Dublin teams handed positive European draws

DUBLIN outfits Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic have been handed positive European draws in their bid for glory.

Despite this season’s Champions League campaign only wrapping up earlier this month, the journey to crown Europe’s top football team has begun anew, with Irish hopes handed a significant boost.

Shamrock Rovers have been paired with the winner of the preliminary qualifying round, with The Hoops learning their fate following the final on June 30th.

A two-legged first round tie will be played on 11th/12th July and 18th/19th July.

The Dublin side will face either Atletic Club d’Escaldes from Andorra, Podgorica of Montenegro, Tre Penne from San Marino and Icelandic side Breidablik.

The winners of the First Round of qualifying will then progress to the Second qualifying round, and potentially face teams from Norway, Denmark, Croatia, Turkey or Cyprus.

Should Shamrock Rovers crash out in the First Round, a spot in the UEFA Conference League awaits them.

No Irish team has ever reached the group stages of the Champions League, but the potential windfall for a seat at the table of Europe’s finest comes with a major payday.

Teams that qualify for the group stage receive a cool €15 million, and Shamrock Rovers are hoping to go one step further than Shelbourne in 2004 and Dundalk in 2016.

On both occasions, both Shelbourne and Dundalk found themselves two games away from reaching the group stages of the Champions League, but on those occasions Spanish side Deportivo and Polish team Legia Warsaw denied Irish hopes on that occasion.

Fellow Dublin side St Patrick’s Athletic will look to avenge their heartbreak against CSKA Sofia in the UEFA Conference League Third qualifying round in last year’s version of the competition.

St Patrick’s Athletic will travel to Luxembourg to take on F91 Diddeleng, who previously faced Bohemians in 2021.

Should St Patrick’s Athletic lose their fixture, they would be eliminated from European football with no hope of further European excursions this season, but a win would see them through to the next round where they could face Bulgarian side Levski Sofia.

The two-legged first qualifying round ties will take place on 13th and 20th July.

Fellow Irish sides Dundalk and Derry City have also been handed relatively straightforward draws, with Dundalk facing off against Gibraltar’s Bruno’s Magpies and Derry City taking on Faroe Islands side HB Tórshavn.