Champions League Third Qualifying Round Draw

The Third Qualifying Round Draw for the Champions League was made today in UEFA headquarters in Nyon with Dundalk finding out their possible opposition if they can get past Belarusian side BATE Borisov in their home leg at Oriel Park.

If Dundalk can succeed in overturning a 2-1 defeat away from home, where Dave McMillan was the man who scored the crucial away goal, they will face either Hungarian side Videoton or Welsh club The New Saints. That tie is very much balanced like Dundalk’s at the moment, as Videoton only won 1-0 away from home with a goal from Ádám Gyurcsó in the 77^th minute giving them the advantage.

Videoton have some experience in Europe, as they were runner-ups in the UEFA Cup back in the 1984-85 season, losing 3-1 on aggregate to Real Madrid.

Their last two seasons in Europe have been polar opposites in terms of success. In 2012-13, they reached the group stage of the Europa League, dispatching UCD’s Europa League opponents Slovan Bratislava, current Belgian champions KAA Gent and Trabonzapor along the way.

They were in a strong group comprising of Genk, Basel and Sporting Lisbon but they acquitted themselves well and came third in the group ahead of Sporting Lisbon, who they beat 3-0 at home.

Their last season in Europe ended quite differently as they went out to Montenegrin side Mladost Podgorica on away goals after drawing 2-2 over the two legs in the 2013-14 Europa League.

The New Saints have so far this campaign knocked out Faroese side B36 Tórshavn 6-2 on aggregrate and will be hoping to reach the third round of the Champions League for the second time in their history.

The last time they achieved this, they knocked out Bohemians 4-1 after a 4-0 home win in the 2010-11 Champions League. They then faced Anderlecht in the next round, who dispatched them 6-1 over the two legs.

Third qualifying round draw (ties 28/29 July & 4/5 August)

League Route:

Panathinaikos FC (GRE) v Club Brugge KV (BEL)

BSC Young Boys (SUI) v AS Monaco FC (FRA)

PFC CSKA Moskva (RUS) v AC Sparta Praha (CZE)

SK Rapid Wien (AUT) v AFC Ajax (NED)

Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) v FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)

Bye to play-offs: Manchester United FC (ENG), Valencia CF (ESP), Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER), Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR), SS Lazio (ITA)

Champions Route

FK Sarajevo (BIH)/KKS Lech Pozna? (POL) v FC Basel 1893 (SUI)

PFC Ludogorets Razgrad (BUL)/FC Milsami Orhei (MDA) v KF Skënderbeu (ALB)/Crusaders FC (NIR)

FK Ventspils (LVA)/HJK Helsinki (FIN) v NK Maribor (SVN)/FC Astana (KAZ)

Celtic FC (SCO)/Stjarnan (ISL) v Qaraba? FK (AZE)/FK Rudar Pljevlja (MNE)

FK AS Tren?ín (SVK)/FC Steaua Bucure?ti (ROU) v FK Partizan (SRB)/FC Dila Gori (GEO)

FC Midtjylland (DEN)/Lincoln FC (GIB) v APOEL FC (CYP)/FK Vardar (MKD)

Hibernians FC (MLT)/ Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC (ISR) v FC Viktoria Plze? (CZE)

GNK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)/CS Fola Esch (LUX) v Molde FK (NOR)/FC Pyunik (ARM)

The New Saints FC (WAL)/Videoton FC (HUN) v FC BATE Borisov (BLR)/Dundalk FC (IRL)

FC Salzburg (AUT) v Malmö FF (SWE)/FK Žalgiris Vilnius (LTU)