LOI in Europe 2022

[yurt]

Looking at the co-efficient table it's hard to believe that at the beginning of last season we were a full 10 wins behind Luxembourg. Before the Bohs game the thinking was that it'd be a big step up. Now 20(!) European wins later and we've roared past them.

It won't have any material significance but that win today means it's now confirmed that we'll finish ahead of Belarus and Bosnia this year.

The change of the format of the ECL has benefitted us hugely. Our teams have mostly been unseeded these past 2 years but the Irish teams are past becoming the ones to avoid in that first draw. That said things can come crashing down just as fast if there's some poor results next year.

But it's been super enjoyable these past 2 summers to get the chance to see 40 (think I've actually got to see 35+) LOI in Europe ties with 6 more to come.

[lofty9]

He was unbelievable,someone looking to challenge down here should throw some money at him…

We've already tried, dunno if you cam say we are challenging though. On the game, if he's still on the pitch that miss wouldn't have been.. The ball would've been in the corner. Ach well!

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

The difference is Linfield know how to win in Europe.

Linfield never recovered from this

[pineapple stu]

Another good home victory for Rovers in Europe, albeit against a half ar€ed opponent.
Rovers' home/away form difference really is quite marked. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the groups because of course sides will have as much to play for in the return game even if they won 3-0/4-0 at home.

So are Rovers picking up a couple of fortuitous wins against, as you say, half-arsed opponents, or are they approaching away games wrong? It seems likely one of the two explains the gap, and the groups should help tell which

[Peaky Blinder]

That's a record of P8 W5 D1 & L2 in Europe for Rovers so far this year. The 2 defeats which were heavy in fairness in hindsight could have been managed better, each game having a proper brainfart piece of defending (Grace in Razgrad & Gannon in Budapest) leading to crucial third goals after clawing back some kind of a foothold in the games after poor starts. I'd be hopeful SB & his coaching team will be mindful of what led to the 2 poor results & enter the groups with confidence that they should have a chance or at least be competitive in at least 4 of the games. A lot will depend on the teams we face, so it really is the luck of the draw but being in pot 3 you'd have to hope that the 4th seeds are there to be got at, at least.

IMO there was no shame in losing the 2 ties to Ludogorets & Ferencvaros, both are clubs with resources significantly greater than anything in our league and were rightly favourites to progress, the manner of the first leg defeats are what have frustrated me, especially the Ludogorets one, anyone who was in Tallaght for the home game knows well that at 2-0 they were rightly panicked & Rovers ultimately going for it left us open to the break which led to their goal. That showed me across the 2 games the gap wasn't as wide as first imagined, even if they were always likely to progress anyway, who know what could have happened on the night had we drawn level... anyway, its neither here nor there at this stage. I'd hope that SB & the team have learned from these 2 games and will be better prepared for the 6 games to come. Even in defeat there are crucial lessons to be learned & judging by SB's comments to the media he's not hiding & has accepted he's made errors & hopefully will learn from them.

Looking forward to the luck of the draw for the groups now later today, fingers crossed its kind to us!

[ger121]

Linfield never recovered from this

I’m like the foot.ie version of the cooler

[sidewayspasser]

Looking at the pots for the draw, there are huge differences in what you can get. It could be something like Villarreal, Fiorentina and Silkeborg, or it could be something like Partizan, Slovan and RFS.

[legendz]

Rovers home wins over Ludogorets and Ferencváros have an asterisk next to them. The ties were over after the first leg.
Good to pick up the coefficient points. Hopefully Rovers determination to protect their home record will serve them well in the group stage.

[pineapple stu]

Looking at the pots for the draw, there are huge differences in what you can get. It could be something like Villarreal, Fiorentina and Silkeborg, or it could be something like Partizan, Slovan and RFS.
The fourth seeds are probably the most interesting as it's there that points are most likely to be got.

Ukraine - Dnipro-1
Poland - Lech Poznań
Czech Republic - Slovácko
Denmark - Silkeborg
Sweden - Djurgårdens IF
Armenia - Pyunik
Latvia - RFS
Kosovo - Ballkani

They're mostly not teams you'd think of an LoI side being seeded higher than . Lech Poznan like?

Anderlecht and Nice are also third seeds - qualifying every year is a big benefit in terms of seeding, which is probably a bit silly, but it is what it is.

Full seedings here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022%E2%80%9323_UEFA_Europa_Conference_League#Grou p_stage).

