AND a Torreense in a state of boiling that, in the early evening of this Thursday, will face Ararat-Armenia, at the Dr. Magalhães Pessoa Stadium, in Leiria, in a match counting for the fourth round of the league phase of the Europa League, where the objective is, of course, to surprise again.
Just five months after the historic victory of the Portuguese Cup (against Sporting, in the penalty shoot-out), Luís Tralhão was fired, following a start to the 2026/27 sporting season below expectations, and replaced by João Nuno, who is still trying to impose his ideas.
In his debut, last weekend, the ex-Estrela da Amadora scored a goalless draw with Portimonense, in the Algarve. Now, at 41 years of age, he will play what will be the first international game of his career, against a coach… also Portuguese, in this case, the more experienced Manuel Tulipa.
The second division team, remember, contradicted all expectations by entering this ‘adventure’ with a victory over Lillestrom, at the Arasen Stadion, by 1-2, followed by a defeat at home to Sunderland, by 1-2, and another on the trip to the Groupama Arena, against Ferencváros, by a clear 4-1.
This means that they currently have three points won out of a possible nine, as many as Anderlecht, Hoffenheim, AC Milan, OFI Creta, Celta de Vigo and Jagiellonia Bialystok, a record that leaves them in 28th place in the table. Ahead of them, they will be 36th and last placed, with the same zero points as Viktoria Plzen, Marseille and Celtic.
Torreense-Ararat-Armenia’s kick-off is scheduled for 8pm (Mainland Portugal time), and will be officiated by Serbian Milos Milanovic, who will have Milan Pasajlic and Svetozar Zivin as assistants, Pavle Ilic as fourth referee, Aleksandar Zivkovic as VAR and Pavle Tomic as AVAR.
Coaches in direct speech
João Nuno
Image: “More than the results, Torreense has represented our football very well and we want to continue to give this image and be extremely competitive. In the Europa League, initial expectations would be low and what Torreense has done, and it has to do with the previous coach, players and the entire structure of the club, is to represent Portuguese football very well.”
Relaxation: “If we went to the betting exchange, we wouldn’t have any points and we would possibly end up with zero. What the games have shown has been different from that. We won’t make that mistake. Every Europa League game is seen as an opportunity. We’ve reached where we are on our own merit.”
Manuel Tulipa
Details: “Whoever can handle the details of the game better, whoever focuses better on causing mistakes in the opponent and taking the opportunity to attack again will possibly win the game.”
New coach at Torreense: “I made this decision to play with my identity, not thinking so much about the strategy for each game. We want to win, we want to help Armenia’s classification (in the UEFA rankings) with points, but I’m worried that the team won’t lose its identity of controlling.”
Latest results
Torreense: DDDVE
Ararat-Armenia: VDVVV
Last eleven
Torreense: Lucas Paes; David Bruno, Volnei Feltes, Mohamed Diadié, Javi Vázquez; André Simões, Alejandro Alfaro, João Marques; Manuel Pozo, Dany Jean and Musa Drammeh.
Ararat-Armenia: João Bravim; Michel Ayvazyan, Alexandros Malis, Edgar Grigoryan; Karen Muradyan, Juan Balanta, Armen Ambartsumyan; Artur Serobyan, Zhirayr Shaghoyan and Sandro Lima.
Absences
Torreense: Adama Baradji (injured).
Ararat-Armenia: /
