Manchester United make their return to the UEFA Champions League after two years away against a side that was not even formed by the time Marcus Rashford made his debut for the Red Devils back in 2016.

Michael Carrick's side are preparing for the visit of Azerbaijani minnows FK Sabah, this week celebrating their ninth birthday, on Thursday night as overwhelming favourites, with major bookmakers pricing them at around 1/10 on to win.

But upsetting the odds is what Sabah have done for years now, from ending Qarabag's dominance in the Azerbaijani Premier League, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League for the first time ever, while staying committed to the 'Moneyball' philosophy of recruitment.

The gulf between the two is absolutely enormous. Sabah's squad is valued at around £14.5million, while Manchester United's is north of £775m. One Carlos Baleba is almost five times as expensive as Sabah's entire first team squad.

Manchester United are three times winners of this competition while for everyone at Sabah, it will be the first time hearing the Champions League anthem as a competitor under the Old Trafford lights on Thursday night.

Daily Mail Sport takes a closer look at Manchester United's lesser-known upcoming opponent…

WHAT'S THE BACKSTORY?

Sabah are based in Masazir, a city 20 miles away from the capital city of Baku. To put Masazir into context, it's 19,000 population, give or take, makes it smaller than Skegness.

They go by two nicknames, 'The Owls', which is the most common, while others have referred to them as 'The Students' given they have only been in operation since September 2017.

Starting from scratch for the 2017-18 season - when United youngster Harry Amass, who could be involved on Thursday night, was still in primary school - they entered into the second division of Azerbaijani football.

Sabah would finish fifth but earned themselves a default promotion as the four teams ahead of them that season - Khazar Baku, Qaradağ Lökbatan, Shuvalan and MOIK Baku - all failed to obtain a suitable licence to play in the top flight.

Sabah had what they needed, were promoted and haven't looked back since, winning the double last season by winning their first Azerbaijani Premier League title to go well with Azerbaijan Cup, thus ending Qarabag's monopoly on success in their homeland.

It also meant that by going on to reach this stage, Sabah are in the history books as the youngest club to ever reach the league phase or group stage of the UEFA Champions League. History makers.

HOW DID THEY REACH THE GROUP PHASE?

In dramatic circumstances, if we're being honest.

Sabah's inexperience, and at times naivety, meant they went into every qualifying game as the unseeded underdog.

They finished with 10-men in their first round clash against Welsh champions The New Saints, beating them 2-0 at home, before having a man sent off, and 2-1 in the reverse leg in Wales.

A 3-0 aggregate win over Finland's KuPS followed in round two, while a 2-1 first leg defeat to Denmark's AGF Aarhus in round three had Sabah staring elimination in the face. They responded with an emphatic 4-0 win on home soil.

Then came the real drama in the play-off round when they faced Hapoel Beer-Sheva of Israel.

Sabah lost the first leg 2-1 and found themselves down 4-3 on aggregate with seconds remaining, only for substitute Tellur Mutallimov to score in the 94th minute to send the game to extra-time.

Two more goals would follow, sealing progress, while the Israeli side went down to nine men by the time all was said and done. Sabah had done it. More history.

Navigating four qualifying rounds is notoriously difficult and has only been achieved by six teams prior to Sabah's success.

Kazakhstan's Kairat (2025-26), Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia (2024-25), Moldova's Sheriff (2021-22), Swedish side Malmö (2021-22), Hungarian giants Ferencvaros (2020-21) and Serbian side Red Star Belgrade (2018-19 and 2019-20) have previously managed it.

WHAT ABOUT THE MANAGER?

When it comes to manager Valdas Dambrauskas the stories are endless.

One that is worth revisiting is his time living in England and working for Manchester United's Soccer Schools.

But to get there, and to place him in England, it's important to tell the tale of how Dambrauskas used the winnings from an appearance on the Lithuanian version of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' to get there.

Dambrauskas, 49, was not much of a player and had retired by the age of 23 having never played higher than the third tier in Lithuania.

Wanting to be a coach but without the means to do so, he went on to 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' and left with 4,000 litas - around £2,500. With that money he moved to London to embark on the start of his coaching journey, working odd jobs on the side including newspaper delivery and childminding to supplement his income.

The rising star coach enrolled to study Sports Science and Coaching at London Metropolitan University and cut his teeth in coaching as a volunteer around London.

Dambrauskas was willing to coach anyone and the Access to Sports Project, which helps provide dedicated coaching to deprived kids in Finsbury Park, opened a door, before other volunteering gigs popped up with Kingsbury London Tigers, a community set-up with a wide range of aged teams, all while still studying.

The Lithuanian started off in the younger age groups before accelerating through to managing the first team in the Spartan South Midlands League (ninth division), the FA Cup and the FA Vase.

By now his name was gaining traction on the lower-level coaching circuit and after becoming the first Lithuanian to clinch the UEFA coaching licence under the tutelage of the London Football Association, Manchester United opened the door.

