Sergey Mkrtchyan, a talented and promising defensive midfielder, faced a severe challenge in February 2023 when he suffered a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury. In October of the same year, he experienced a recurrence of this injury during training.

The last time the 23-year-old "Urartu" trainee took to the field was on December 12, 2022. However, after a year and a half, Mkrtchyan returned to the game, playing his first official match.

Sergey took to the field in the 84th minute of the match between "Urartu" and the Estonian "Kalev" in the Conference League qualification, which took place on July 18 in Yerevan. "Urartu" won this game 2-0 and advanced to the second round of qualification with an overall score of 4-1.

After the game, Sergey Mkrtchyan shared his impressions with the club's press service:

"I am very happy that my return coincided with a victorious match. I am very happy for the team, I congratulate everyone: the team, the staff, the club. When I took to the field, I was very pleased with the support of the stands and the entire stadium. It was important for me to prove that I am ready to return to the game. I am grateful to the head coach for giving me the opportunity to return after such a serious injury. It was really a tough period, but I returned to the field with great desire to play and great responsibility. We are all very happy that we managed to advance to the next stage. Now we have to prepare for the next round. Our next opponent is stronger than the previous one, and we need to prepare well to stand up to them," said Sergey Mkrtchyan.

Before the injury, Sergey Mkrtchyan was considered one of the hopes of the Armenian national team. He played twice for the main national team and was a key player in all youth teams of Armenia, playing 11 matches for U21, more than 20 matches for U19, and about 20 matches for younger teams.