Too early?
Maybe not - Europe starts earlier than ever this year, with an extra qualifying round. The preliminary round draws are on 12th June - Irish teams won't be involved. The first games will be on 26th June - just as the group stage of the World Cup is coming to a close.
First important date for Irish teams is 19th June - that's the draw for all four. Games will take place on 10-12 July and 17-19 July.
Cork will be unseeded - though TNS of Wales will be seeded. There's the team to get obviously. But even if Cork lose their first round, they still drop into the second round of the Europa League.
Derry and Rovers will be unseeded in the Europa League first round, but Dundalk will be seeded (and probably for the second round too, if they get there). A mix of seeded teams available - Nomme Kalju of Estonia, Rangers of Scotland, Fola Esch of Luxembourg, Partizan Belgrade of Serbia.
In the UEFA Youth League, Bohs need five teams to both qualify for the Champions League proper and, of their own accord, the UEFA Youth League. Two have done this already - Barcelona (UEFA Youth League champions) and Atlético Madrid (Spanish underage champions), so they now need three more. One should be Germany (three of the four teams in the semis are in the CL proper). So a good start so far, but with fewer countries qualifying for the CL this year, it'll be that bit harder for Irish clubs to get in. The draw for that won't be until August.
Success is maybe one team getting through two rounds, two other teams getting through one round? It'll be hard for Cork to match Dundalk's achievement last year with fewer teams getting to the play-off round, and so harder opposition earlier on. And if they win one round in the CL and lose the second round, they drop into the third qualifying round of the EL, not the final qualifying round as Rovers did in 2011.
Never too early
Here is a list of possible opponents
https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?...GObYELjIjsHbMI
For Cork it would be great to get TNS or Futboll Klub Kukësi from Albania otherwise it looks tough. Droping down to the Europa they do have a real chance to get through a few rounds.
Dundalk will be seeded for two rounds (if they get through the first rd) and also have a real good chance of progressing far this year.
It would be great to get through one round in the champions league at least. But the list of potential opponents looks very tough so we would need a bit of luck there, TNS or the Albanian's would be the preference. As long as we don't draw Celtic so RTE can't report it as the "dream draw"
It would be a minor miracle if anyone manages to get anywhere beyond a round 3 qualifier this year.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
Would be wary of the Albanians; Skanderbeu have reached the EL groups twice in the last three years for example.
Probably one of the more winnable ties there alright, but still tough. (I see actually that Kukesi are only in the CL because Skenderbeu, who won the league by ten points, are now banned from Europe for ten years for match fixing)
Our league performances aren't inspiring confidence, but if you're not conceding there's always a chance.
I don't think Malmo (given their league position and our history against Swedish clubs) would hold major fears. We'd be underdogs, but there'd be a reasonable chance. Similarly with HJK.
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Never too early for a European thread. I know I kicked off the Dundalk Talk one in November!
Corks coefficient is a big problem. Being seeded in qr1 of the champions league was always going to require a half decent rating but it's unfortunate that they won't be seeded in the 'champions league dropouts' path in the EL even if they lose the first round. Crusaders would be seeded in that round with a few other beatable sides- Valletta Vikingur Dudelange. City will have a great chance if they can draw TNS or Kukesi in the CL. I wonder if the CL draw will be regionalised as in the last few years? That could see Cork grouped with Malmo TNS Celtic HJK Rosenborg Polish champions.
Dundalk have to be aiming to win two rounds. The others are dependent on a good draw.
Coefficient isn't going to matter in the Europa League. They are going to seed teams based on what round they enter. So for example teams who drop out and into the EL QR3 will be seeded against teams who won in EL QR2. I'm not sure how it will work in QR2 but it sounds like they are going to seed 3 teams against the teams who enter from QR0 (the 3 teams who lose the play in tournament) and have an open draw for the remainder.Originally Posted by seand
As for regionalising its looking like there will only be 4 or 5 Seeded Northern sides vs 8 unseeded Northern sides so our chances of getting a Kazahk or similar side increases.
Yes, If Cork lose in the first round it looks like they'll have a 3/19 chance of drawing a preliminary round loser otherwise open draw. Ihhaven't been paying attention to the champions league route- CL is so 2017.
Any excuse to fire up Bert Kassies's excellent, and very geeky, site
CL seeding: http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/...eedcl2018.html
EL seeding: http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/...eedel2018.html
In terms of the EL, for the unseeded Derry and Shamrock Rovers, Fola Esch of Luxembourg stand out as one you'd be happy with. Some nightmare draws are the likes of the Danish and Polish sides.
For Dundalk, being seeded, you'd imagine a handy wee 60km jaunt up to road to Mourneview Park would be nice.
Do you not remember the security when we played Linfield and Glentoran in Setanta Cup.
We were only allowed travel on offical club buses and had to be met by police to take us into and out of the areas.
Id imagine Glenavon would be the same, No thanks to that draw
Lucky Sligo isnt in it this year then
With all due respect, I'm sure the concerns of the traveling fans would come second to that of a genuine chance to progress and get another €200k in the bank.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
After the Glentoran game in 2011, Dundalks team, press officers etc had to get a PSNI escort out of Belfast as there was a large Mob waiting outside the Oval.
Im sure the concerns of fans/players/club rep's safety will be high on the list!
I'd fancy Dundalk to do well enough to at least get through two rounds, and who knows after that with a bit of luck. I think they could and should have beaten Rosenborg last year. Cork are capable of getting through a round, but if they like they did against the Cypriots last year then they won't go far. Derry are in a much better place than they were 12 months ago, (what feels like) a new stadium, the shock of McBride passing beginning to wear off, and might be happier and more focused to do well this year. I think they would have lost to someone like Midtjylland anyway but not 10-2 on agg if in a better mental space. Rovers are all capable of getting through a round, but I fear a defensive / GK howler will be their downfall. The clubs are at a stage now when the fatigue after the hour mark doesn't happen like it did back in the 90's, the 10-0 aggregate beatings are also mostly a distant memory, and technical proficiency is always improving as is tactical awareness for the most part. My favorite time of year in the LOI Calendar, where I want all clubs to do well, despite the usually inevitable disappointment and the attempts to manage expectations.
Last edited by CorribsideSteve; 15/05/2018 at 5:19 PM.
I agree. While there would be a bit of extra security, the chance of a relatively easy game in the first round, which is closer than a lot of our away games, would be ideal.
Ah jaysis. Someone always has to keep bringing that up. Can we not all just agree to never mention it again ? The memory still gives me palpitations. Nurse, my medicine, quickly!!!
Out for a spell, got neglected, lay on the bench unselected.
Sorry about that! That time was just a totally amateur set up, for all teams. Didn't intend to single Pats out.
Setanta was different, and massively hyped up. EL against Glenavon is a different story. Security will be similar to what they do for when Cliftonville visit, which isn't that big a deal.
Cork played Linfield a couple of years ago, that went well, IIRC.
As pointed out, it's a winnable tie, and cheap. Look at the cost of a bus to drive 50 minutes up the road, with a big away support, and you'll be back in Dundalk that evening. Now look at the cost of a charter flight to Finland or Lithuania, bus on the other side, hotels, food, etc., with a handful of fans and getting home knackered sometime on Friday. No contest.
Inter win the underage Italian league, so that's 2 of the 5 teams Bohs need to qualify for the CL group stages and win their underage league.
The other 3 will have to come from Dynamo Kyiv, Benfica, PSV, Dinamo Zagreb, Midtylland, Red Star Belgrade, Astana, Sheriff Tiraspol and HJK. So definitely some probables there, but overall about 50/50 I'd say
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