McMillan in Champions League dream land

The greatest team in the league put themselves firmly on the European map as Dundalk, Champions of ‘the greatest league in the world’, guaranteed themselves another eight games in Europe at a minimum – plus at least a cheque of close to €7m.

David McMillan was once again the goalscoring hero, grabbing a brace in front of the watching Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill, as Dundalk over came a 1-0 first leg deficit to dismiss BATE Borisov 3-0 on the night. They become the first Irish team to make the Champions League play-off round.

Speaking to extratime.ie after the final whistle in Tallaght Stadium, a delighted McMillan spoke about the emotion of the night and the congratulations they received from the Boys in Green boss for the win that showcased the very best from the League of Ireland

“It was great to have him here because people have mentioned that Trapattoni said ‘there is no league’ and stuff like that,” said McMillan. “So to be able to beat a team of BATE’s calibre and show that this league has some quality players in it and to have Martin [O’Neill] here supporting it is fantastic.

“He came in [the dressingroom] afterwards to give us congratulations and he was very kind to do that. He is a funny man – he made a couple of jokes about some people’s performances!”

Nobody from BATE was laughing as they were dumped out of the Champions League. The Belarussian champions ten times in a row had qualified for the Group Stages four times in the last five seasons.

McMillan’s goalscoring form is of international quality – five goals in the four Champions League qualifiers played this season by Dundalk – 17 goals in total for the season.

His six goals in total from the Champions League qualifiers he has played makes him the top Irish striker in the competition. “People said to me if I got one I’d equal Jason Byrne and Glenn Crowe so to get two is incredible and hopefully we can get more.”

Dundalk captain Stephen O’Donnell was part of the Shamrock Rovers team who qualified for the Europa League group stages in 2011. Ronan Finn, Ciaran Kilduff and Sean Gannon were also with the Hoops at the time.

McMillan knows he will get a shot at playing in those group stages should they lose the Champions League play-off but he is still looking to go one better than Rovers and make the Champions League group stages outright.

“We have a few players in the squad who were involved in it,” said McMillan about five seasons ago when Rovers became the only Irish club to qualify for the group stages of the Europa League. Stephen O’Donnell scored the winner in Belgrade in the play-off round.

“They are constantly talking about trips here and there and their win in Partizan. Hopefully now they will have more stories to tell about tonight and if we get a good draw in two week’s time you never know what might happen.

“BATE have qualified for the groups stages so we know they can be at BATE’s level so we hopefully we have a great chance. It is something massive to look forward to. We are have the Europa League group stages but we are aiming to get to be the first team in the Champions League.”

A minute before the break McMillan broke the deadlock on the night to draw the teams level on aggregate. He added a second two minutes before the hour mark to send the Dundalk crowd in Tallaght Stadium into delirium. He was given a standing ovation when he made his way to the sideline 12 mintues from time to be replaced by Robbie Benson.

“BATE were still dangerous and we couldn’t go gung-ho,” said McMillan about the half time lead. “1-0 was dangerous and it looked like it might go to extratime and the tie was very much in the balance. We knew they were a bit rattled and if we could keep doing what we were doing we would get another one.

“We wanted to make sure we didn’t sit back at 1-0 as it is easy to do that. We kept trying to press high up the pitch and keep our back four high. I don’t think they created too much – a few whizzed past the post but I think we created plenty of chances ourselves.”

Extratime.ie asked the player about his reaction at the final whistle. ““It was pure elation really. It was hard to watch the last 10 minutes but thankfully Robbie (Benson) scored to make it a bit easier. Before that it was tough watching even though they didn’t overly test us too much but it only takes one slip especially when it was lashing rain for them to be through.

“To keep a clean sheet was a tremendous achievement. I never dreamt we would score three tonight against such as an experienced team - it is a credit to everyone.”

It means this Dundalk team will be playing their football right into December and maybe even beyond? “That is great. We look forward to that. A few holidays might have to be cancelled by the lads!

“It is fantastic. Shamrock Rovers did it before getting to the Europa League here in Tallaght and we’ve got the Champions League play-off to look forward to and who knows we might qualify for the Champions League.”