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At the first qualifying stage of the UEFA Europa League in Dublin, "St. Patricks Athletic" defeated Vilnius' "Žalgiris" and is now preparing for a new battle. In the next stage, the leaders of the Lithuanian championship will face Yerevan's "Pyunik" from Armenia.
Average age - less than 21 years
Last season in the Armenian championship with eight clubs, founded in 1992, "Pyunik" collected 63 points over 42 rounds and finished fourth, but trailed the champion "Shirak" by 25 points. The new national championship season will begin on August 3.
In the first stage of the Europa League qualifiers, the Armenians narrowly defeated the 11th place team in the Macedonian league, "Teteks". The first match in Tetovo ended in a 1-1 draw, but yesterday at home, "Pyunik" secured a minimal 1-0 victory thanks to a goal in added time by eighteen-year-old forward Viulen Ayvazyan.
"Congratulations to my players: the match was tense, but we are happy to progress to the next stage," said "Pyunik" coach Rafael Nazaryan. "The result is even more important considering the age of the players, but we were better organized and surpassed our opponents."
Only young players
Interestingly, "Pyunik" exclusively consists of promising local players aged 18-21. The average age of the starting eleven in the second match against "Teteks" was only 20.6 years, with the oldest players being 23-year-old defender David Manoyan and 26-year-old forward Artur Yuspashyan. The goal was guarded by 19-year-old Gor Manukyan.
Even the oldest coach, Rafael Nazaryan, cannot boast of an abundance of experience. The 38-year-old specialist has been combining work at "Pyunik" with the duties of the coach of the Armenian youth national team (up to 21 years) since 2011. However, there are likely no major problems, as the core of the team consists of players from the Yerevan club.
It is worth noting that "Pyunik" has only one foreign player - 20-year-old goalkeeper from Macedonia Tigran Kandikyan, who was not registered for the Europa League matches.
First match - in Vilnius
The first match of the second stage is scheduled for July 18, and the return match will be held a week later in Yerevan at the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, which can accommodate more than 14,000 spectators.
The draw for the third stage will take place after the first match on July 19, and the matches of this stage will be played on August 1 and 8. After crossing this barrier, the clubs that advance will enter the knockout phase, which will take place on August 22 and 29. After that, the main group stage of the Europa League tournament will follow, with matches starting in early October.
