Ararat-Armenia Secures Europa League Qualification

Ararat-Armenia has become the first Armenian club to participate in the main phase of the Europa League. In the decisive match of the Europa League qualification playoff round, the Armenian champions defeated Romanian side Universitatea Craiova 1-0, following a 1-1 draw in the first leg.

The match took place at the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, where the home side's winning goal was scored by Brazilian forward Sandro Lima in the 98th minute of added time.

This marks the first time Ararat-Armenia has qualified for the main stage of a European tournament. The draw will take place on August 28.

It is noteworthy that Ararat-Armenia moved to the Europa League after being eliminated in the third qualification round of the Champions League by Slovenian champions Celje (2:1, 0:2). In the preceding two qualifying rounds, the Yerevan club had knocked out Latvia's champions Riga (2:0, 2:3) and Irish side Shamrock Rovers (2:0, 1:2), securing at least a place in the main stage of the Conference League.

Universitatea Craiova also started their European campaign in the Champions League, eliminating Belarusian club Vitebsk in the first qualifying round, and then losing to Bulgaria's champions Levski Sofia before dropping to the Europa League. In the previous round, the Romanian club claimed victory over Finnish side KuPS (1:1, 2:1).

Europa League, qualifying playoff, return leg Ararat-Armenia (Armenia) – Universitatea Craiova (Romania) 1:0 (first leg 1:1) Sandro Lima, 90+8