Irish Cup winners Dungannon Swifts to learn Conference League opponents
Live |
The winners of Linfield and Shelbourne will face Azerbaijan champions Qarabag in the second qualifying round of the Champions League.
The first round will be staged at the home of the winners of the All-Ireland clash on July 22/23, with the second leg in Baku the following week.
The Blues are no strangers to Qarabag. In 2019, the Azerbaijan side knocked Linfield out of the Play-Off round of the Europa League on away goals after a thrilling two-legged encounter. Qarabag, who reached the league phase of the Europa League last term, will be favourites to progress to the third round, regardless of who wins the Irish derby.
The second qualifying round draw for the Conference League will be made at 1pm. Follow along on our LIVE blog below!
4 minutes ago
The draw for the second qualifying round of the Conference League will get underway shortly.
Dungannon Swifts will learn their opponents, as will Cliftonville and Larne should they progress through the first round. Linfield will also feature in this draw. They will drop into the Conference League if they lose their first round Championship League clash with Shelbourne.
47 minutes ago
Some fixture news. Cliftonville's first round, first leg Conference League game with St Joseph's will be played at Europa Point Stadium on Tuesday, July 8 - two days earlier than expected. The second leg will take place at Solitude on Thursday, July 17.
Today 10:21 AM
Our liveblog will return at 1pm when Irish Cup winners Dungannon Swifts will learn their opponents in the second qualifying round of the Conference League. Cliftonville and Larne will also learn their second round opponents, should they successfully navigate the first qualifying round.
Today 10:20 AM
Dates for Qarabag clash
Just to recap, the winners of Linfield versus Shelbourne will play Qarabag of Azerbaijan in the second qualifying round of the Champions League.
The first leg will be staged at either Windsor Park or Tolka Park on July 22/23 with the second leg in Azerbaijan on July 29/30
Today 10:17 AM
Rangers will pay Panathinaikos in the same round, with the first leg at Ibrox.
Today 10:15 AM
Qarabag await the winners of Irish derby
The winners of Linfield versus Shelbourne will play Qarabag of Azerbaijan in the second qualifying round of the Champions League!
The first leg will be staged in either Belfast or Dublin, with the winners of the all-Ireland tie away in the second leg.
Today 10:13 AM
The winners of Linfield and Shelbourne are unseeded for this round
Today 10:12 AM
Here we go, it's time for Group 3 - the one that features Linfield and Shelbourne
Today 10:09 AM
We're on to regional group two. Linfield and Shelbourne are also not in this group.
Stay with us!
Today 10:08 AM
There draw is underway, but Uefa are currently running through a different regional group.
Today 10:03 AM
The draw is about to begin. The first leg of these ties will be staged on July 22 or 23, with the second leg on July 29 and 30
Today 09:59 AM
Champions League draw
Hello and welcome to the draw for the second qualifying round of the Champions League, where we will find out who the winners of Linfield and Shelbourne will face in the next round.
The Irish pair's potential opponents include Slovan Bratislavia, Qarabag, Steaua Bucharest or Inter Club d'Escaldes, Olimpija Ljubljana and Kairat Almaty
Yesterday 02:13 PM
St Patrick's Athletic off to Lithuania
The League of Ireland side have been drawn against FC Hegelmann, with the first leg at Richmond Park and the return leg at the Raudondvaris Stadium.
Yesterday 02:10 PM
BREAKING | Cliftonville will play St Joseph's in the UEFA Conference League first qualifying round
The first leg will be in Gibraltar on July 10, with the second leg at Solitude on July 17.
Yesterday 02:08 PM
BREAKING | Larne will play FK Auda in the UEFA Conference League first qualifying round
Larne will be at home in the first leg on July 10, with the second leg in Latvia on July 17.
Yesterday 02:06 PM
Draw under way
This is going to happen fast and furious here, so bear with me please!
Yesterday 02:03 PM
Here we go!
We have the draw coming up here as we are about to discover who Larne and Cliftonville will get in the Conference League!
Just the technicals to get through first.
Yesterday 01:45 PM
When are the matches?
The first leg will be on July 10, with the return fixture a week later on July 17.
Yesterday 01:30 PM
How will this draw work?
In short, very differently to the Champions League draw.
Each Group is split into eight teams, four seeded and four unseeded. Each team is assigned a number within each Group - for instance, Larne are No.3 in Group 4 and Cliftonville are No.5 in Group 5.
Rather than draw each individual group, which would take a lifetime, all eight groups will be drawn at once by having eight individually numbered balls placed in a bowl and drawn two at a time to create each tie, with the team drawn first at home in the first leg.
So, for instance, if ball No.3 was drawn first followed by ball No.5, then every team assigned No.3 in each Group would play each team assigned No.5 in the same Group, with team No.3 hosting the first leg.
Hopefully that clears things up!
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