Arabic version: تورينسي يستعد لأول ظهور تاريخي على أرضه في الدوري الأوروبي

According to BBC News, Portuguese second-tier club S.C.U. Torreense will host Sunderland on Thursday in their first European home match. Torreense, based 35 miles north of Lisbon, qualified for the Europa League by beating Sporting 2-1 in extra time in the Taca de Portugal final in May.

The club have not played top-flight football since the 1991-92 campaign and are the first second-division side to qualify for Europe by winning the Portuguese Cup. Torreense opened their Europa League campaign with a win at Norwegian club Lillestrom and have matches still to come against Ferencvaros, Ararat-Armenia, Celtic, Real Sociedad, Lech Poznan and Olympiacos before the end of January.

Because their 2,431-capacity Estadio Manuel Marques does not meet Uefa stadium criteria, Torreense will play Sunderland at the Municipal Stadium in Leiria, almost 47 miles away. Director of football and CEO Andre Sabino said the arrangement was not ideal, but the club would seek to make Leiria feel like home and hoped supporters would fill it with Torreense colours.

Managed by Luis Tralhao, Torreense have added 19 players from 10 countries. Their 32-man senior squad includes only four Portuguese players. The side missed promotion to Portugal’s top division after a 2-0 aggregate defeat by Casa Pia in May and have won one of their opening seven league matches this season.

Europa League participation guarantees the club at least 5m euros (£4.2m), with further income available for positive results and progress. Torreense received 630,000 euros (£533,000) for their victory over Lillestrom. Sabino said the club intended to invest responsibly, strengthen its structure and pursue sustainable growth.