There is a pleasing symmetry about Sunderland’s Europa League trip to Portugal to face Torreense on Thursday night. The club’s last competitive venture on European soil, 53 years ago, was the second leg of a European Cup Winners’ Cup second-round tie against Sporting in Lisbon for the FA Cup holders, then in the Second Division. In a striking parallel, second-tier Torreense prompted widespread surprise by beating Sporting in the Portuguese Cup final last season.
The reward was a place in the Europa League and their chances of reaching the next phase of the competition early next year were boosted when they beat Lillestrøm 2-1 in Norway last month. Torreense are struggling in the league – they sit 15th with six points from seven games. They face a side who have made an underwhelming opening to the Premier League campaign featuring one win, against their fellow strugglers Fulham.
With a visit to Bournemouth, who are 18th, a place and a point below Sunderland, on Sunday, Régis Le Bris is expected to rotate his squad. Even so, it would be a minor shock if Sunderland fail to beat Torreense. Torreense’s home ground, the Estádio Manuel Marques in Torres Vedras, 31 miles north of Lisbon, holds 2,431 spectators, falling short of Uefa regulations.
This has prompted the match being switched to the medieval town of Leiria, an hour’s drive north of Torres Vedras and almost two hours from the luxury Lisbon hotel where Sunderland are basing themselves after failing to find suitable accommodation elsewhere. Almost 4,000 Sunderland fans are travelling to the 23,888-capacity Estádio Dr Magalhães Pessoa, normally the home of second-tier União Leiria. With a limited supply of local hotel rooms, some are staying in Lisbon or Porto, while others have found lodgings in nearby towns and villages, including Fátima.
A pilgrimage town, Fátima is one of the most important shrines in the Catholic world and attracts more than six million tourists every year. As visitors from Wearside sightsee in forecast bright sunshine and 25C, they may be tempted to pray for respite from a harsh north-east winter at the Stadium of Light. Although Sunderland have played well at times this season, the failure to sign a specialist right-winger during the summer has led to Le Bris frequently fielding two natural right-backs in Trai Hume and Thomas Meunier.
Hamstring injuries to Brian Brobbey and Dan Ballard have caused problems at both ends of the pitch and the previously reliable Robin Roefs has suffered a few untypical goalkeeping wobbles. Context is required though. Sunderland’s first six league fixtures have been against the present top four – Manchester City, Arsenal, Brighton and Brentford.
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