BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — An Azerbaijani club formed just nine years ago will debut in the Champions League’s main competition after dramatically winning a qualifying playoff Tuesday.
Sabah was just seconds from elimination against Israeli champion Hapoel Beer-Sheva when substitute Tellur Mutallimov scored in the last minute of stoppage time to force extra time.
Sabah’s Gabon striker Orphe Mbina then scored with a header in the 101st minute and Joy-Lance Mickels added on in the 115th to make it 5-2 in the second leg and 6-4 on aggregate score.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva finished with nine players in a hard-luck loss after having led 4-2 on aggregate in the 61st when Israel national team right-back Guy Mizrahi scored with a shot from outside the penalty area.
Defender Djibril Diop and midfielder Eliel Peretz both were shown second yellow cards in extra time.
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.
Sabah will join Italy’s Como as Champions League newcomers in the 36-team main phase draw Thursday.
Seven qualifying playoffs are being decided Tuesday and Wednesday to finalize the lineup for games starting in two weeks’ time.
Bodø/Glimt and Celtic each held clear leads going into their second-leg games later Tuesday. Glimt leads 3-1 hosting NEC Nijmegen and Celtic takes a 3-0 lead to face LASK.
UEFA will make the draw in Monaco to give each team eight opponents playing from Sept. 8 through Jan. 27.
Premier League teams enter League Cup in England
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 back-to-back relegations for Leicester, the historic champion of England in 2016.
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