Preview: Ararat-Armenia vs Universitatea Craiova - prediction, team news, lineups

Ararat-Armenia welcome Universitatea Craiova to the Vazgen Sargsyan Republic Stadium on Thursday evening for the second leg of their UEFA Europa League qualifying round tie.

The Black and Whites entered the competition at this stage after falling out of the Champions League qualification phase, while Alb-albastrii claimed a 3-2 aggregate victory against KuPS in the previous round to progress.

Match preview

Following a five year period without triumph, Ararat-Armenia returned to the top of Armenian Premier League tree in the 2025-26 season, resulting in their participation in this summer’s Champions League qualification stage.

Entering the competition in the first round, Manuel Tulipa’s men made their way past both Riga FC and Shamrock Rovers before setting up a tie with Celje at the penultimate phase, however this was where their tournament run came to an end as they were dealt a 3-2 aggregate defeat.

As a result, the Black and Whites are now competing in the Europa League for only the third time ever and first time since the 2020-21 campaign, though victory on Thursday would mark their maiden participation in the league phase of the competition.

After a positive start to their latest league season, currently sat second in the Premier League table with 10 points from their four matches, Ararat-Armenia will certainly be confident of achieving this too, especially having earned a 1-1 draw in last week’s away leg.

Following on from Thursday’s contest, the Black and Whites will be looking to add to their strong record against Romanian opposition, having also beaten FC Universitatea Cluj over two legs without tasting defeat in last season’s Conference League second qualifying round.

Much like their opposition, Univ Craiova earned qualification for this summer’s Champions League qualifying stages after clinching the Romanian Superliga title for the first time in 35 years in the 2025-26 season, finishing four points above runners up Univ Cluj.

Facing Belarusian side ML Vitebsk in the first round, Alb-albastrii began their European campaign in emphatic fashion by claiming a convincing 5-1 aggregate victory, but with defeat against Levski at the next stage, Filipe Coelho’s men dropped to the Europa League.

However, holding Finnish outfit KuPS to a 1-1 draw away from home before claiming a victory at the Stadionul Ion Oblemenco in the second leg, Univ Craiova’s demotion may have been a blessing in disguise as the club now find themselves participating in the competition’s final playoff round for the first time in their history.

Although Alb-albastrii will be disappointed to have only managed a draw from their home leg, there will certainly still be confidence that their recent form can help them overcome Ararat-Armenia in this week’s winner takes all clash, losing just one of their previous eight fixtures and coming off the back of a convincing 3-1 league victory against FC Voluntari.

If Coelho’s men were to claim a monumental win on Thursday evening, it would also mark their first ever competitive triumph against Armenian opposition, with last season’s 1-1 draw with FC Noah in the Conference League being their only prior meeting with an Armenian Premier League side.

Ararat-Armenia Europa League form:

Ararat-Armenia form (all competitions):

Universitatea Craiova Europa League form:

Universitatea Craiova form (all competitions):

Team News

Much like last week, Ararat-Armenia head into the tie with a clean bill of health, making it extremely likely that Tulipa names a similar starting lineup.

After scoring in the first leg, it is almost certain that Alexandros Malis pairs Bruno Ricardo Wilson Valdez in defence, while Benny is expected to anchor the hosts’ midfield once more.

With three goals in the four league matches he has played this season, it remains to be seen whether Alioune Ndour gets a chance to lead the Black and Whites’ forward line as opposed to experienced striker Sandro Lima.

Suffering a suspected ACL rupture in the side’s win over FC Voluntari on Sunday, Adrian Rus is set to spend a lengthy period on the sidelines for Univ Craiova, leaving themalexandros malis a man short in defence.

Alb-albastrii are also missing Pavlo Isenko and Alexandru Iamandache, both of whom are recovering from knee injuries.

Opting to start Assad Al Hamlawi in the first leg, it remains to be seen whether Steven Nsimba returns to lead the line for the visitors on Thursday evening, with the Frenchman scoring the latest of his seven goals this season at the weekend.

Ararat-Armenia possible starting lineup:

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

Universitatea Craiova possible starting lineup:

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

We say: Ararat-Armenia 2-1 Universitatea Craiova

After a closely fought encounter in last week's opener, it would be no surprise to see more of the same at the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium on Thursday evening.

Although Univ Craiova have the experience of qualifying for Europe's second tier competition before, we think Ararat-Armenia will vastly improve in front of their home crowd and make history by progressing to the main stages of a European competition for the first time ever.

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