Shamrock Rovers’ grouping of potential Champions League second round opponents confirmed ahead of today’s draw

Having earned a favourable draw in the first round of the Champions League qualifiers on Tuesday, Shamrock Rovers will learn their potential next round opponents when that draw takes place in UEFA HQ in Nyon at 11am this morning.

In the first round Stephen Bradley’s side will face the winner of the preliminary round qualifiers – one of Atlètic Club d'Escaldes, Budućnost Podgorica, Tre Penne and Breidablik.

Should the Hoops progress, they now know the potential group of opponents they could face in the second round qualifier.

On Wednesday morning UEFA confirmed the groupings for the draw and so the winners of Rovers tie will be drawn against Copenhagen or Molde who are entering the qualifiers in this round. The other potential opponents are the winners of the first round tie between KI Klaksvik (Faroe Islands) and Ferencvaros.

The Hoops played Ferencvaros in the Europa League play-off last season, losing the first leg 4-0 in Hungary and winning 1-0 in Tallaght. They also played Molde in 2022. They lost in the Europa Conference League group stages 2-0 in Tallaght and 3-0 in Norway.

Rovers played Copenhagen in the 2011 Champions League third round qualifiers, losing the first leg 1-0 in Denmark and 2-0 in Tallaght. They dropped into the Europa League play-off round, beating Partizan to become the first Irish side to make the group stages of a European competition.

The second round ties will take place on 25/26 July and 1 / 2 August.

To face off against those opponents, Rovers will need to overcome the winner of the four team preliminary round competition that is being held in Iceland. 

Atlètic Club d'Escaldes are the Andorran champions – but are entering the Champions League qualifiers for the first time. Just last year, the club competed in the Europa Conference League qualifiers but were knocked out by Gzira United in Malta.

And they will face Budućnost Podgorica in their semi-final. Montenegrin outfit Buducnost have won five domestic league titles. Tre Penne are the San Marino league holders and have never won a two-legged tie in Europe before.

They will face Icelandic champions Breidablik in their semi-final.

The semi-finals of the preliminary round will take place on June 27, with the final scheduled for June 30^th.

Shamrock Rovers will be at home to the winners of that final with the first leg of their first qualifying round tie taking place on 11/12 July and the away leg on 18/19 July subject to confirmation by UEFA.

Additional reporting by Andrew Dempsey

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