Not a great night for Bohs. 0-0 in Belgrade; Salzburg probably favourites to progress. 3-2 win for PSV in Borisov is a good result, though far from over. And Benfica 1-1 PAOK is disappointing given how much on top Benfica were in the first half.Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Other two games on Wednesday.
Stephen Kenny declaring his ambition to make group stages next year, if Dundalk are Champions League qualified
At Dundalk we are not at the level that we were at in 2016, but I think next year - if we continue to improve - we will be at better than that level. We would feel that next year we have a chance of getting to the group stages
https://twitter.com/RTEsoccer/status...74611758370816
You can admire his ambition, but that's just not feasible really. With the new format, it's desperately difficult for someone from a country like ours to qualify.
I like positive talk from managers, but a bit of realism wouldn't go amiss. The EL group stages are entirely within Dundalk's reach.
Did you listen to the full video? He was talking about the EL group stages.
While he has a burning ambition to make Champions League group stages, I suspect that it is probably EL group stages that he sees as a realistic target if Dundalk qualify as Champions this season.
Kyiv lost 3-1 away to Ajax, and Zagreb drew 1-1 away to Young Boys.
So neither a great result, though neither over as yet either
Heading to see Basel V Limassol tonight. Bit of a tour de force, St Jakob 4 times (3 euros, one cup game) in about two weeks or so, and that is not including league games that others have done!! Plus away games for some fans, I do wonder if these extra Euro games are overkill. Last game had an attendance of about 12,000, in a stadium of 40,000, and tonight there are so many complementary tickets floating about.........I do wonder how much some clubs are really making on these Euro games.
And its not if the games are even entertaining............
Also will head to the league game this weekend....in St Jakob again.
I yearn for the day a LOI gets to play in Basel. But before you scoff, Switzerland are tumbling down the co efficient table, 16 at the moment..............so it might be sooner than we think
Suduva hold Celtic to a 1-1 at home. Very impressive, even if Celtic will win 6 nil in Parkhead
Dudelange 1-0 Cluj! 25 to go; Turpel with the goal.
Long way to go yet, but a first Luxembourg side in the group stages would be remarkable. I think it's just caused the live stream to crash in fact.
Rosenborg 2-0 up inside 15 minutes against Shkendija
2-0 Dudelange! Turpel with his second - which is two more than he managed against UCD
Rosenborg 3-0 up now.
What could have been for Cork...
Shamrock Rovers became the first Irish side to qualify for the Europa League on this day in 2011. That goal Gary McCabe scored in the 1-1 home draw with Belgrade turned out to be crucial, they went out there with half a chance and the rest was history.
I see that NI have dropped into the bottom 4 which will mean preliminary round for their Champions next year with the Champions of Kosovo, Andorra and San Marino.
Also, it's only a matter of time until Kosovo pass them.
And, as I think El Pietro pointed out earlier in the thread, they lose a Europa League spot too
"And yee shall reap what yee sow", as their kinsfolk are want of saying.
And we all know how much Irish League players love to take their holidays. Very real danger of whoever the champs are struggling to get beyond the preliminary tournament.
I watch a bit of the Irish League through highlights on bbc but beyond that I wouldn’t know a lot about the financial aspect of the League or other off field activities. Is it going backwards in terms of quality and people through through the turnstiles. I was always a support of an AIL but now I’d think that bar the odd year, none of them would make the top 4.
Attendances are rising slowly but steadily apparently - www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn.htm
It's got decent attendances - away support in particular - for a small league.
In terms of player technique, I think it's miles behind the LoI. An awful lot of one-touch hoofball and an overemphasis on the physical side.
It's hard to know if the physical part would compromise for the lack of technique if the leagues were to merge or play more often
I think it'll take another year for that to happen- the number of clubs qualifying per country (and therefore the starting round for each representative) has to be known before the domestic season in question, so the drop in status is a year behind
So the two Dinamos are out. Bohs need three from three tomorrow to reach the Youth League.
Bohs through??
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