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DUBAI: When Sabah FC secured Champions League qualification for the first time on Aug. 25, the club was not even 9 years old. Two weeks later, the Azerbaijani champions were walking out at Old Trafford against Manchester United.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Now, after an unforgiving introduction to the competition, they are preparing to host Slavia Prague on Oct. 13, with Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli and Arsenal still to come in a debut league-phase campaign that will see them travel around 34,000 km.<\/p>\n
It is a remarkable new reality for a club founded only in 2017.<\/p>\n
Sabah won their first Azerbaijani league title last season, finishing nine points clear of Qarabag, and retained the Azerbaijani Cup to complete a domestic double.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They followed that by progressing through four rounds of Champions League qualifying to reach the league phase for the first time.<\/p>\n
For Valdas Dambrauskas, getting there had already made the season a success.<\/p>\n
\u201cSabah never experienced participation in the Conference League or Europa League, never passed more than two rounds before in European competition, and now we passed all four and qualified for the Champions League,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, we want to grow the club brand, we want to be known, we want to improve, we want to play good football, we want to get some results, but everything from here is a bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Qualification brought little respite.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sabah opened away to Manchester United, with Slavia Prague, Borussia Dortmund, Viking, Barcelona, Villarreal, Napoli and Arsenal completing a demanding league-phase schedule.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThe draw was not very favorable for us and we got the strongest teams in the world to play against,\u201d Dambrauskas said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this can be very good and provide valuable lessons for the club, not only in terms of the result on the pitch, but in terms of organization and participation and communication about the club, about the country, about Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to take those positives in the best possible way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their first lesson came at Old Trafford, where Manchester United handed Sabah a 4-0 defeat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe result was not what we expected, of course, but you can understand where we come from and who we are,\u201d Dambrauskas said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re going to play now against the best teams in the world and we cannot think only about the result because it really can be negative sometimes.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven in the local leagues, clubs like Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli or Barcelona, they can score four, five, six goals. We know that sometimes we can be exposed and sometimes brutally exposed, like it happened against Man United.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0Yet Dambrauskas did not believe his players had been intimidated by the occasion. His frustration was that Sabah had made mistakes that opponents at this level will punish.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that we could do better because we conceded goals from mistakes that, even when you play a team at a much higher level, you cannot make because they will punish you for the smallest mistakes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cannot say that we were scared or shaky or overwhelmed by the atmosphere. I think we just had a little bit of doubt, especially if you analyze those mistakes from the tactical point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adapting to unfamiliar environments is nothing new for Dambrauskas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been very lucky,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the moment, Azerbaijan is my 10th country and Sabah my 10th football club.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo imagine, in around 15 years, I\u2019ve lived in 10 different countries and met so many people, learned from so many different environments.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really believe that this is my strength because I can speak with and understand people from very different environments.\u201d<\/p>\n
His route into coaching also has an unusual footnote. Years before reaching the Champions League, Dambrauskas used winnings from Lithuania\u2019s version of \u201cWho Wants to Be a Millionaire?\u201d to help pursue his coaching education in England.<\/p>\n
It has become a popular part of his story, although Dambrauskas believes too much is sometimes made of it.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cPeople give too much significance to it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a game show, a little bit of money, but nothing more.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was many years, a lot of hard work, a lot of people, a lot of different situations, different factors and different circumstances that happened in my life and brought me here to the Champions League.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now that he is there, motivating his players for matches against some of Europe\u2019s biggest clubs is the easy part.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this is the easiest part of preparation because every player and every coach and every member of technical staff dreams of playing in those types of games,\u201d Dambrauskas said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cEverybody wants to play in the biggest stadiums and against the biggest teams. So in terms of mental preparation or professionalism, there is absolutely not a problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s about finding the balance between competing on the pitch, showing that we can play and getting a result.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sabah will look to respond when they host Slavia Prague in their second Champions League match.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were not very successful in the first game, but we know exactly the mistakes that we made and we will try to improve before the next game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The challenge is not only what happens on the pitch.<\/p>\n
Sabah must balance Champions League football with their domestic commitments, while their location in Azerbaijan means covering vast distances during the league phase.<\/p>\n
According to Dambrauskas, Sabah will cover around 34,000 km travelling to and from their four European away games.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far as I know, we have the longest travelling this season in Europe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomebody calculated that we need to go 17,000 km for the away games. So 17,000 one way and 17,000 to come back.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cIf you think that around the world is 40,000 km, in four away games we\u2019re going to travel almost around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
The demanding schedule will also change how Dambrauskas and his staff prepare the team, with less time available on the training pitch.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me as a coach and my technical staff, it is about how to prepare the team, how to recover, how to maybe put more emphasis on video analysis and individual talks rather than training on the pitch, because the training sessions on the pitch will be very few in the next couple of months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dambrauskas believes those experiences will ultimately make Sabah stronger.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will have the lessons that you cannot buy in theory, but now we will have them in a practical sense,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really looking forward to this. I think the players and coaches will try to get the most out of those situations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The speed of Sabah\u2019s rise is perhaps best illustrated by the club\u2019s age.<\/p>\n
They celebrated their ninth anniversary on Sept. 8, the same day Dambrauskas and his players boarded the plane for Manchester ahead of their opening league-phase match.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cI think it already has been a historical success for Azerbaijan football because Sabah is only the second club in Azerbaijan\u2019s history to qualify for the Champions League main stage, after Qarabag,\u201d Dambrauskas said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cWe have so much attention at the moment from Azerbaijan football fans and media and all around the world.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThat will put the club a little bit on a stage where it can be seen, where it can be heard, where it can be understood what the club is all about, what kind of values it has.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd this is really positive and we need to use it in the best possible way to attract even more support, even more fans from all around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Dambrauskas, the timing of their qualification added to the significance of the achievement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we qualified on the 25th of August, the club was only 8 years old. So the story is really amazing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people who created this club and what they did in such a short time really deserve the biggest applause and the biggest respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dambrauskas hopes Sabah\u2019s Champions League campaign will ultimately resonate beyond the club itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow is the time to promote Sabah FC and to promote Azerbaijan football, for people around the world to understand that football in this country exists and is quite good football,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cTwo teams qualifying for the Champions League main stage two years in a row shows how much quality and potential there is in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n