Europa League Preview: Shamrock Rovers -v- NK Celje

The Shamrock Rovers coaching team (from right to left) Stephen Bradley, Glenn Cronin and Stephen McPhail

The Shamrock Rovers coaching team (from right to left) Stephen Bradley, Glenn Cronin and Stephen McPhail Credit: Eddie Lennon (ETPhotos)

SHAMROCK ROVERS 

Stephen Bradley has labelled Thursday night’s UEFA Europa League third round qualifying second leg at home to NK Celje as the biggest game Shamrock Rovers have had in Tallaght for some time as they look to secure group stage football for the second time in three seasons.

Rovers trail their Slovenian opponents 1-0 after the first leg but still have a huge opportunity to progress to the Europa League playoff round - where they will play PAOK - which would also guarantee Conference League group stage football at the very least.

The Hoops’ form has been patchy. They passed up a chance to gain momentum in their unlikely title bid with a 1-1 draw at home to Drogheda United on Sunday meaning they enter Thursday’s crunch European tie after another setback in a stop start season.

Bradley is backing his side to park Sunday’s disappointment and move on.

“This group is brilliant at moving on, whether we win, lose or draw. You must reflect quickly and move on,” he told shamrockrovers.ie.

“You can’t dwell in football, it happens too quickly. You need to refocus on the challenge ahead, understand what happened, why we didn’t perform and move on quickly. We’ve done that well throughout the years and this week will be no different.

"It is the biggest game we’ve had in Tallaght in a long long time and hopefully we can get that big crowd like we did against Vikingur and Sparta Prague and that they help us get this over the line and achieve what would be an historic night in Tallaght. So hopefully we get the big numbers.”

While Rovers lie outside of the European places in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division, their European form has been good and Bradley has urged his side to play without fear as they chase lucrative rewards.

“Definitely. We’ll have no fear going into this game, we’ve played big teams already this year, big clubs and we’ve done that throughout the years. We know when we’re at our levels, we can beat anyone in Tallaght. That’s the aim tomorrow night.



"Billy and his staff have the pitch in incredible condition, it will suit us, but we also know it will suit Celje as they are a good team. So, with both teams putting their best foot forward, it has the makings to be a really good game.”

If Shamrock Rovers are to overturn this narrow deficit they will have to call upon the goalscoring prospects of Aaron Greene once more with Rory Gaffney and Johnny Kenny still sidelined with injury while new signing Marc McNulty is ineligble.

Centre back Sean Hoare has recovered from an illness which kept him out of Sunday’s game with Drogheda.

The winners of the Rovers and Celje tie will move on to the Europa League play-off where they will come up against PAOK who lost in the Champions League third round to Malmo.

Rovers played PAOK in the Europa League group stages back in 2011 - losing 2-1 away and 3-1 in Tallaght.

The loser of this week’s Europa League third round qualifier will drop into the Conference League play-off where they will face a long trek to play the winners of the contest between Ordabasy of Kazakhstan and Pyunik of Armenia. Pyunik won the first leg 1-0 in Kazakhstan.

NK CELJE



Former Liverpool winger Albert Riera will be looking to mastermind a famous European win and secure group stage football for Celje for the first time since the 1997 UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Riera, 42, has been in charge of the Slovenian champions since earlier this year having previously managed Olimpija Ljubljana and Bordeaux before.

This is also his second stint in charge of Celje having managed them in 2023 before returning last month on a two-year deal. His first stint in charge only saw him take charge for three months before taking over at Bordeaux.

Speaking to his club’s media team after the first leg, Riera clearly wasn’t satisfied with his side’s 1-0 win. 

"I'm not happy with the game. We have to be better, we have to work harder. To a large extent, the game was hampered by the pitch. We should have played a lot better. We played badly with the ball.

"When we didn't have the ball, we were very soft and that's how we're going to suffer against any opponent. We didn’t press hard enough on the opponent to take the ball away from him as soon as we lost it.

"I want players who are hungry for the ball and the game. Right now, we're not a team that can surprise an opponent."

Celje narrowly missed out on group stage football last season when they were knocked out by then Robbie Keane managed Maccabi Tel Aviv 5-2 on aggregate.

Referee: Ovidiu Hațegan (Romania)

MATCH STATS
League of Ireland sides have played Slovenian oppositions in Europe in five ties prior to this one. No Irish side have even one a game however St. Patrick’s Athletic did progress beating Mura on penalties in 2022 after drawing 1-1 at home and scoreless away. In 2020, NK Celje defeated Dundalk 3-0 in the one legged Covid Champions League first round qualifier (Rovers player Sean Hoare played in that match).

After St. Patrick’s Athletics’ win last week, Stephen Kenny is now the most successful manager of a League of Ireland side in Europe outright. His 14 wins is one more than the Hoops Head Coach Stephen Bradley and Stephen Kenny. Kenny has managed in 47 games while Bradley has managed five fewer.

Celje have never made UEFA group stage football while Rovers have done so twice – the Europa League back in 2011 under manager Michael O’Neill and in 2022 when Bradley brought his side into the Conference League. 

Shamrock Rovers 

Injured: Rory Gaffney, Johnny Kenny.

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

NK Celje

Injured: n/a

Doubtful: n/a

Suspended: None

Additional reporting by Macdara Ferris

About Rónán MacNamara

View Full Profile