In the second leg of the UEFA Conference League second qualifying round, Pyunik hosted Hungarian side Debrecen at home, trying to bounce back from a minimal one-goal deficit suffered in the first match of the tie.

Compared to the first game, Pyunik's starting lineup featured three changes: Iasonas Pikis started in attack instead of Momo Yansane, while Erik Simonyan and Nikolaos Kainourgios replaced the injured Filipe Almeida and Artak Dashyan. The latter was completely left out of the matchday squad.

Just like in Hungary, Pyunik left a better impression during the first half this time around as well, and could have gone into the break having leveled the aggregate score at the very least.

As early as the 15th minute, a misplaced pass by Debrecen's David Patai near his own penalty area gave our players a quick chance to punish the opponent. However, Sead Islamovic's subsequent shot flew just inches wide of the post.

In the 23rd minute, Pyunik created their second clear-cut chance: Hovhannes Harutyunyan delivered a corner kick into the opponent's box, where Debrecen goalkeeper Plamen Andreev pulled off a miracle save to deny Sergey Vakulenko's header.

Just a minute later, Daniil Kulikov had the chance to get his name on the Republican Stadium scoreboard for the third consecutive home European match, but the Bulgarian goalkeeper Plamen Andreev made another spectacular save to deny the Russian midfielder's curling effort.

In the 36th minute, following a free kick by Daniil Kulikov, Nikolaos Kainourgios found the back of the net from close range, but the North Macedonian referee Igor Stojcevski signaled a highly debatable offside. Consequently, the goal was disallowed, though it could have predetermined the outcome of the tie...

Following that, Hovhannes Harutyunyan had a good opportunity to score. Stealing the ball in midfield, our midfielder approached Debrecen's penalty box, and after his powerful shot, the ball flew wide of the post again, miraculously missing the net.

Before going into the interval, Debrecen's players created their first real scoring opportunity. Following an unsuccessful pass by Henri Avagyan, the opponents quickly played the ball, and Blaž Bošković's shot fortunately went slightly wide; otherwise, a goal was inevitable.

In the second half, the picture changed, and the momentum of Pyunik's attacks faded. Instead, Debrecen operated with high organization and missed no opportunity to surprise our team with quick counterattacks.

The visitors created a real chance near our goal at the very start of the second half. Flórián Cibla, who had scored the only goal in the first leg, was close to scoring from close range. It was fortunate that in this episode, the ball deflected off Erik Simonyan and slightly changed its direction.

In the 58th minute, Artak Oseyan made a triple substitution, bringing Momo Yansané, Iman Griffith, and Viti onto the pitch. Looking ahead, these changes did not provide the expected sharpness to our team's attack.

In the 70th minute, another counterattack by the visitors could have ended in a goal when substitute Ákos Szendrei broke into Pyunik's penalty box, bypassed Sergey Vakulenko, and if not for Henri Avagyan's reliable play, the score would have been opened.

Minutes later, following a cross from the right flank by Debrecen's captain Balázs Dzsudzsák, the ball deflected off Sergey Vakulenko and struck the post, with luck smiling on Pyunik once again.

Only 10 minutes before the end of the match did our team manage to switch on its former "turbo" mode and began besieging Debrecen's penalty area.

In the 81st minute, Viti and Robert Darbinyan combined well, and the latter sent the ball into the opponent's penalty box, where Karlen Hovhannisyan was very close to leveling the aggregate score, but his shot missed the target. This was our team's most genuine chance in the second half.

In stoppage time, Debrecen could have snatched a victory. Following a powerful strike by Balázs Dzsudzsák, the ball bounced off the crossbar, and Márk Szécsi tried to head home the rebound, but Henri Avagyan demonstrated excellent reflexes.

Unfortunately, our team failed to find the key to the opponent's net in both matches, and the game ended in a goalless draw, which propelled Debrecen to the third round.

Just like in the second round of the previous Conference League campaign, our team was eliminated by a representative of Hungary once again. Notably, all three of Pyunik's attempts to overcome the barrier of Hungarian teams in European competitions have ended in failure.