Debrecen v Torino Preview

Torino will travel to Debrecen on Thursday evening. confident of making it through to the next round of the Europa League.

The Granata produced a professional performance a week ago with a 3-0 1st leg victory, but will be without Iago Falque for the return leg. Simone Zaza, a goalscoring substitute in the win last week is the most likely candidate to replace the Spaniard.

Should the Granata emerge victorious, they will face the winners of the tie between Esbjerg and Shakhtyor Soligorsk. The Belarusian side are 2-0 up from the first leg.

Prediction
Debrecen 1-2 Torino

Torino 3-0 Debrecen

Torino will take a commanding 3-0 lead to Hungary after a convincing first leg performance against Debrecen on Thursday night.

Toro should have taken the lead within the opening five minutes, but Bremer was unable to make contact with Andrea Belotti's cross. However, the Toro captain then won his side a penalty when he was upended in the area by Debrecen keeper Sandor Nagy.

Belotti stepped up himself and thumped home the penalty to score Torino's first European goal in four years. The Granata doubled their lead in fortuitous fashion just before half time when Cristian Ansaldi's miscued cross somehow made its way past Nagy and into the Debrecen goal.

Torino had chances to extend their lead in the second half, with Spanish winger Alex Berenguer twice going close. However, in injury time, Torino finally scored a third goal as substitute Simone Zaza headed home from a corner.

Forza Toro

Torino v Debrecen Preview

Torino's Europa League campaign will begin in the unfamiliar surroundings of the Stadio Moccagatta in Alessandria on Thursday evening.

AC Milan's withdrawal and Toro's late entry into the Europa League led to a number of issues, one of which being the Stadio Grande Torino being unavailable on this date due to a concert.

Toro have name a strong squad for the tie, with Koffi Djidji, Ola Aina and Vittorio Parigini being the only absentees.

Debrecen finished 3rd in the Hungarian league last season to qualify for the Europa League and are captained by former Genoa midfielder Dániel Tőzsér.

In order to gain more information from a Debrecen perspective, I spoke with Loki fan Charlie_Barca on Twitter.

1. Firstly, how did you become a Debrecen supporter? 

My wife is Hungarian and it is her hometown.

2. Was qualifying for the Europa League last season seen as a big achievement, or were they expected to do so? 

We haven’t been in Europe since our new stadium (20k capacity Nagyerdei Stadion) was finished so this is quite a big deal for Debrecen supporters. We got the last Europa League spot on the last day, so it was a bit of a relief.

3. What European experience have Debrecen had in recent years? I seem to remember them playing Liverpool a few years ago? 

We have been in the Champions League and played Liverpool and Man Utd, however we had to travel to Budapest to play these games.

5. Which players should we watch out for? Who was the best performer last season?

Kevin Varga can be a tricky player on his day, just not sure which day. Csaba Szatmári is a decent defender, who can cover a lot of mistakes. 

6. What would winning the tie mean for Debrecen and Hungarian football in general? 

Winning anything would be amazing, but I think we are a few years away at the moment, but things are getting better especially with all the new stadiums that have been built. It’s encouraging and we are ready to be seen as a European football country.

Forza Toro