Sabah Beat Slavia Prague 2-0 for First Champions League League Phase Win

Parris and Mickels deliver a breakthrough in Baku

Sabah secured their first UEFA Champions League league phase victory on October 13, 2026, beating Slavia Prague 2-0 at Baku Olympic Stadium through goals from Kahim Parris in the 49th minute and Joy-Lance Mickels in the 88th. The Azerbaijani champions collected their first three points after opening their campaign with a 4-0 defeat away to Manchester United.

The result brought several firsts together: Sabah's first home appearance in this Champions League campaign, their first goal, their first clean sheet and their first victory. Mickels, the German forward who scored the second goal, was named player of the match.

The win also ended a much longer sequence. Azerbaijani clubs had failed to beat Czech opposition in their previous 12 European meetings. Sabah made the 13th encounter the first victory, adding a national milestone to an already important night for the club.

For Slavia, the defeat followed a 3-2 loss to Lens in their opening fixture. They remain without a point after two matches, while Sabah now turn toward a domestic trip to Gabala before hosting Borussia Dortmund in the next Champions League round.

Two second half goals settle the match

The teams went into halftime level at 0-0. Parris broke the deadlock four minutes after the restart, giving Sabah a lead they held until Mickels doubled the advantage close to the end of normal time.

That timing matters to the story of the match. Sabah spent almost the entire second half ahead, but the score remained 1-0 until the 88th minute. Mickels' goal finally gave the hosts a margin greater than a single goal and left Slavia little time to respond.

Austrian referee Sebastian Gishamer officiated the match, which was scheduled to begin at 20:45 in Baku. The main developments were:

• Opening round: Sabah lost 4-0 at Manchester United, while Slavia lost 3-2 to Lens.
• October 13, 2026: Sabah hosted Slavia at Baku Olympic Stadium in the second round.
• Halftime: The score was 0-0.
• 49th minute: Kahim Parris put Sabah ahead.
• 88th minute: Joy-Lance Mickels scored Sabah's second goal.
• After the match: Mickels was named player of the match.

Dambrauskas explains the change at halftime

Sabah head coach Valdas Dambrauskas described a performance built around preparation, pressure on Slavia's possession and a change in attacking approach during the interval. The Lithuanian coach said his team had adjusted their tactical setup to the visitors' style.

According to Dambrauskas, Sabah had approximately 68 percent possession during the opening 20 to 25 minutes. That was his estimate for the early stages, not a statistic for the entire match. He said Slavia initially struggled to build attacks from the back, allowing Sabah to recover the ball and keep it.

Slavia subsequently became more involved, and the balance of possession moved closer to even. Dambrauskas described the Czech side as physically strong and well prepared, with players tracking opponents across the pitch. That made it difficult for Sabah to find space and construct attacks.

Dambrauskas explained that the coaching staff responded by asking for a more direct approach in selected areas. In translated remarks after the match, he said:

At halftime, we decided to play more directly in some areas, and this immediately produced a result. We scored at the beginning of the second half.

Playing more directly means moving the ball toward attacking positions sooner rather than relying on a longer sequence of passes. Parris' goal arrived shortly after the interval, matching the timing of the adjustment the coach described. The accounts do not establish the full passing sequence or identify an assist.

Slavia point to midfield losses and costly errors

Slavia head coach Jindrich Trpisovsky gave a blunt assessment of his team's performance. He was unhappy with the result and the collective display, identifying a weak first half, repeated losses of possession and serious mistakes on both goals.

His explanation broadly matched Dambrauskas' account of the early pressure. Trpisovsky said Slavia's turnovers put them under strain and that the team did not play well enough together to make use of their individual quality.

The Slavia coach singled out the central area of the pitch as the clearest difference between the sides. In translated remarks, he said:

Today, the opponent outplayed us particularly in midfield. If I had to single out one aspect of the match, that is what I would highlight.

Trpisovsky also said Slavia began the second half well before losing control, particularly on their left flank, where Sabah were able to create dangerous situations. He believed his team had enough opportunities to score at least twice but failed to convert them.

That claim was the coach's assessment of Slavia's chances, rather than a published measure of their quality. No shot totals or expected goals figures accompany the match accounts. Dambrauskas, for his part, acknowledged that Sabah had benefited from luck in several moments, so the clean sheet should not be read as evidence that Slavia posed no threat.

Mickels earns the award as Sabah's starters deliver

Mickels' late goal and player of the match award made him a central figure in the victory. Parris supplied the breakthrough, while both scorers had been included in Sabah's announced starting lineup.

