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Champions League debut for Sabah after playoffs win over Hapoel Beer-Sheva

Azerbaijan's Sabah Baku, formed just nine years ago, secured a historic Champions League league-phase debut with a dramatic 5-2 second-leg win over Hapoel Beer-Sheva, overturning a 4-2 aggregate deficit. The club, the youngest ever to reach the competition's main phase, will join Como as newcomers in Thursday's draw.

By Tertius News AI Desk 3 outlets · 3 articles Version 2 Coverage Aug 25, 2026 Published 2h ago

A Historic Night in Baku

Azerbaijan's Sabah Baku, a club formed just nine years ago, will make its Champions League debut after a dramatic qualifying playoff victory on Tuesday. The team, which did not exist in 2017, secured its place in the league phase with a 5-2 second-leg win over Israeli champion Hapoel Beer-Sheva, completing a 6-4 aggregate triumph.

Sabah was seconds from elimination when substitute Tellur Mutallimov scored in the last minute of stoppage time to force extra time. The goal, a header from the last kick of the game, leveled the second leg at 3-2 and sent the tie to extra time. Gabon striker Orphe Mbina then scored with a header in the 101st minute, and Joy-Lance Mickels added a third in the 115th to seal the win.

A Hard-Luck Loss for Hapoel

Hapoel Beer-Sheva had led 4-2 on aggregate in the 61st minute when Israel national team right-back Guy Mizrahi scored with a shot from outside the penalty area. However, the visitors finished with nine players after defender Djibril Diop and midfielder Eliel Peretz both received second yellow cards in extra time. The Associated Press described the result as a "hard-luck loss" for the Israeli side.

No Israeli team has played in the main Champions League since November 2022, when Maccabi Haifa finished last in a group with Benfica, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus.

Youngest Club in Champions League History

SPORTbible highlighted that Sabah Baku is the youngest club ever to qualify for the Champions League league phase. The club's first season saw them finish fifth in the second tier of Azerbaijani football, and they won their first league title this year. Their rapid rise has been described as a "historic feat" by SPORTbible, which noted the club will now be in the draw alongside "giants of the game" like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

Draw and Format

Sabah will join Italy's Como as Champions League newcomers in the 36-team main phase draw on Thursday. Seven qualifying playoffs are being decided Tuesday and Wednesday to finalize the lineup. Bodø/Glimt and Celtic each held clear leads going into their second-leg games later Tuesday, with Glimt leading 3-1 hosting NEC Nijmegen and Celtic taking a 3-0 lead to face LASK.

UEFA will make the draw in Monaco, giving each team eight opponents to play from September 8 through January 27.

Other Football Notes

The 11 Premier League teams not involved in UEFA competitions this season start in the English League Cup second round that began Tuesday. Nottingham Forest is hosting Leeds for the second time in four days, after the visitors won 1-0 in their opening league game Saturday. Four years ago, Ipswich vs. Leicester would have been a third-tier team hosting one from the Premier League; their status is now reversed after Leicester's back-to-back relegations.

How each outlet told it

Associated Press as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC

Framing: Highlights Sabah's debut after playoff win, omitting 'dramatic' from headline but mentioning the win. — Dramatic and factual, using 'dramatically winning' and 'hard-luck loss'.

Facts Included:

Sabah formed nine years ago
Defeated Hapoel Beer-Sheva in qualifying playoff Tuesday
Tellur Mutallimov scored in last minute of stoppage time to force extra time
Orphe Mbina scored header in 101st minute
Joy-Lance Mickels scored in 115th minute
Final score 5-2 second leg, 6-4 aggregate
Hapoel Beer-Sheva finished with nine players
Guy Mizrahi scored in 61st minute to make aggregate 4-2
Djibril Diop and Eliel Peretz received second yellow cards in extra time
No Israeli team in main Champions League since November 2022 when Maccabi Haifa finished last
Sabah will join Como as newcomers in 36-team draw Thursday
Seven qualifying playoffs being decided Tuesday/Wednesday
Bodø/Glimt leads 3-1, Celtic leads 3-0 in second legs
UEFA draw in Monaco, games Sept 8-Jan 27
Premier League teams enter League Cup second round
Nottingham Forest hosting Leeds, Leeds won 1-0 Saturday
Ipswich vs Leicester status reversed after Leicester relegations

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SPORTbible as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:17 PM UTC

Framing: Focuses on the club's recent formation and historic feat, describing them as youngest ever, omitting the opponent and specific playoff context. — Celebratory and amazed, using 'historic feat', 'stunning win', 'popped up'.

