international competition. Its debut appearance in the Champions League is therefore not only a sporting challenge, but also a symbol of a change in the balance of power in Azerbaijani football, where European continuity had for years most often been associated with Qarabağ.
Dambrauskas brought European experience to Sabah's bench
Sabah enters this European cycle under the leadership of Valdas Dambrauskas, the Lithuanian coach well known also in the Croatian football context because of the period he spent at Hajduk. According to information published by İdman.Biz, Dambrauskas signed a three-year contract with Sabah in June 2025, and before arriving in Azerbaijan he coached clubs in Lithuania, Latvia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus and Hungary. His coaching résumé includes titles with Lithuania's Žalgiris, the Bulgarian championship title with Ludogorets and the Croatian Cup with Hajduk. For Sabah, such experience is valuable because Champions League qualifying often requires the ability to adapt to different opponents, rhythms and travel in a very short period. Dambrauskas's role will be especially important in preparing the tie against TNS, a club accustomed to the qualifying framework and one that rarely enters European matches without a clear structure.
According to the preview carried by İdman.Biz, Sabah was due to begin preparations for the new season on 17 June, before heading to Tyrol in Austria for the main part of the summer camp, which is expected to last until 3 July. Three friendly matches are also planned, and the opponents had not been named at the time of publication. Such a schedule leaves a relatively short space between the end of preparations and the first match against TNS, which is common for champions of smaller and medium-sized European leagues that open their season at the beginning of July. For Sabah, it will be particularly important to maintain competitive intensity after winning the domestic title, but also to avoid a rhythm in which the European debut turns into an emotional event instead of a controlled two-legged tie. In the first qualifying round, details often decide: set pieces, transition after losing the ball, adaptation to the opponent's pitch and the team's ability not to lose stability after conceding the first goal.
The New Saints arrives with domestic dominance and European routine
The New Saints enters the tie as the most dominant club in the Welsh league over the last decade. According to the FAW, TNS won its fifth consecutive Welsh championship title in the 2025/26 season and its 18th JD Cymru Premier title overall, further extending the national record. The title was confirmed with a 2:1 victory against Connah's Quay Nomads, and the FAW reported that Craig Harrison's team mathematically secured first place five rounds before the end. Such continuity gives TNS an advantage in experience and confidence, but it does not guarantee smooth progress because the difference between domestic dominance and European qualifiers is often large. Against Sabah, the Welsh champion will have to show that it can withstand a demanding away trip, the host's pressure and the rhythm of a match in which the opponent will seek confirmation of its new status.
TNS's European history has gained an important addition in recent years. According to club data, The New Saints became in the 2024/25 season the first club from the Welsh domestic system to qualify for the league phase of a UEFA competition, after eliminating Lithuania's Panevėžys in the Conference League play-offs with a 3:0 aggregate score. In that same campaign, TNS had earlier eliminated Dečić in the first qualifying round of the Champions League, then went out against Ferencváros, and continued its European path through the other UEFA competitions. The 2025/26 season was more modest on the international stage: the club was eliminated in the first qualifying round of the Champions League by Shkëndija with a 2:1 aggregate score after extra time, and was then stopped by Differdange in the Conference League qualifiers. Precisely for that reason, the new tie against Sabah also has the dimension of a repair exam for TNS after last year's early European setback.
Seeded team against debutant, but without a simple favourite's role
The draw formally gave TNS seeded status, which is based on UEFA coefficients and continuity of appearances in European competitions. Still, Sabah does not enter this two-legged tie as a classic outsider. The Azerbaijani champion has a domestic title, a team that showed attacking efficiency in the league and a coach with experience in European qualifiers. On the other side, TNS has automatisms, the habit of playing two-legged ties and the knowledge of how to survive uncomfortable phases of a match when the opponent creates pressure. In such a balance of power, the first match in Masazir could be key for the psychological balance of the pairing, because a Sabah victory would open space for a more pragmatic return leg, while a positive away result for TNS would shift the pressure onto the home side before Park Hall.
Tactically speaking, TNS will probably try to reduce the number of open transitions and keep the match within frameworks in which its discipline in possession and experience in European qualifying come to the fore. Sabah, according to the team's profile from last league season, will have arguments in intensity, attacking width and pressure in front of its supporters. The question is also what condition the squads will be in after summer changes, because the beginning of July often comes before teams are fully coordinated. For clubs at these qualifying levels, every progression has multiple value: it brings sporting prestige, additional European matches, financial income and greater manoeuvring room in the player market. Because of that, first preliminary qualifying ties, although far from the main phase of the Champions League, carry serious weight for planning the entire season.
Broader significance for Azerbaijani and Welsh club football
For Azerbaijani football, Sabah's appearance in the Champions League comes at a moment when there is an attempt to broaden the circle of clubs capable of European continuity. Qarabağ has for years been the most recognisable international symbol of that country's club football, but Sabah's title shows that the domestic scene has changed. If Sabah manages to get past TNS, it would be a strong signal that the new champion can quickly adapt to the demands of UEFA competitions. If it is eliminated, it will still have a European continuation through the Conference League, but the missed opportunity in the Champions League would nevertheless slow the creation of an international identity. That is why the first European match in the elite competition will have special emotional, but also strategic, value for Sabah.
For Welsh football, TNS remains the benchmark by which the international competitiveness of the JD Cymru Premier is assessed. Ahead of the European season, the FAW stressed that Wales has four representatives in UEFA competitions in the 2026/27 season, an increase from three in the previous season thanks to the league coefficient. In such an environment, every TNS result affects not only club ambitions but also the perception of the entire league. Progress against Sabah would confirm that the historic qualification for the league phase of the Conference League in 2024/25 was not an isolated success. Failure, however, would again open the question of how much domestic superiority can be transferred to the European level, especially against an opponent coming from a differently structured football environment.
A two-legged tie that comes early, but can define the whole season
The first qualifying round of the Champions League is often played in a phase when teams are still searching for optimal form, but the consequences of those matches can be long-term. The winner of the Sabah – The New Saints pairing continues the path towards the second qualifying round of the Champions League, thereby retaining the chance for a stronger European rhythm and a more secure financial projection for the summer. The defeated side will not immediately be left without Europe, but it will have to move into a different competitive framework of the Conference League, where mistakes no longer leave the same level of safety net. For that reason, this tie cannot be viewed only as a meeting between a debutant and a seeded team, but as an early turning point for two seasons that have only just begun. Sabah wants to prove that the new Azerbaijani order has European weight, while The New Saints seeks confirmation that its domestic dominance can still produce results outside Wales.
Sources:
- UEFA – official announcement of the 2026/27 Champions League first qualifying round draw and match schedule (link)
- The New Saints FC – club announcement about the Sabah FC – The New Saints FC pairing, stadiums and provisional match dates (link)
- FAW / JD Cymru Leagues – data on The New Saints' title, the European status of Welsh clubs and draw rules (link)
- FAW / JD Cymru Leagues – report on The New Saints winning their 18th JD Cymru Premier title (link)
- PFL Azerbaijan – official 2025/26 Misli Premyer Liqası table with Sabah's and other clubs' records (link)
- Sabah FC – official club history and information on the club's development since its foundation in 2017 (link)
- İdman.Biz – information on the appointment of Valdas Dambrauskas and his coaching résumé (link)
- İdman.Biz – information on Sabah's preparations and summer camp in Austria (link)
- The New Saints FC – overview of European results and information on appearances in UEFA competitions (link)