Three days after dismantling Qabala 4-0 away in the Azerbaijani Premyer Liqa, Sabah FA return to Bank Respublika Arena for a very different test. Borussia Dortmund arrive in Baku on the back of a goalless draw at Union Berlin in the Bundesliga and, more pressingly, a 1-0 defeat at Bodo/Glimt in their last Champions League outing. Both clubs sit on three points from their opening two league-stage games, which means Tuesday’s matchday 3 fixture carries genuine weight this early in the competition’s long-form format.
What’s at stake
The 2026-27 UEFA Champions League uses a single 36-team league stage, with the top 24 clubs advancing to the knockout play-offs. After two rounds, a cluster of teams on three points is already bunched tightly in the middle of the table, so every matchday shifts the picture. A win on Tuesday would give the victorious side six points and real breathing room heading into the second half of the league stage; a defeat leaves either club needing to string results together from a standing start of three points through three games played.
For Sabah FA, a positive result at home would be historic in itself. The Azerbaijani side are making their Champions League debut at this level, and beating a club of Dortmund’s stature would confirm that their group-stage victory over Slavia Praha on matchday 2 was no fluke. For Dortmund, dropping further points after the loss in Norway would put Niko Kovac under scrutiny heading into the busier stretch of the calendar. The Germans need a performance that shows they can impose themselves on the road in this competition.
How they got here
Sabah FA arrive in form. Their last five matches read W-W-D-W-W, a sequence that includes that 4-0 demolition of Qabala, a 2-0 home win over Slavia Praha in the Champions League, and earlier victories over Safa Baku and Imisli FK in the Premyer Liqa. The only blemish is a goalless draw at Neftchi Baku on October 9. Striker J. Mickels leads the Champions League’s top domestic scorers for Sabah with four goals in all competitions this season, underlining where the home side’s biggest threat lives. Dortmund’s recent run is patchier. They drew 2-2 with Werder Bremen at home in the Bundesliga, then lost 1-0 at Bodo/Glimt before the goalless trip to Union Berlin last Friday. Their only clean win in the last five came in a 3-0 home defeat of SC Paderborn 07 back in September. Two draws and a loss in their last three, with no Champions League goal scored in their last two European outings, is not the form Kovac would have wanted.
Both sides come into matchday 3 with three points from two games. Sabah FA collected those three points through a win and a loss, the victory being the more recent result. Dortmund’s three points also come from one win and one loss, but their loss arrived in their last Champions League fixture, which adds a layer of pressure to the trip to Baku.
Key battle to watch
Dortmund’s attacking line, which includes Serhou Guirassy and Fabio Silva, will face a Sabah FA defensive block that conceded nothing against Slavia Praha at this ground. Valdas Dambrauskas has organized his side to be compact and dangerous on the counter, a style that frustrated Neftchi Baku to a 0-0 and then tore Qabala apart in the open stretches of a away game. If Dortmund’s midfield, where Marcel Sabitzer and Johan Veerman could be tasked with creating, cannot find ways through quickly, Sabah will look to release Mickels and the wider attackers in transition. The balance between Dortmund’s need to press and Sabah’s threat on the break is the central tactical thread to follow.
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Our Prediction
Sabah FA’s home record and current confidence make them harder to dismiss than their status as debutants might suggest, and Dortmund’s inability to score in their last two European fixtures is a real concern. That said, the quality gap between a Bundesliga side and an Azerbaijani club operating at this level for the first time should tell over 90 minutes. Expect Dortmund to eventually find a way through, though it is unlikely to be comfortable, and Sabah will make them work for anything they get at Bank Respublika Arena.