Manchester United will play their first Champions League tie for more than 1,000 days on Thursday. The Red Devils will compete in the revamped Champions League for the first time and will face eight different opponents in a league format.
Their first match is against Sabah, who are making their debut in Europe’s premier competition. In fact, they are set to become the youngest side in history to feature in the Champions League, having been founded in 2017.
It is going to be a historic night for the Azerbaijan Premier League club and their players, who may have grown up idolising some of United’s biggest stars.
Sabah player sings Manchester United song
As is the custom in the Champions League, away sides are given access to the match venue the day before the game.
On Wednesday, Sabah players got the opportunity to hold a training session at Old Trafford.
Freelance journalist Aadam Haladh noted that one of Sabah’s players sang “Glory Glory Man United” while coming out onto the pitch.
“While two others hit the Sui as soon as they came out,” Haladh added.
Sabah’s Joy-Lance Mickels and Kaheem Parris will be living their dreams facing Manchester United at Old Trafford tonight. This was them training there yesterday. #UCL pic.twitter.com/Kabf0QSm8s
— Aadam (@AadamHaladh) September 10, 2026
The “Siu” is Cristiano Ronaldo’s signature celebration. United’s legendary number seven scored countless goals at the Theatre of Dreams and even lifted the Champions League trophy in 2008 before moving to Real Madrid.
Clearly this is going to be a remarkable night for Sabah players, but as far as United are concerned, they need to make sure they are focused from minute one and do not allow the visitors any opportunity to leave their mark on the match.
It may be fun to see their players singing United songs and copying the celebration of the club legend in training, but the atmosphere is going to be very different if the same happens during the game tonight.
Full-circle moment for Sabah manager
Sabah are led by Lithuanian tactician Valdas Dambrauskas.
In 2002, aged 25 at the time, Dambrauskas was a contestant on Sesi nuliai — milijonas (Six Zeros — A Million), a Lithuanian game show based on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
The appearance on that show was enough to fund Dambrauskas’ trip to London to undergo a coaching course.
In 2004, he was handed a chance to hone his coaching skills at Manchester United Soccer Schools before spells in London with Fulham and then Brentford.
More than two decades later, he is set to face the Mancunians in the Champions League. It is an inspiring journey, to say the least.
Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images
