Champions League details and seedings as Shelbourne wait on draw
The Reds will compete in Europe's premier tournament for the first time in 20 years, thanks to last season's dramatic League of Ireland title win.
In their last appearance in the Champions League, they eased past Glentoran in the first round, winning 6-2 on aggregate, before they bowed out to Steaua Bucharest.
A year earlier, Pat Fenlon's side came agonisingly close to group stage football when they progressed past KR and Hadjuk Split, but came up just short of Deportivo La Coruna.
Since then, Shels have competed in the 2006 Intertoto Cup and last season's Europa Conference League. After progressing past Gibraltar side St Joseph's, they were eliminated by Zurich in the second qualifying round.
What's at stake?
This year, they are guaranteed a crack at the Champions League, with at least one safety net, depending on when they drop out of the top tournament.
Click this link or scan the QR code to receive the latest League of Ireland news and top stories from the Irish Mirror. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Shels will be unseeded in Tuesday's draw, but there are some potentially winnable ties among the seeded teams. Progressing one round would greatly enhance their prospects of securing group stage football, as Shamrock Rovers demonstrated last year when they made it all the way to the last-32 of the Europa Conference League.
Lose in the first round and they drop straight into the Conference League, rather than the Europa League.
When is the draw?
The draw takes place on Tuesday June 17 at 1pm Irish time.
Where can I watch it?
UEFA will stream the draw live.
What about the Ts & Cs?
While the brilliant Bert Kassies website gives us the latest seedings ahead of the draw, UEFA will confirm any changes, groupings (regional) and draw procedure here on Tuesday morning.
Are Shelbourne seeded?
Unfortunately, Shels are not seeded in the draw. Given their lack of European action in recent times, their coefficient is one of the lowest of all Champions League contenders.
So, who might they face?
UEFA will, on Tuesday morning, narrow the list of potential opponents, but Shelbourne could be drawn against Belfast side Linfield or Welsh outfit The New Saints, who lost to Shamrock Rovers in the league phase of last year's Europa Conference League.
Other seeded teams include Lincoln Red Imps (Gibraltar), Buducnost Podgorica (Montenegro), Breidablik (Iceland), FC Drita (Kosovo), KuPS (Finland), Zrinjski Mostar (Bosnia & Herzegovina), RFS Riga (Latvia), Zalgiris Vilnius (Lithuania), Malmö (Sweden), Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia), FCSB (Romania) and Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria).
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
15 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
Conference League third qualifying round: All you need to know
Thursday, 14 August Shamrock Rovers (0) v Ballkani (1), Tallaght Stadium, 8pm Besiktas (4) St Patrick's Athletic (1), Tupras Stadyumu, 7pm ONLINE Shamrock Rovers v Ballkani is available to stream on LOITV. There'll be a live blog on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News app. WEATHER The sun was splitting the stones on Wednesday, but it'll be more overcast in Dublin ahead of Shamrock Rovers' tussle with Kosovan side Ballkani. Temperatures will still hover around the 20-degree mark however on a balmy evening. In Istanbul, St Pat's can expect warm conditions, with temperatures in the mid-to-high 20s at kick-off. Hoops have work to do It's a big night in Tallaght as Shamrock Rovers aim to keep their European ambitions alive. The SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division leaders were not at their best in last week's first leg, falling to a 1-0 loss thanks to Sunday Adetunji's second-half effort, but they're far from out of this. A boisterous home crowd will look to get their team over the line and set up a play-off against either Larne or Portuguese side Santa Clara, who lead 3-0 after the first leg at the Ballymena Showgrounds. Boss Stephen Bradley knows what Adetunji is capable of. The 27-year-old Nigerian played - and scored - against Rovers in the colours of North Macedonia's Shkupi when the clubs met in the Europa League qualifiers back in 2022. Richie Towell was involved in that tie, which the Hoops won 5-2 on aggregate. He expects his old side to progress tonight but warned: "The thing is they have the boy Sunday Adetunji up front. We played against him when he played for Shkupi, a really good player. "He's very similar to Tammy Abraham (tormentor of St Pat's last Thursday). He's that big, tall, gangly, physical presence, he can run in behind, he has a good touch, so he'll be a real target man for Ballkani." Last year Larne beat Ballkani on penalties in the Conference League third qualifying round. Shamrock Rovers would later beat Larne 4-1 in Belfast after both clubs reached the league phase. The Hoops will need to improve on their first-leg showing, but they certainly have the tools to get the job done here. Team news: Graham Burke is back from injury in a big boost for the hosts, but the omission of Jack Byrne from the squad has raised eyebrows. Byrne is not injured, with speculation mounting there's a rift between the player and management. Aaron McEneff is also unavailable. Player view - Ed McGinty (Shamrock Rovers goalkeeper): "They move the ball well, they move it at speed and they've got individual threats going forward. It's just about keeping the heads down. We don't really get too far ahead of ourselves. It's about working hard and trusting what we do on the ball." Saints playing for pride in Turkey St Pat's were blown away by a quality, ruthless first-half showing from Besiktas last week. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men came to Dublin under pressure after being hammered by Shakhtar Donetsk 6-2 on aggregate in the Europa League second-round qualifiers. However their big names turned on the style to crush any hopes of an upset, Tammy Abraham's hat-trick helping them to a 4-0 lead at the break. The big plus for Stephen Kenny was his team's performance on the turnaround. Simon Power scored a super individual effort before Mason Melia spurned a golden opportunity to nick a second. They'll hope to avoid a morale-damaging hammering at Tupras Stadyumu before focusing fully on domestic duties. "It's one of those where you have to gee the players up to go and enjoy the experience," said ex-Dundalk striker David McMillan on this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast. "I've played in Ukraine, I've played in Belarus, the atmosphere can be - in Turkey in particular - absolutely incredible. Those games are some of the best experiences players will have. "It's disappointing for Pat's that they go there really for damage limitation... but as a player you just have to enjoy the experience. As a League of Ireland player, you don't get to play that type of opposition all that often." Besiktas had no league game at the weekend so will be ominously fresh. Meanwhile Kenny will have one eye on Sunday evening's massive FAI Cup last-16 clash against Shelbourne in Inchicore. He has a number of injury concerns and will have to utilise his squad. Team news: The Saints are without Zack Elbouzedi (shoulder), Aidan Keena (thigh), Sean Hoare (calf), Anto Breslin (knee), and Romal Palmer (hamstring). Manager view - Stephen Kenny (St Pat's): "(Besiktas) is an institution in Turkey. It's an incredible stadium, really incredible, and it's a very passionate home support. The players worked hard to get into Europe. Now we're here we want to put in a good performance. Obviously there will be some changes, all of the players can't play all of the games. Sunday is important as well so we've got to look at all that."
The 42
an hour ago
- The 42
Boost for Shelbourne as Uefa approve Tolka Park for Conference League play-off
SHELBOURNE HAVE RECEIVED a huge boost ahead of their Uefa Conference League play-off after it was confirmed that the home leg will be played at Tolka Park. It's understood that upgrades made to the stadium as well as the operational aspects of how the League of Ireland champions have managed their European games so far have been enough to convince Uefa delegates to grant a licence for the Drumcondra venue. Advertisement It had been anticipated that Shels would have to move the home leg of their Europa League third round qualifier with Rijeka last night to Tallaght Stadium in order to meet ground regulations and requirements from the governing body. However, Tolka also won the seal of approval for that tie and despite losing the game they did enough with how the event was run to keep such a crucial fixture on their own patch. St Patrick's Athletic, for example, had to move last week's Conference League home tie with Besiktas to the home of Shamrock Rovers and it has traditionally been the case for League of Ireland teams – other than the Hoops – who make it beyond the second round of Europe to move their home fixture. Shels are now due to play at Tolka next Thursday (21 August) against the winner of Linfield and Vikingur with the away leg on 28 August. The Irish League side trail 2-1 from the first leg and should David Healy's side produce a comeback it will be a repeat of the All-Ireland derby from the first round of this year's Champions League qualifiers earlier this summer.
Irish Independent
2 hours ago
- Irish Independent
‘Everyone would have preferred a shorter travelling distance' – Brendan Rodgers on Celtic's Champions League opponents
The Hoops learned on Tuesday they will face the Kazakh champions, who defeated Slovan Bratislava on penalties in the third qualifying round. McGregor was part of the Celtic side that last played an opponent from the country, when they beat Astana 8-4 on aggregate in a Champions League qualifier in 2017 but only after losing 4-3 in the away leg. The skipper knows the importance of ensuring they open up a first-leg lead at Celtic Park next Wednesday. 'It's going to be a tough tie,' McGregor said in a club interview. 'Obviously, the travel and everything else comes into that and the preparation. 'We've got the home game first and we want to try and maximise that, as we would against any opponent, but it could be even more important now that we try and do the absolute maximum to get a good result at home, and then negotiate the travel. 'It's a tough team and we know it will be a tough tie. It's a good tie for us, but one that we'll have to be at our best to get through. Hopefully, we can go over there with belief from the first game.' Manager Brendan Rodgers, who was in charge for the tie against Astana eight years ago, admitted a trip to Kazakhstan is not ideal. 'Of course, everyone would have preferred a shorter travelling distance, but they got through, they won the tie, so we'll play the two legs and our objective is to get through,' he said. 'We can really analyse them now and be prepared for the first leg next week. We'll do everything we can to make sure we get into the league phase.'