Facts Included:

Club formed in 2017 (nine years ago)
Qualified for Champions League league phase after Tuesday night win
Youngest ever club in Champions League
Lost first leg 2-1 away to Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Second leg 2-2 into dying embers, Hapoel progressing on aggregate
Tellur Mutallimov scored with header in last kick to make 3-2 and force extra time
Sabah scored two more goals in extra time
Will be in Wednesday's draw with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich
Sabah's first season finished fifth in second tier
Won first league title this year
Final teams decided Wednesday, Bodø/Glimt and Celtic in action
Play eight games from Sept 8 to Jan 27

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WTOP as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC

Framing: Highlights Sabah's debut and the dramatic nature of the playoff win over Hapoel Beer-Sheva, noting the club's recent formation but not detailing the comeback specifics or Israeli absence. — Excitement and drama, with phrases like 'dramatically winning' and 'hard-luck loss'.

Facts Included:

Sabah formed nine years ago
Defeated Hapoel Beer-Sheva in qualifying playoff Tuesday
Tellur Mutallimov scored in last minute of stoppage time to force extra time
Orphe Mbina scored header in 101st minute
Joy-Lance Mickels scored in 115th minute
Final score 5-2 second leg, 6-4 aggregate
Hapoel Beer-Sheva finished with nine players
Guy Mizrahi scored in 61st minute to make aggregate 4-2
Djibril Diop and Eliel Peretz received second yellow cards in extra time
No Israeli team in main Champions League since November 2022 when Maccabi Haifa finished last
Sabah will join Como as newcomers in 36-team draw Thursday
Seven qualifying playoffs being decided Tuesday/Wednesday
Bodø/Glimt leads 3-1, Celtic leads 3-0 in second legs
UEFA draw in Monaco, games Sept 8-Jan 27
Premier League teams enter League Cup second round
Nottingham Forest hosting Leeds, Leeds won 1-0 Saturday
Ipswich vs Leicester status reversed after Leicester relegations

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What was claimed, and who backed it

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimAzerbaijan's Sabah Baku was formed in 2017, nine years ago.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (3 outlets) via SPORTbible as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:17 PM UTC, Associated Press as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, WTOP as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC
ClaimSabah Baku defeated Hapoel Beer-Sheva in the Champions League qualifying playoff on Tuesday.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (3 outlets) via WTOP as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, Associated Press as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, SPORTbible as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:17 PM UTC
ClaimSabah Baku is the youngest club ever to qualify for the Champions League league phase.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via SPORTbible as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:17 PM UTC
ClaimSabah Baku lost the first leg 2-1 away to Hapoel Beer-Sheva.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via SPORTbible as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:17 PM UTC
ClaimTellur Mutallimov scored in the last minute of stoppage time to force extra time.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (3 outlets) via SPORTbible as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:17 PM UTC, Associated Press as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, WTOP as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC
ClaimOrphe Mbina scored with a header in the 101st minute.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via WTOP as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, Associated Press as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC
ClaimJoy-Lance Mickels scored in the 115th minute.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via WTOP as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, Associated Press as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC
ClaimSabah Baku won the second leg 5-2 and the aggregate tie 6-4.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via WTOP as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, Associated Press as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC
ClaimHapoel Beer-Sheva finished with nine players.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via WTOP as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, Associated Press as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC
ClaimGuy Mizrahi scored in the 61st minute to make the aggregate score 4-2.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via WTOP as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, Associated Press as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC
ClaimDjibril Diop and Eliel Peretz received second yellow cards in extra time.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via WTOP as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, Associated Press as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC
ClaimNo Israeli team has played in the main Champions League since November 2022, when Maccabi Haifa finished last in their group.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via WTOP as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, Associated Press as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC
ClaimSabah Baku will join Como as Champions League newcomers in the 36-team main phase draw on Thursday.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via WTOP as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, Associated Press as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC
ClaimSeven qualifying playoffs are being decided on Tuesday and Wednesday to finalize the lineup for the Champions League.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via WTOP as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, Associated Press as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC
ClaimBodø/Glimt leads 3-1 against NEC Nijmegen and Celtic leads 3-0 against LASK in their second-leg matches.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via WTOP as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, Associated Press as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC
ClaimThe UEFA draw will take place in Monaco, and each team will play eight games from September 8 through January 27.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (3 outlets) via WTOP as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, Associated Press as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, SPORTbible as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:17 PM UTC
ClaimSabah Baku's first season saw them finish fifth in the second tier of Azerbaijani football.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via SPORTbible as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:17 PM UTC
ClaimSabah Baku won their first league title this year.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via SPORTbible as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:17 PM UTC
ClaimThe 11 Premier League teams not involved in UEFA competitions this season start in the English League Cup second round that began Tuesday.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via WTOP as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, Associated Press as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC
ClaimNottingham Forest is hosting Leeds in the League Cup, after Leeds won 1-0 in their opening league game on Saturday.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via WTOP as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, Associated Press as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC
ClaimIpswich and Leicester's statuses are reversed compared to four years ago, after Leicester's back-to-back relegations.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via WTOP as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC, Associated Press as of Aug 25, 2026, 9:19 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

3 outlets · 3 articles consulted: Associated Press, SPORTbible, WTOP 21 claims extracted Version 2 Written 2026-08-25