​Manchester United 4-0 Sabah: Carrick's men make victorious Champions League return

Manchester United celebrated their first Champions League appearance in almost three years by dismantling tournament debutants Sabah 4-0 at Old Trafford.

Having not played in Europe's premier club competition since a defeat to Bayern Munich in December 2023 condemned them to a group-stage exit under Erik ten Hag, the Red Devils had far too much quality for the Azerbaijani champions. 

Matheus Cunha, Bruno Fernandes and Benjamin Sesko all struck before half-time, with Lisandro Martinez completing the rout in the second period.

A few groans of frustration were audible as United toiled in the early stages, but they finally made the breakthrough in the 27th minute. Kaheem Parris' giveaway led to Fernandes feeding Patrick Dorgu, and his left-sided cross was guided home by Cunha.

United then received a monumental let-off at the other end, though. Parris held the ball up well before clipping a left-footed cross into Joy-Lance Mickels, who somehow sent his downward header the wrong side of Senne Lammens' post. 

That was the only real scare United suffered, though, as Sabah were made to pay for that miss twice before half-time. Fernandes beat Stas Pokatilov with a side-footed finish in the 42nd minute, after Youri Tielemans ghosted into the area and found his captain on the spin.

And only three minutes later, Bryan Mbeumo slid Sesko clean through on goal, with the Slovenian keeping his composure to round Pokatilov and tap into an unguarded net. 

Pokatilov got down to deny Cunha a second goal after the interval, but when he comically lost sight of the ball following Joshua Zirkzee's near-post flick, Martinez pounced to add a 68th-minute fourth.

Mickels and Orphe Mbina both had chances for a consolation goal, with the latter seeing his header flick off the top of the crossbar, but United managed the closing stages comfortably and – crucially, ahead of Sunday's clash with Manchester City – they avoided any injuries. 

History-makers Sabah blown away as United share the load

After two seasons away, United were playing their first league-phase match in the revamped Champions League, while Sabah were making their first appearance in any major UEFA competition. 

Sabah, whose head coach Valdas Dambrauskas worked in United's academy at the start of his career, made a piece of Champions League history, becoming the first team to ever name a starting XI featuring players of 11 different nationalities in the competition.

Algeria, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Poland, Rwanda, Serbia, South Africa and Uzbekistan were the nations represented in their lineup.

But Sabah were simply outclassed by a full-strength United XI. The Red Devils finished the game with 21 shots and 3.67 expected goals, compared to the visitors' 11 attempts and 0.92 xG, though things might have been different if not for Mickels' miss.

Fernandes' goal dashed any realistic hopes of a Sabah comeback, and since joining the Red Devils in 2020, he leads all midfielders for both goals (23) and assists (21) in major UEFA competitions – even without playing in Europe in 2025-26.

With United's three first-half goals having different scorers and assisters, it was just the second time six players had registered a first-half goal involvement in the same Champions League game for the club. 

That previously occurred in September 2003 versus Panathinaikos (Ryan Giggs, John O'Shea, Nicky Butt, Quinton Fortune, Mikael Silvestre and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer).