Who are Shamrock Rovers’ Europa Conference League qualifier opponents Ferencvaros?

 Shamrock Rovers will face Ferencváros in their Europa Conference League second qualifying roundsecond-leg tie on Thursday in Tallaght Stadium (kick-off 8pm).

How did the Hoops get on in the first leg?

It was back-to-back 4-0 defeats for the Hoops at the hands of the Green Eagles as they lost heavily last week’s first leg in Budapest.

Just 12 months ago the teams met in the Europa League play-off.

Rovers lost the first leg in Budapest 4-0, with Stephen Bradley's side winning the return leg in Tallaght 1-0 with Andy Lyons scoring the Hoops goal.

So who exactly are Ferencvaros?

Like their previous European opponents in Europe this season Breidablik, Ferencvárosi TC are a multi-sport club. They were founded in Budapest in 1899. In addition to men's football, the club has successful teams in women's football, handball, netball and ice hockey. 

The Green Eagles are Hungary's most successful club domestically and have won the Nemzeti Bajnokság I (national championship) on 34 occasions, including the last five editions. 

How have they ended up facing Rovers?

Playing the first qualifying round of the Champions League, Ferencvaros were expected to go through against Kl Klaksvik. There was a scoreless draw in the first leg in the Faroe Islands before they suffered a shock 3-0 home loss in the return leg in Budapest to be dumped out of the Champions League qualifiers.

What European pedigree do they have?

As well as domestically, Ferencváros are Hungary’s most successful team in European competitions. 

They finished runner-up in the 1974–75 Cup Winners Cup, losing out to Dynamo Kyiv in the final. Prior to that, they won the 1964–65 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (considered the precursor to the Uefa Cup) defeating Juventus in the final 1-0.

The Budapest club have also played Irish opposition that isn’t Shamrock Rovers before. They defeated Bohemians 6-0 on aggregate in the Uefa Cup First qualifying round in 1997.

The Hungarian champions have played group stage football in each of the last four seasons - Champions League in 2020 and Europa League on the other three occasions.

Last year they reached the last 16 of the Europa League where they were eliminated by Bayer Leverkusen.

What are their recent results?

The only competitive games they have played this season have been in Europe. Their first league game is not till this weekend – they were given last weekend off due to the European commitments as the Hungarian league got going.

Which players should we watch out for?

Winger Adama Traore scored twice in Budapest against the Hoops last year in his debut season having signed FC Sheriff that summer. He got 11 league goals last year. He was also on the scoresheet last week.

The club captain and goalkeeper is 28-time-capped Hungarian international Dénes Dibusz.

Norwegian international Kristoffer Zachariassen got six league goals from central midfield last season and was impressive in last week’s game in the Groupama Arena.

Ecuadorian international Cristian Ramirez, who played with the club previously before his most recent time with Krasnodar, re-joined just prior to the first leg. He scored the second goal in the first leg – after which his team dominated the game.

Who is their manager?

Up until their Champions League exit Ferencváros were led by head coach Stanislav Cherchesov who represented Russia at the World Cup and European Championships as a player and manager. He was sacked after their Champions League qualifier defeat.

Ferencváros quickly made an in-house managerial appointment with Csaba Máté now their head coach. He has been promoted from managing the club’s B team.

He was clapped into the post-match press conference after last week’s 4-0 first leg win.

Who is the match official for this tie?

Tomasz Musiał will lead an all Polish set of officials. He was the referee for Rovers' 1-0 win in Iceland back in 2016 against Stjarnan.

He was is a bit of a fourth official specialist. He had that role for a number of high profile Europa Conference League matches last season including Marseille v Manchester United, Dinamo Zagreb v AC Milan, Barcelona v Inter Milan and Sheriff v Manchester United.

How much money have the clubs earned so far and how much can they earn?

The losers of this tie will earn €810,000 in total. This breaks down as €350k for second round elimination plus €200k (€100k for each round they played in) and an additional €260,000 as domestic champions eliminated before reaching the group stages.

The winners of the tie will see their total earnings go to €1.11m.

Progression one round further into the play-off round would guarantee them €1.41m, while the prize of group stage qualification would be worth a minimum of €3.34 m.

Who will the winner play in the next round?

The winners of the tie will face the winning team from the Dinamo Tbilisi v Hamrun Spartins tie. Those sides played in Malta last week with Hamrun winning 2-1. The second leg being played in Georgia on Thursday with a 5pm kick-off (Irish Time).

Who do the losers play?

The loses of the tie exit Europe.

Additional reporting by Ryan Kilbane 

Where can I watch Thursday’s Shamrock Rovers v Ferencvaros European game? https://t.co/agKqEGQgrnpic.twitter.com/ah2SIxc39d

— Extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) August 1, 2023