What changed
S.C.U. Torreense, a Portuguese second-tier club, will host Sunderland in the Europa League on Thursday at 17:45 BST. It is Torreense’s first European home match, but it must be played nearly 47 miles away at Leiria’s Municipal Stadium because its 2,431-capacity ground does not meet UEFA criteria.
Why it matters
Torreense’s remarkable run began with a 2-1 win over Sporting in the Taça de Portugal final. That made them the first second-division club to qualify for Europe by winning the Portuguese Cup.
Now the fairytale has an awkward practical detail: “home” means a 150km round trip. The club will lose the setting that normally gives a small team its identity, even as it faces a Sunderland side at a ground built for a much bigger occasion.
Torreense have already beaten Lillestrøm and collected three Europa League points. Their remaining fixtures include Ferencváros, Ararat-Armenia, Celtic, Real Sociedad, Lech Poznań and Olympiacos. The result against Sunderland matters, but so does the fact that this unusual campaign has already gone beyond expectations.
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