Torreense welcome Ararat-Armenia to the Estadio Dr. Magalhaes Pessoa on Thursday evening for round four of the 2026-27 UEFA Europa League campaign.

In their previous European outing, Azul-grenas suffered a thumping 4-1 loss away to Hungarian side Ferencvaros, while the Black and Whites were also convincingly beaten by AZ Alkmaar at the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium.

Match preview

Making history as the first side from the Portuguese second tier to ever compete in the competition after beating Sporting CP 2-1 in last season’s Taca de Portugal final, Torreense will be content with how they have started their maiden European campaign. 

Having followed up a monumental triumph over Norwegian outfit Lillestrom in their opening fixture by losing back-to-back matches against Sunderland and Ferencvaros, Azul-grenas sit a lowly 28th in the Europa League table, though they are only outside of the knockout phase places on goal difference.

However, Torreense will be extremely disappointed with their start to the latest Liga Portugal 2 campaign as after finishing third and narrowly missing out on promotion to the top tier last season, Joao Nuno’s men have won only two of their opening nine league games to sit 12th in the table with just a two point buffer to the drop zone.

If they are to bounce back from consecutive European defeats on Thursday evening, the key for Azul-grenas could well be to patch up their leaky defence as despite only five teams surrendering fewer goals than them in the league this season, the Portuguese outfit have already conceded seven in their three matches on the continent.

Much like their opposition, Ararat-Armenia are creating history in the Europa League this season as the first Armenian team to ever participate in the main competition, but to the contrast of Torreense, the visitors have not had the start that they would have desired.

Falling to defeat in each of their opening three fixtures, the Black and Whites are one of four sides alongside Marseille, Celtic and Viktoria Plzen that are yet to pick up a single point after three games, though with their inferior goal difference, the Armenian side are currently rooted to the foot of the League Phase table.

On the other hand, Manuel Tulipa will be relatively happy with his side’s progress in the league, as following their first title triumph for six years last season, Ararat-Armenia sit second in the Armenian Premier League table and only two points behind leaders FC Noah, having not lost any of their previous seven outings.

With no prior encounters against Portuguese opposition, the Black and Whites could make history with a victory on Thursday evening, although they will also need to tighten up defensively if they are to climb off the bottom of the table, having shipped 11 goals in Europe so far – two more than any other side in the competition.

Torreense Europa League form:

Torreense form (all competitions):

Ararat-Armenia Europa League form:

Ararat-Armenia form (all competitions):

Team News

French forward Adama Baradji is the host’s only confirmed absentee for Thursday’s clash as the 19-year-old continues to recover from an undisclosed issue that has ruled him out for the last month.

Following back-to-back clean sheets, it is likely that Nuno deploys an identical defence to the one that started against Portimonense on Saturday, with Alejandro Alfaro and Amine Oudrhiri playing just in front of the backline.

Netting the equaliser before the break against Ferencvaros a fortnight ago, it is almost certain that Manuel Pozo is named alongside Dany Jean and Malik Abubakari in the Torreense attack once again this week.

After a fortnight on the sidelines, Ararat-Armenia welcomed midfielder Zidane Banjaqui back to the matchday squad on Sunday, while 34-year-old defender Kamo Hovhannisyan has also returned from injury in the previous week.

Despite playing in the club’s Champions League qualifiers in the summer, Ghanaian forward Paul Ayongo has been left out of the European roster and is the Black and White’s sole miss on Thursday evening.

Having scored five league goals this season, the most of anyone at the club, Arayik Eloyan is likely to be the visitor’s biggest threat in attack this week and will be looking to hit the back of the net for the first time in his career in European competition.

Torreense possible starting lineup:

Adriel; David Bruno, Volnei, Stopira, Alcedo; Oudrhiri, Alfaro; Pozo, Jatta, Jean; Abubakari

Ararat-Armenia possible starting lineup:

Joao Bravim; Oliveira, Wilson Valdez, Malis, Grigoryan; Balanta, Carlier; Serobyan, Ambartsumyan, Shaghoyan; Eloyan

We say: Torreense 2-1 Ararat-Armenia

Yet to put a point on the board, claiming victory on Thursday’s visit to Portugal looks as though it could be vital for Ararat-Armenia’s chances of potentially progressing to the knockout stages of the Europa League.

However, while they may be struggling domestically, we think Torreense are favourites for victory this week and are backing them to climb out of the elimination places with three points under the lights at the Estadio Dr. Magalhaes Pessoa.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.