Azerbaijan's Sabah, with Kazakhstan's Stas Pokatilov in goal, claimed their first win in the main stage of the 2026/27 Champions League, beating Prague's Slavia 2:0 in the second round of matches, infohub.kz reports.

Pokatilov, a product of the Uralsk-based Akzhayik who joined Sabah from Kostanay's Tobol last year, once again led the Azerbaijani club out as captain for a Champions League match.

In an even game at the Olympic Stadium in Baku, the hosts scored in the 17th minute. However, Austrian referee Sebastian Gishamer disallowed the goal by Kahim Parris, with VAR spotting a slight offside by the Jamaica midfielder.

Early in the second half Parris scored a legitimate goal, set up by Croatia's Ivan Lepinjica.

Sabah's first goal in the main stage of the Champions League remained the only one until the very end of the match, although Pokatilov had to work at full stretch in the second half. In one incident VAR worked in the hosts' favour, cancelling a possible penalty against the Kazakh goalkeeper.

Then in the 88th minute Rwandan forward Joy-Lance Mickels sealed the result for the Azerbaijanis with a long-range strike — 2:0.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2026/27

Matchday 2. September 13

⚽ SABAH (Baku, Azerbaijan) – SLAVIA (Prague, Czech Republic) 2:0 (0:0). Goals: Parris 49 (1:0), Mickels 88 (2:0)

In the first round of the Champions League, Sabah lost away to Manchester United 0:4. Between their Champions League debut and today's match, the 33-year-old Pokatilov played two Nations League games for Kazakhstan: against the Faroe Islands (1:1) and Slovakia (1:2).

The remaining second-round matches of the 2026/27 Champions League will be played today and tomorrow.

The opening round of the Champions League was spread over three matchdays. It began on September 8, continued on September 9 and ended on September 10.

Each of the 36 teams will play eight matches against different opponents in the main round of the Champions League. The top eight clubs in the overall table go straight into the round of 16.

Teams finishing from 9th to 24th will take part in play-offs for the right to play in the round of 16. Clubs from 9th to 16th will be seeded in the play-off draw. Teams finishing 25th to 36th are eliminated from the tournament.

Kazakhstan's Kairat, who played in the Champions League last season, did not make it into the main stage of Europe's top club competition this time. Rafael Urazbakhtin's side will begin their Conference League campaign with an away match against Riga on October 15.