It was 2004 when Manchester United, through their Foundation, brought Dambrauskas in to help with their Soccer Schools. He now found himself inside a professional operation, even if not as a first team coach.

'That was the best thing that could happen in my life,' Dambrauskas told BBC Sport.

'I went through three or four interviews. I will be forever grateful to [Foundation chief executive] John Shiels, the way he gave me this chance, because I didn't have experience.

'I'd never been in a place with so many great personalities as I got in the Manchester United Soccer Schools.'

Moves to west London pair, Fulham and Brentford, the latter saw him needing to take night buses across London to make the sessions, would follow, before moves abroad followed.

He won the domestic quadruple with FK Žalgiris back in Lithuania, won the Bulgarian league with Ludogorets and clinched domestic cups in Latvia with RFS and Croatia with Hajduk Split before joining FK Sabah in 2025.

But it was in England, where he returns this week, that he really shaped himself as a coach.

'I lived in England when the battle between Manchester United and Arsenal was the biggest rivalry. Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger,' Dambrauskas added this week.

'Now I'm going to come back as a coach in the Champions League and hear that anthem. It's really amazing.'

WHAT'S HIS STYLE OF PLAY?

Sabah line up in a similar 4-2-3-1 set-up that Michael Carrick favours and so while the value of the players on display may be different, the formations should look close to the same.

Dambrauskas likes a fluid attack and allows players to drift across the front-line, while a lot of onus is placed on full-backs creating overloads in wide areas. All things that Carrick has shown a desire to do, too.

Since becoming a dominant force in their homeland, Sabah have become a possession-dominant side.

But in the Champions League they are acutely aware that they will spend long spells without the ball and so to see them in qualifying has been to see a team that looks well drilled and a nightmare to mark on set pieces.

The physicality and height of the side Dambrauskas has built means that set-pieces are a major part of their arsenal and given United looked vulnerable from them against Hull City, it will be no surprise to see this area of the game targeted by Sabah.

Sabah have burst onto the scene and in less than a decade have gatecrashed Europe's premier club competition, due in no small part to the work of Dambrauskas.

'His influence goes beyond tactics,' Sabah president Magsud Adigozalov told Azerbaijani outlet Report last week.

'He has instilled a mindset and winning mentality in the team.

'Even in the most difficult moments, the team never abandons its game or fighting spirit, which is the result of the coach's work.'

SO, WHO ARE THE PLAYERS TO WATCH?

Sabah promise an element of surprise to most given they have spent most of their early years of existence in relative obscurity from the European masses.

That being said, their ability in transition means they can and will be a threat to United if Carrick's side slack off.

Here are a two players United must keep a close eye on…

Joy Lance Mickels (Winger)

Probably the man Sabah are pinning their hopes on if they are to shock the world with a win at Old Trafford.

Rwandan attacker Mickels is an incredibly direct forward who finished last season as the club’s top goalscorer.

He was nurtured in Germany, spending eight years at Borussia Monchengladbach’s academy, before eventually winding up at Sabah in 2021.

Now in his second spell, Mickels looks a more accomplished player but had he not held his nerve he may not have ever got to this point.

‘After two weeks I actually wanted to call everything off. At that point I was still living in a hotel, didn't have a flat in Baku and hardly anyone spoke English,’ Mickels told Transfermarkt back in 2023.

Now he’s thriving and heading for Old Trafford. No doubt glad he didn’t pack his bags all those years ago!

Tymoteusz Puchacz (Left Back)

Married to an influencer, experienced Polish full-back Puchacz is used to making noise on and off the pitch.

The 27-year-old, who joined Sabah after a loan spell at Plymouth Argyle, brings bags of experience after being part of two European Championships squads for Poland.

Having played for Lech Poznań, Union Berlin and Trabzonspor, Puchacz should not be overwhelmed by what is ahead at Old Trafford and that is invaluable to Sabah.

Moreover, he is an attack-minded full-back that will want to put pressure on Diogo Dalot. He has also added a set-piece threat to his game given he is one of Sabah's main takers.

Little known fact about the former Argyle man, he was crowned the victor when appearing in Poland's version of hit TV show 'Traitors', in this case known as 'Saboteur'.

WHAT'S THE OWNERSHIP SITUATION?

Rather than be propped up by one single rich owner, Sabah is made up of a number of high profile figures from Azerbaijan's business and public administration.

Sabah's founder, Yagub Huseynov, sits on the supervisory board, while the club is run day-to-day by president Adigozalov.

With a limited history and a national giant to overthrow in Qarabag, the ownership group found themselves inspired by the Moneybag philosophy, popularised by the Oakland Athletics' general manager Billy Beane in Major League Baseball back in 2022.

'We could not compete financially with many established European clubs, so we had to find our own competitive advantages,' Adigozalov said in an interview with Euronews.

'We were inspired by the Moneyball philosophy, which demonstrated that intelligent use of data and recruitment can help a club compete far beyond what its financial size might suggest.'