Baku-based Sabah have reached the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, where their most likely opponents will be Poland's Lech Poznan.
As reported by İdman.Biz, the Azerbaijani champions defeated Finland's KuPS twice in the second qualifying round, winning 1-0 at home and 2-0 away.
Sabah are now waiting for the winner of the Lech–AGF Aarhus tie. The Polish side virtually settled the contest in the first leg, beating the Danish champions 4-1 away from home. The return match will take place today, July 29, in Poznan. The winner will face Sabah in the third qualifying round.
Who are Lech?
Lech Poznan are one of Poland's most decorated clubs and the reigning national champions. In the 2025/26 season, Niels Frederiksen's side won the Ekstraklasa for the second consecutive year, claiming the 10th league title in the club's history.
Lech finished the campaign with 60 points from 34 matches, recording 16 wins, 12 draws and six defeats. Gornik and Jagiellonia both finished on 56 points. Lech effectively secured the title with one round remaining after a 3-1 away victory over Radomiak.
A familiar opponent and Lewandowski's goal in Lankaran
A potential meeting with Sabah would be far from Lech's first encounter with an Azerbaijani club. Including the UEFA Intertoto Cup, the Poznan side have already faced Azerbaijani teams in five knockout ties.
The first came against Karvan in 2005. The Yevlakh club lost to Lech in the first round of the Intertoto Cup, suffering a 2-1 defeat in Azerbaijan and losing 2-0 in Poznan.
Three years later, Lech faced Khazar Lankaran. In the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup, the Polish side won 1-0 in Azerbaijan thanks to a goal from a then little-known Robert Lewandowski before claiming a 4-1 victory at home.
Their clash with Baku's Inter in the 2010/11 Champions League qualifiers proved particularly dramatic. Lech won the first leg 1-0 in Baku but lost by the same scoreline at home. The Polish club eventually prevailed 9-8 in the penalty shootout.
In 2012, Lech again faced Khazar Lankaran. Following a 1-1 draw in Lankaran, the Poznan side won the return leg 1-0 at home. As a result, Lech won each of their first four knockout ties against Azerbaijani clubs, including the Intertoto Cup.
Qarabag end Lech's winning streak
The turning point came in 2022, when Lech faced Qarabag in the first qualifying round of the Champions League.
The Polish champions won the first leg 1-0 in Poznan and scored again just 19 seconds into the return match in Baku. However, Gurban Gurbanov's side responded emphatically and went on to thrash their opponents 5-1. Qarabag became the first Azerbaijani club to eliminate Lech from a European competition.
Overall, including the Intertoto Cup, Lech have played five knockout ties against Azerbaijani clubs, winning four and losing one. Across 10 individual matches, the Poznan side have recorded seven victories, one draw and two defeats.
Poland still ahead, but the trend has changed
The history of European encounters between Azerbaijani and Polish clubs dates back to 1996. The early years were dominated by Polish teams. Khazri lost to Hutnik (0-9, 2-2), Neftchi were beaten by Widzew (0-2, 0-8), Kapaz lost to LKS (1-4, 1-3), MKT-Araz fell to Groclin (0-0, 0-1), Khazar Lankaran were eliminated by Lech (0-1, 1-4), while Inter later failed to overcome the same opponents (0-1, 1-0; 8-9 on penalties).
Azerbaijan's first success in a knockout tie against a Polish club came through Qarabag in 2010. The Aghdam side defeated Wisla Krakow twice, winning 1-0 in Poland and 3-2 in Baku.
It was from this period that the balance of power began to shift. Taking into account Champions League and UEFA Cup/Europa League qualifiers, but excluding the Intertoto Cup, Azerbaijani and Polish clubs have contested 13 knockout ties. Polish teams progressed on eight occasions, while Azerbaijani clubs advanced five times.
However, since 2010, the score stands at 5-3 in Azerbaijan's favour. The trend is even more striking across the five most recent ties since 2013, with Azerbaijani clubs holding a 4-1 advantage.
Qarabag deserve most of the credit for that turnaround. The Aghdam club have faced Polish opponents five times and won four of those ties: against Wisla in 2010 (1-0, 3-2), Piast in 2013 (2-1, 2-2), Legia in 2020 (3-0 in a single-leg tie) and Lech in 2022 (0-1, 5-1).
Qarabag's only defeat came against Rakow in the 2023/24 Champions League qualifiers, when they lost 3-2 away before drawing 1-1 at home.
Gabala delivered Azerbaijan's other success. In the 2017/18 Europa League qualifiers, they drew 1-1 at home against Jagiellonia before winning 2-0 in Bialystok.
As a result, four of Azerbaijan's five successful knockout ties against Polish clubs in UEFA's main qualifying competitions belong to Qarabag.
If the 2005 Intertoto Cup tie between Karvan and Lech is also included, the overall historical score in knockout ties stands at 9-5 in Poland's favour. The clubs of the two countries have met in 27 individual matches, with Polish teams winning 14, Azerbaijani sides seven, while six games ended in draws.
What if it is AGF Aarhus?
If a major comeback takes place in Poznan and AGF Aarhus manage to overturn their 4-1 home defeat to eliminate Lech, Sabah will instead face the reigning Danish champions.
The Aarhus-based team are one of Denmark's oldest and best-known clubs. In the 2025/26 season, they claimed the sixth league title in their history and their first in 40 years, having previously been crowned Danish champions in 1986.
AGF have never faced an Azerbaijani club in European competition. The history of European meetings between teams from Azerbaijan and Denmark has so far been exclusively linked to Qarabag and Copenhagen.
In the 1998/99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Copenhagen comfortably defeated Qarabag, winning 6-0 at home and 4-0 in Baku.
Nineteen years later, the teams met again in the Champions League play-off round. Qarabag won 1-0 at home, lost 2-1 in Copenhagen and advanced to the group stage on the away-goals rule.
The Aghdam side faced Copenhagen again in the league phase of the 2025/26 Champions League and secured a 2-0 victory in Baku.
Therefore, across five European matches between Azerbaijani and Danish clubs, Danish teams have recorded three victories compared to Azerbaijan's two. In two knockout ties, the record is level, with one qualification for each country.
A potential meeting between Sabah and AGF Aarhus would be the first European encounter between the two clubs and would open a new chapter in the history of Azerbaijani-Danish football rivalry.
