Preview of the Urartu vs. Neman match: Eurocup confrontation

On July 10, two Armenian clubs — Urartu and Pyunik — will begin their journey in the 2025/26 UEFA Europa Conference League. Urartu will face Neman Grodno from Belarus, while Pyunik will take on Tre Fiori from San Marino. Naturally, the most anticipated matchup is the Armenian-Belarusian clash, so let’s take a closer look at the Urartu vs Neman fixture.

Last season, there was a similar clash: Pyunik lost 0-1 on aggregate to Dinamo Minsk in the first round of the Champions League. But this year, Armenia has a chance to take revenge.

Match Information
Kick-off time: 20:30 (Yerevan time)
Venue: Urartu Stadium, Yerevan (capacity: 4,860)
Referee: Mateo Erceg (Croatia)
VAR: Not in use
Live broadcast: The match will be shown on Armenia’s Public TV (H1) and streamed in our Telegram channel.

Urartu vs Neman – Bookmakers’ Odds
According to bookmakers, there’s no clear favorite for the first leg — both teams are given roughly equal chances. Even the home advantage doesn’t significantly tip the scales in Urartu’s favor.

Team News & Analysis

NEMAN

The Belarusian season is in full swing, and Neman come into the match in great form. In 2024, they finished 2nd in the Belarusian league, and currently sit 5th after 15 rounds. On May 24, they won the national cup, defeating Torpedo-BelAZ 3-0 in the final.

Although they had a shaky start to the season, Neman are unbeaten in their last five matches with four wins and one draw. In their last game before traveling to Yerevan, they beat Isloch 2-0 — conceding just two goals over that five-match span.

Neman boast one of the best defenses in Belarus: only 10 goals conceded in 15 games — the second-best record in the league.

The squad is very cohesive. Head coach Igor Kovalevich has led the team since 2016, and there were no lineup changes during the current transfer window.

The roster consists mostly of experienced Belarusian players. Only five foreigners are on the team: two Russians, two Africans, and one Ukrainian.

National team players:

• Pavel Savitski (Belarus) — 29 caps, 7 goals

• Yegor Parkhomenko (Belarus) — 5 caps

• Isaac Ngoma (Central African Republic) — 10 caps, 3 goals

• Amantur Shamurzaev (Kyrgyzstan) — 6 caps

Other players previously called up by Belarus include Oleg Yevdokimov, Alexey Legchilin, and Ivan Sadovnichy.

The team’s main star is 30-year-old winger Pavel Savitski, who scored 14 goals and provided 5 assists last season. This year, he has 2 goals and 2 assists in 12 matches.

Left winger Anton Suchkov is also in great form — 5 goals and 4 assists in 15 matches.

There is no standout striker. The likely starter is 36-year-old Yegor Zubovich (2 goals), but 22-year-old Cameroonian Leonard Gwet (2 goals) may feature if he recovers from injury.

The midfield is led by veterans Mikhail Kozlov and Andrey Yakimov (both 35), along with promising U21 captain Artur Nazarenko.

In defense, the standout is 22-year-old Yegor Parkhomenko, valued at €600,000. He’s having a strong season. The backline also features captain Ivan Sadovnichy (38) and Kyrgyz international Shamuszaev.

Neman’s European record
This is Neman’s sixth European campaign. They’ve never played against Armenian clubs. In contrast to Urartu, they have reached the third qualifying round. In 2023/24, they beat Vaduz (Liechtenstein) and Balzan (Malta) before losing heavily to Celje (Slovenia). Last season, they were eliminated 0-5 by CFR Cluj in the second round.

URARTU

Urartu had few changes this summer. Robert Arzumanyan returned as head coach. The core squad stayed intact, and the departing Russian players were replaced by well-known faces in Armenian football — including defender Yevhen Tsymbalyuk, who has previously played for Urartu. Thus, team chemistry should not be a problem.

However, the Belarusians have an advantage in match fitness, since their season is ongoing. For Urartu, this will be the first official match of the season.

Urartu’s attacking options are promising:

• Bruno Michel — one of the best players in the spring phase

• Artyom Polyarus — the league’s top assist provider

• Karen Melkonyan — hit top form at the end of last season

There were some changes in defense, but Anton Bratkov and Yevhen Tsymbalyuk bring valuable experience that could cover potential gaps.

Conclusion

Neman are a tough, experienced, and well-organized team. But they lack creativity in attack. If Urartu approach the game wisely, they have a good chance of progressing.

There’s another key factor: the second leg won’t be played in Belarus, but on neutral ground in Hungary. This makes the home game in Yerevan especially crucial — Urartu must make the most of it.

Reminder: The winner of the Urartu–Neman tie may advance directly to the third qualifying round if UEFA upholds the disqualification of Slovak club DAC Dunajská Streda.

You can view both clubs’ official squad lists HERE.