[sparky12345678]

The fourth seeds are probably the most interesting as it's there that points are most likely to be got.

Ukraine - Dnipro-1
Poland - Lech Poznań
Czech Republic - Slovácko
Denmark - Silkeborg
Sweden - Djurgårdens IF
Armenia - Pyunik
Latvia - RFS
Kosovo - Ballkani

They're mostly not teams you'd think of an LoI side being seeded higher than . Lech Poznan like?

Anderlecht and Nice are also third seeds - qualifying every year is a big benefit in terms of seeding, which is probably a bit silly, but it is what it is.

Full seedings here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022%E2%80%9323_UEFA_Europa_Conference_League#Grou p_stage).

you,d have to hope that Rovers can put it up to the bottom 4.
Silkeborg might be shaky it seems but yea it wont be easy. They will have to have some grit, determination or ambition. I hope they put on a good show anyways.

[Nesta99]

Baseksehir, Fiorentina, Rovers, Lech Posnan, would be some group. I suppose a good draw would be from Partizan, Gent, Partisan, AZ /Molde, Appollon/ reasonS to think they can beat anyone in pot four/

[joey B]

Ferencvarosi get Crvena Zvezda, Monaco and Trabzonspor in the Europa league,a pretty horrible draw for them that….

[pineapple stu]

you,d have to hope that Rovers can put it up to the bottom 4.
Silkeborg might be shaky it seems but yea it wont be easy. They will have to have some grit, determination or ambition. I hope they put on a good show anyways.
Well the bottom three anyway. The Swedish league is half decent and doesn't deserve to be grouped with Armenia/Latvia/Kosovo, all of which Rovers should be targeting for an aggregate win in the normal course of events

[ger121]

Well the bottom three anyway. The Swedish league is half decent and doesn't deserve to be grouped with Armenia/Latvia/Kosovo, all of which Rovers should be targeting for an aggregate win in the normal course of events

Danish side PS.

[ger121]

I’ve been running a few simulators since last night and Ballkani keep coming out. So do Slovan.

[pineapple stu]

Danish side PS.

Djurgarden?

[ger121]

Djurgarden?

I thought Sparky was talking about Silkeborg?

Apologies, I did not read his post fully.

[pineapple stu]

He was - but I was taking Djurgarden out of the bottom four he referred to. I think they're far closer Denmark/Poland/etc than Armenia/Latvia/Kosovo

[sparky12345678]

Well the bottom three anyway. The Swedish league is half decent and doesn't deserve to be grouped with Armenia/Latvia/Kosovo, all of which Rovers should be targeting for an aggregate win in the normal course of events


agreed. of the northern/scandanavian leagues we used to be confident of winning a tie against icelandic, and finnish opposition and not as confident at all versus norwegian or danish opposition but swedish opposition I thought would still be a team/league to aim to beat...
On top of that the Danish team, silkeborg haven,t done that well so far and were placed 3rd last year so might not be the creme de la creme...(?)

I mean the other teams are also low ranked for a reason and Rovers like Dundalk before should be aiming to take points off them...

[pineapple stu]

We used to have a great record against Swedish sides back at the peak, but Pat's were fairly handily dispatched by Norrköping three years ago, so I don't think the wins in the 00s count for much any more.

Rovers lost 2-1 to Solna in 2018 so there's a chance of a result for sure. I'd take the bottom three as sides Rovers should get aim for 4 points off, and the other five as sides they could get a home point off anyway.

[pineapple stu]

Gent and Molde for Rovers so far so.

[ger121]

That is not a bad group so far.

[El-Pietro]

Gent is a beautiful city. Its a less touristy version of Bruges.

[pineapple stu]

Fourth seed is key now. Molde are a decent side, but Dundalk a couple of years ago put it up to them, so with a crap fourth seed and a home win against Molde, you never know...

Won't be the Latvians though.

[pineapple stu]

Djurgardens of Sweden the fourth seed.

Handy group for travel, if nothing particularly interesting in there. Tough one to get out of. No obvious easy wins either.

[ger121]

Djurgardens of Sweden the fourth seed.

Couple of better draws in that pot but maybe some worse ones so about average.

[2 Year Contract]

That’s an excellent group for rovers to get with getting points on the board in mind. Second place in the group shouldn’t be out of the question either. It’d be a big achievement but not impossible by any stretch

[joey B]

Some expensive drinking spots there!!

[D24Saint]

Some expensive drinking spots there!!

