U Craiova vs Ararat-Armenia – News and Probable Lineups

Universitatea Craiova will host Ararat-Armênia at the Stadionul Ion Oblemenco this Thursday evening for their UEFA Europa League qualifying round clash.

In their most recent match, the Alb-albastrii settled for a 1-1 draw against a struggling Otelul Galati side, while the Black and Whites secured a 2-0 win against FC Van.

Match overview

After finally clinching the Superliga title after a 35-year wait during the 2025-26 campaign, Univ Craiova earned their place in this season’s Champions League qualification stages. However, they suffered a 3-2 aggregate defeatagainst the Bulgarian team Lexi last month, leading to their drop down to the Europa League.

Nonetheless, after narrowly overcoming the Finnish club KuPS in the preceding round, winning 2-1 at home in the second leg after a drawn match in Kuopio, Alb-albastrii now have the chance to participate in the primary Europa League campaign for the first time since its rebranding from the UEFA Cup in 2009, provided they can advance past their encounter with Ararat-Armênia.

Despite coming off the back of one of the most successful seasons in their history, the hosts enter Thursday’s fixture in poor form, having recorded just two victories in their opening five Superliga matches this season, placing Filipe Coelho’s squad in the relegation zone.

Although they have not faced Ararat-Armênia previously, Univ Craiova has encountered Armenian opponents before, having drawn 1-1 with FC Noah during the League Phase of the Conference League in the last season.

Similar to their opponents, after topping the Armenian Premier League for the first time since 2020 with a four-point margin over former champions FC Noah, Ararat-Armênia also entered the Champions League qualification rounds this summer.

Despite victories against both Riga FC and Shamrock Rovers in the first two qualifying rounds, Manuel Tulipa’s team was unable to build on a 2-1 advantage in the first leg against Celje in the next playoff match, ultimately suffering a 3-2 aggregate defeat and finding themselves in Europe’s secondary competition.

Despite this setback, the Black and Whites are still motivated to progress, having made a strong start to their new Premier League season, currently sitting second in the standings on goal difference after winning all of their first three matches.

After winning 2-1 away against Universitatea Cluj in the second round of last season’s Conference League qualifiers, Ararat-Armênia also approaches Thursday’s match with a perfect record against Romanian sides in their two competitive encounters.

Team News

Unfortunately for the hosts, they will continue to be without midfielder Alexandru Iamandache and goalkeeper Pavlo Isenko, both sidelined due to knee injuries.

After starting in place of Steven Nsimba against Otelul on Sunday, it remains uncertain if Coelho will select Assad Al Hamlawi to spearhead the Univ Craiova attack over the French player on Thursday.

On the flip side, Tulipa has a fully fit Ararat-Armênia squad to choose from for the first leg, with no new injury worries.

Having used a heavily rotated squad against Van on Saturday, it’s expected that the Portuguese manager will return to a similar XI that started the previous defeat against Celje last week.

Universitatea Craiova probable starting XI:

Popescu; Rus, Romanchuk, Screciu; Mora Mekvabishvili, Cicaldau, Bancu; Matei, Nsimba, Baiaram

Ararat-Armênia probable starting XI:

Joao Bravim; Junior Julio, Wilson Valdez, Malis, Grigoryan; Oliveira, Muradyan, Carlier; Serobyan, Sandro Lima, Banjaqui

Despite a slow start to the season, Univ Craiova are viewed as favorites for victory on Thursday night and look to secure a crucial advantage ahead of next week’s second leg.

While this may be the case, it will undoubtedly be a challenging contest against an Ararat-Armênia side that has once again commenced their competitive season on a positive note.