Who are Sabah FK, Champions League debutants, Arsenal/Man United opponents? - ESPN

As ever, the draw for league phase of this season's UEFA Champions League is packed full of the biggest clubs on the planet.

From two-time defending champions Paris Saint-Germain to last season's beaten finalists Arsenal, from record 15-time winners Real Madrid to their bitter LaLiga rivals Barcelona, the competition showcases the best of the best from across the continent.

But among the great and the good of European soccer are some less familiar names, and some that will be completely new to almost all fans around the world. Sabah FK from Azerbaijan, making their debut in the competition this season, fall into that category and have drawn Barcelona, Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund for their first-ever voyage at this level.

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So, who are Sabah FK? How did they get the chance to go toe-to-toe with the biggest clubs in Europe. And what was their coach's unique route to European football's showpiece event?

Here is what you need to know about them.

Sabah FK was only founded on Sept. 8, 2017, so the club's first match in the Champions League proper may well fall on its ninth birthday. The team nicknamed The Owls hail from Masazir, around 20 miles north-west of Azerbaijan's capital Baku, with the Iranian border less than 200 miles south down the coast of the Caspian Sea.

Last season was a monumental one, not just for Sabah FK but for Azerbaijani football as a whole. Sabah won their first-ever Azerbaijan Premier League title, completing a double by lifting the Azerbaijan Cup, and in the process breaking Qarabağ's grip at the top.

Baku-based Qarabağ had won 11 of the previous 12 league