Irelands gone so bad that I didn’t find Sweden that excessive when we played there in 19.

[ger121]

Some expensive drinking spots there!!

Yeah Dublin will be very expensive for supporters of those 3 sides.

[Philosophizer]

Am I the only one that thinks this has been a terrible draw for fans. Trips to Norway and Sweden are going to cost an absolute bomb for fans. Belgium has great beer at least.
No glamour tie, no fine weather destination. I was disappointed they didn't get a trip to Villarreal or Cyprus. They'd be lovely in Autumn.

[El-Pietro]

I'm with you Philosophizer. Ahead of the draw I was looking at the potential draws I'd want if it was us and only Gent was in that selection and there were plenty more ahead of them. Easy enough to get to for the most part, but no real glamour tie and not exactly winnable ties either

[D24Saint]

Am I the only one that thinks this has been a terrible draw for fans. Trips to Norway and Sweden are going to cost an absolute bomb for fans. Belgium has great beer at least.
No glamour tie, no fine weather destination. I was disappointed they didn't get a trip to Villarreal or Cyprus. They'd be lovely in Autumn.

The trip to Belgium is the only one that will draw a huge away support I’d say. They have a nice stadium in Gent these days , the ground I visited in 2002 in the intertoto cup was nothing special. They have gone up in the world since.

[EatYerGreens]

Definitely all Tallaght fixtures those. Lansdowne would be wasted on them.

[pineapple stu]

Am I the only one that thinks this has been a terrible draw for fans.
It's a bit samey for sure, and with no real glamour tie as you say. Gent are a decent team and should have no trouble with Rovers, but it's not quite the same as Fiorentina or Villarreal.

Was in Molde when we played there in 2017 and the area is nice (Atlantic Road and Trollstigen nearby) but it's just an expensive and small town. Stockholm is maybe a bigger version of the same thing. If it was me, I'd have liked someone like Pyunik or Ballkani in there for something a bit different.

On the pitch, Rovers need to sort out their away form if they've to have any chance.

[placid casual]

That’s an excellent group for rovers to get with getting points on the board in mind. Second place in the group shouldn’t be out of the question either. It’d be a big achievement but not impossible by any stretch
What are you smoking??
Tough group to get points from, but travel wise it's not too bad. Would have preferred balkani or rfs as 4th seeds but not to be

Have fond memories of Rovers away against Djurgarden all those years ago.

[D24Saint]

It's a bit samey for sure, and with no real glamour tie as you say. Gent are a decent team and should have no trouble with Rovers, but it's not quite the same as Fiorentina or Villarreal.

Was in Molde when we played there in 2017 and the area is nice (Atlantic Road and Trollstigen nearby) but it's just an expensive and small town. Stockholm is maybe a bigger version of the same thing. If it was me, I'd have liked someone like Pyunik or Ballkani in there for something a bit different.

On the pitch, Rovers need to sort out their away form if they've to have any chance.

Been to Sweden twice with Pats and didn’t find it the most exciting part of the world. The culture across Scandinavia is similar enough. There wasn’t much between Sweden , Denmark and Iceland on my Pats travels over the years.

[El-Pietro]

If Rovers have hopes of progressing then perhaps this is a decent group. They didn't get any obvious winnable ties but you could imagine these teams taking points off each other. Molde probably arent the strongest of the top seeds. There's a chance that something like 9 or 10 points might be enough to get through.
Rovers would need to step up a significant gear from their performance in the qualifiers though.

[joey B]

Tough group for Rovers really,will need some big performances in Tallaght to avoid finishing bottom I think….

[nigel-harps1954]

It's not a dreadful draw, and it's not a great draw. There's some winnable ties, and there's some nice enough places to visit. Costly enough getting to Sweden and Norway though, expect about €500 for a return flight to either. Should get a good crowd travelling to Ghent though, cheap enough to get to.

It'll be a real test of where they are at in terms of European levels though. Belgian league is currently 10th, Norway 12th and Sweden 23rd, while LOI is in 36th in the rankings.

Djurgaden currently 3rd in Allsvenskan with an impressive defensive record this year. Molde five points clear at the top of Eliteserien, while Gent have had a mixed start to their season with two wins and two draws in their opening four games.

A lot will depend on Rovers approach to games and playing it smart. There's no reason they can't pick up a win or two and a couple of draws and hope to sneak through in second place, but it would take a huge effort to get that far

[2 Year Contract]

What are you smoking??
Tough group to get points from, but travel wise it's not too bad. Would have preferred balkani or rfs as 4th seeds but not to be

Have fond memories of Rovers away against Djurgarden all those years ago.

