It's an incredible achievement for Sabah to be here. The club has only existed for nine years and needed to enter the first qualifying round in order to make it to this stage. Led by Lithuanian manager Valdas Dambrauskas, it's a story so unlikely that all of this would come together at once, but here we are. In 2002, Dambrauskas was on the Lithuanian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and used the money from that to move to England to start his coaching career in soccer. Now, after stops all over Europe, he's here with the Owls, going to one of the most historic stadiums in the world.
How to watch Manchester United vs. Sabah FK, odds
Date: Thursday, Sept. 9 | Time: 3 p.m. ETLocation: Old Trafford -- Manchester, England
Live stream:
United has a tough league phase draw of the Champions League, facing Sabah, Atletico Madrid, Como, Roma, Sporting Club Portugal, Red Bull Leipzig, Bayern Munich, and Villarreal. While there are winnable games in there, not getting all three points at home to Sabah would be a cause for concern. With the squad returning to health, Carrick will have most of his players available as only Amad Diallo, Manuel Ugarte, Carlos Baleba and Matthijs de Ligt aren't up to fitness for the clash. Needing to balance both his game with a Manchester derby over the weekend, the Red Devils will have to ensure that they don't look past this game as Sabah enters with a five goal victory of their own.
It's the first time that United will face a team from Azerbaijan in Champions League history, and it is an important tie. United are looking to show that they can hang with teams such as Manchester City and Arsenal in Europe's premier competition, and their lack of depth and poor set piece defense will be things that they'll have to overcome to prove their worth. Especially on the wing without Diallo, Marcus Rashford will need to show why he's playing and translate the form that he showed while with Barcelona last season.
Bruno Fernandes has picked up where he left off after breaking the Premier League record for assists last season, and he has been named a finalist for the Ballon d'Or thanks to his plaudits, but he alone can't bring United back to where they want to be. This is a game where rotation will be crucial, and players will have to step up to show why they should be receiving more minutes for the Red Devils as Sabah comes to town. If that doesn't happen, the Owls will be buzzing to force an upset, and anything but a win will raise the concern level at Old Trafford ahead of an already critical derby.