Captain and goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov started alongside Tymoteusz Puchacz, Steve Solvet, Aiden McCarthy, Akim Zedadka, Umarali Rakhmonaliyev, Ivan Lepinjica, Du Queiroz, Veljko Simic, Parris and Mickels. The lineup announcement and the match listing identified the same starting group, despite differences in the spelling of several names.

Slavia started Jakub Markovic, David Zima, Ange Nguessan, captain Tomas Holes, Daniel Sturm, Michal Sadilek, David Moses, Tomas Vlcek, Emmanuel Ayaosi, Lukas Provod and Tomas Chory.

The listed substitutes included Aleksey Isayev, Christian Nwachukwu, Xander Severina and Orphe Mbina for Sabah, and Mojmir Chytil, Samuel Isife and Toumani Diakite for Slavia. The accounts do not establish which substitutes entered the match or at what times. Nor do the starting lists alone establish the precise formations used.

A first victory after 12 matches without one

Sabah's result changed a record stretching back to the 1997/1998 season. Before this match, Qarabag, Shamkir and Karvan had collectively played Czech opponents 12 times in European competition without winning.

The earlier results amounted to five draws and seven defeats. Sabah's victory therefore made the record one win, five draws and seven defeats across 13 matches. The history includes qualifying rounds and other European competitions, so it is a broader record than Champions League league phase results alone.

The sequence began with Qarabag's 3-0 and 5-0 losses to Jablonec in UEFA Cup qualifying in 1997/1998. Shamkir then lost 1-0 and 4-1 to Slavia in Champions League qualifying in 2000/2001. Karvan faced Slavia in 2006, losing 2-0 at home before drawing 0-0 away.

Qarabag drew both Champions League qualifying matches against Viktoria Plzen in 2016, 0-0 and 1-1, but went out under the away goals rule then in use. That rule separated teams level on aggregate by giving the advantage to the side that had scored more goals away from home.

In the same season, Qarabag drew 2-2 at home to Slovan Liberec and lost 3-0 away in the Europa League group stage. The final two matches in the sequence came against Viktoria Plzen in the 2022/2023 Champions League playoff round: a 0-0 draw followed by a 2-1 defeat.

Against that record, Sabah's 2-0 win was more than a recovery from their opening loss. It delivered a result none of the three Azerbaijani clubs in those earlier meetings had achieved.

Character praised, but no promise of more points

Dambrauskas thanked his players for carrying out the plan and competing until the end. He described their character and determination as central to the victory, while keeping expectations for subsequent matches restrained.

The Sabah coach also asked for stronger support in the stands. He said he had expected more spectators for a Champions League match representing both Azerbaijan and Baku. No attendance figure was given, so his comments cannot be turned into a numerical assessment of the crowd.

Explaining what supporters could expect from the team, Dambrauskas said in translated remarks:

I will not promise a result or points. But I promise that we will be ready for every match, put our hearts into it and fight until the end.

He rejected the suggestion that a Slavia player's comments about Qarabag had supplied extra motivation. Dambrauskas said Sabah had not discussed those remarks before the game and had not felt insulted by them. His focus was on showing the quality of his own squad rather than answering comments about another club.

Gabala comes before Dortmund

Sabah have three points from two Champions League matches, with two goals scored and four conceded. Their goal difference is therefore minus two. Slavia have no points, with two goals scored and five conceded, leaving them on minus three.

Those figures show what changed in Baku without establishing either team's position in the full league table. Sabah moved from a heavy opening defeat to a victory and clean sheet; Slavia followed a narrow loss in which they scored twice with a defeat in which they did not score.

Borussia Dortmund are Sabah's next Champions League opponents, again at Baku Olympic Stadium. No date or kickoff time for that fixture is given in the match reports.

Dambrauskas said his immediate attention would instead go to the domestic league visit to Gabala, which he expected to be difficult. The coach's order of priorities was explicit: prepare for Gabala first, then think about Dortmund. The next European match will give Sabah another home opportunity, but the first victory does not settle their prospects for progressing from the league phase.

Key Points

• Sabah beat Slavia Prague 2-0 in Baku on October 13, 2026, earning their first Champions League league phase points.
• Kahim Parris scored in the 49th minute and Joy-Lance Mickels in the 88th.
• Mickels was named player of the match.
• The victory ended a run of 12 European matches without an Azerbaijani club beating Czech opposition.
• Dambrauskas credited preparation, a halftime adjustment and his players' determination.
• Trpisovsky identified midfield problems, costly errors and missed chances in Slavia's defeat.
• Sabah next face Gabala domestically before hosting Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.