This is the group stages we’re talking about. Granted Genk should probably win the group but there was far better pot 1 sides than them. After that you’ve got Molde and Djurgarden, both of which are good sides no doubt but both are below the standard of Ludogorets and Ferencvaros so points are definitely obtainable. Out of all the pot 3 teams, rovers group is the most favourable on the pitch.

Then again if you don’t rate your team's chances fair enough, I’m not too pushed in convincing you

[pineapple stu]

Molde probably arent the strongest of the top seeds.
Do you mean second seeds?

They were placed second among the second seeds, but yeah, they and Slovan would have been the two you'd have been hoping for I guess.

[sbgawa]

Very disappointing not to draw RFS, talk about being handed a free €1,000,000 based on what i saw last night against Linfield (highlights).
Still no complaints, hopefully we start with a home match against Molde or Djurgarden where we have a shot at 3 points and a good start, i think Gent will be too strong for us.

[ger121]

Gent beaten home and away 2 nil by Omonia, so not sure how strong they are to be honest.

Molde lost a couple of their games during qualifying but also had some big wins in the other leg of ties. They can win away from home too.

Djurgarden looked good in qualifying. Won 5 of 6 and only lost away to APOEL last night. They did play teams in pre-season in two of those rounds. Might be a small factor.

Rovers best bet for points is Tallaght of course and early in the group. On their day they can be a match for all 3 at home. Away from home is a different story.

My prediction is 4th in the group but they won’t finish with zero points. There is a win or a couple of draws in there somewhere.

[passinginterest]

It's one of those weird draws where it would be a disappointment if they get no points but nobody would be hugely surprised. But, then you think a win at home in the first game, confidence and momentum build and they nick a point away the next game and suddenly the thinking will be is there 8 or 10 points there to be won.

[Nesta99]

What are you smoking??
Tough group to get points from, but travel wise it's not too bad. Would have preferred balkani or rfs as 4th seeds but not to be

Have fond memories of Rovers away against Djurgarden all those years ago.

Looking at the draw as a whole, i cant see a better group to be in unless its just to be a group with an RFS. There are some real groups of death there considering how there could have been some England like strolls in the park combinations possible.

[pineapple stu]

Looking at the draw as a whole, i cant see a better group to be in unless its just to be a group with an RFS. There are some real groups of death there considering how there could have been some England like strolls inn the park combinations possible.

Basel, Slovan and Pyunik is probably a bit better too.

Rovers have beaten Slovan at home recently, and even Basel's form in the qualifiers has been suspect (including a 1-1 draw away to Crusaders, albeit 2-0 up from the home leg)

It's a middling enough group. It kind of feels like a group of three second seeds plus Rovers

[ger121]

Basel, Slovan and Pyunik is probably a bit better too.

Rovers have beaten Slovan at home recently, and even Basel's form in the qualifiers has been suspect (including a 1-1 draw away to Crusaders, albeit 2-0 up from the home leg)

It's a middling enough group. It kind of feels like a group of three second seeds plus Rovers

This group and the one Zalgiris ended up in are two of the best groups for points as a 3rd seed.

[yurt]

There's a lot more ways the draw could have been a lot worse but only a few it could have been better. Rovers could count themselves lucky enough up to now in the draws, getting Hibs and Shkupi so all in can't feel hard done by.

They are the weakest side in the group but will have to expect to pick up some points at home. Since it's an even group there's a chance 6/7 points would be enough to qualify.

[pineapple stu]

Since it's an even group there's a chance 6/7 points would be enough to qualify.
That sounds a bit unlikely doesn't it?

6/7 points in second place means one more defeat than victory (1-3-2 or 2-1-3), which means the group winners have to get at least three more wins than defeats (3-3-0, say). But that requires a clear top seed, and I don't think Gent are them.

7 got through one ECL group last year, and 8 through two more, while all the others needed at least 10 points. One team (Rangers, strangely) got through the EL groups with 8 points, and Benfica/Atlético got through the CL groups with 8/7 points, but in the CL there's definitely clear top seeds (Bayern/Liverpool won all their group games)

I think another way of looking at the group is that Djurgarden, Molde and Gent will all fancy their chances of winning the group, and will think that starts with six points against Rovers. A tight group does open things up, but also puts pressure on every game.