Valdas Dambrauskas: Lithuanian Sabah manager brings Azerbaijani club to Old Trafford in Champions League

Valdas Dambrauskas will achieve a monumental personal milestone when he leads Azerbaijani champions Sabah out at Old Trafford in the Champions League. Hailing from basketball-crazed Lithuania, the 49-year-old manager has taken the town of Masazir—with a population of just 19,000—onto Europe's biggest football stage.

Sabah became the first team starting in the first qualifying round to navigate four knockout ties and reach the main phase.

The qualification completed a remarkable rise for the nine-year-old club after Dambrauskas secured a domestic league and cup double during his debut season in 2026.

According to BBC, Dambrauskas' route to top-flight management began unexpectedly in 2002 when he appeared on Lithuania's version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. He won 4,000 litas—equivalent to six months' average wages—and used the funds to move to London to pursue coaching badges.

Despite growing up in a country where basketball dominates the sporting landscape, Dambrauskas knew from age 12 that his future lay in football management.

"My idea was to somehow try to go on these coaching courses to gain the badge," Dambrauskas said. "England for me sounds like opportunities."

To support his studies at London Metropolitan University, Dambrauskas worked up to four jobs simultaneously, working as a gardener, handyman, floor polisher, and newspaper deliverer. His breakthrough arrived in 2004 when Manchester United Soccer Schools hired him to coach youth players.

After returning abroad in 2010, Dambrauskas built an extraordinary nomadic career, lifting 13 trophies across five different countries, including Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Azerbaijan.

He became the first Lithuanian coach to earn a UEFA licence through the London FA before mastering tactical setups across Europe.

Dambrauskas' journey comes full circle as Sabah prepare for their landmark fixture against Manchester United, 20 years after he first visited Old Trafford as a youth trainer.

Following their trip to Manchester, Sabah will host Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, and Napoli in Baku while also visiting Arsenal and Villarreal.

"To go through that tunnel on to that pitch is beyond my imagination," Dambrauskas said. "Now is the time to show that we can compete."