In the 10Th Minute of Extra Time, the Visitors Were Reduced to 10 Men, and Sabah Scored Immediately, Sealing the Tie in the 115Th Minute

Former Diósgyőr coach Valdas Dambrauskas has led Azerbaijani side Sabah into the Champions League group stage for the first time in the club's history, completing a remarkable turnaround less than a year after leaving the Hungarian club. Sabah overturned a first-leg deficit to beat Hapoel Beer-Sheva 6–4 on aggregate in the final qualifying round. The Israeli side, who won the first leg 2–1, took a 2–1 lead in the 61st minute of the return leg in Baku, putting them two goals ahead on aggregate.

The hosts, dominating possession, equalized in the 71st minute and scored a stoppage-time goal in the fourth minute of added time to force extra time. In the 10th minute of extra time, the visitors were reduced to 10 men, and Sabah scored immediately, sealing the tie in the 115th minute. The 49-year-old Lithuanian coach, who took charge of Sabah in June 2025, had previously managed Diósgyőr in the first half of last year.

He left the Miskolc-based club, which was relegated to the second division, after sporting director Csenger Horváth departed and the new management failed to persuade him to stay. The Baku adventure has proved successful: Dambrauskas led Sabah to their first-ever league title, ending Qarabag's four-year dominance, and added the Azerbaijani Cup in May to complete a domestic double. In the other match of the day, Austrian side LASK came from four goals down to beat Celtic, reaching the group stage for the first time in their history.

Celtic won the first leg 3–0 in Glasgow and led 4–0 on aggregate after an early goal in Linz, but LASK leveled the match before halftime and scored twice in 13 minutes after the break. Celtic were still advancing until the 90th minute, when Florian Flecker forced extra time, and American Samuel Adeniran scored his second goal of the match in the 109th minute to complete the 5–4 aggregate victory. Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt, a quarterfinalist last season, advanced with a 6–1 aggregate win over NEC Nijmegen, following up their 3–1 away victory with a 3–0 home win on Tuesday.