Who are Shamrock Rovers' Europa Conference League third round opponents Teuta?

Shamrock Rovers play the first leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League third round qualifier against Teuta at home on Thursday (kick-off 8pm). 

The coronavirus capped capacity in Tallaght Stadium for this match was set at 1,500 but due to zoning restrictions for European matches only 1,350 tickets were made available to Rovers members and season ticket holders.

So who are Teuta? 

They are the current Albanian champions – just the second time they have won the title (1993/94 being the previous occasion). They won the league last year on goal difference. They also won the Albanian Cup in 2020. 

They have a squad made up mostly of Albanians but they have four players from Macedonia players and one Brazilian.

The Head Coach is Edi Martini who had playing spells in Austria and Germany. This is his second spell managing Teuta having taken charge again in 2019.

Teuta play in the port city of Durrës on the Adriatic Sea, 35km west of the Albanian capital Tirana. However, the second leg is set for the 12,800 capacity Elbasan Arena 40km south west of Tirana. Kick off for that match will be 7pm Irish time.

What European pedigree do Teuta have?

In the last two decades, they have qualified for Europe on 11 occasions but have only won two ties during that time. The first was a 2002 Intertoto Cup clash with Maltese side Valetta (winning 2-1 on aggregate) and last year in the Europa League when they won a COVID-19 one-legged tie at home to Beitar Jerusalem 2-0. They were then eliminated in the second qualifying round by Granada 4-0 at home.

This season the Albanian side entered the inaugural Europa Conference League after initially being eliminated, similar to Shamrock Rovers, in the first round of the Champions League qualifiers. They lost 5-0 on aggregate to Moldovan champions Sheriff Tiraspol. 

They staged a remarkable comeback in last week’s Europa Conference League second round tie against Inter Escaldes in Andorra. Teuta came into the game trailing 2-0 from the home leg but striker Sebino Plaku scored on 20 minutes and he drew his side level on aggregate with a goal ten minutes from time. 

That forced the game into extra-time in the match played in the national stadium in Andorra la Vella. A penalty converted in injury time of the first half of extra-time from Sherif Kallaku secured the win for the Albanian champions.

Should Teuta progress all the way in this competition, they will play in next May’s final on home territory as the UEFA Europa Conference League final will take place in Albania’s National Arena in Tirana.

Who to watch out for? 

Their captain is 34-year-old Albanian international defender Renato Arapi. The one non-European player in their squad is 30-year-old Brazilian left back Jackson. Lorenco Vila was top scorer for Teuta last season. 

Taulant Seferi has come in from Tirana on loan and the left winger has experience playing in Switzerland with Young Boys. Sherif Kallaku is on on loan from NK Lokomativa and the 23-year-old has three international caps for Albania.

What are Teuta’s recent results?

The Albanian Superliga doesn’t start till September so Teuta’s only games so far this season have been the four European matches.

Who will the winners face in the UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round

The draw for the play-off round took place at UEFA HQ in Nyon on Monday with those ties set for the 19 and 16 August.

The winner of the tie between the League of Ireland champions and the Albanian champions will face either Omonoia (Cyprus) or Flora Tallinn (Estonia) in the play-off round. Those two team are playing in the champions side of the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round. The loser of that tie will drop into the Conference League play-off as the seeded team to play either Rovers or Teuta and will be home in the first leg.

Who will the losers face?

To quote Eric Cantona “the losers go home” as whoever is defeated in this tie will exit Europe.

Who is the match official for this tie?

Kai Erik Steen is the match day referee leading an all-Norwegian set of officials. He was the official in charge of the San Marino v Albania World Cup Qualifier last March and Legia Warsaw’s 3-0 win over Cork City in 2018.

League of Ireland clubs learn of potential opponents for potential play-off https://t.co/p1eqBuc7lwpic.twitter.com/1qT3lZPE2P

— Extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) August 2, 2021