SHELBOURNE will face a daunting visit to Azeri champions Qarabag in the Champions League if they beat Linfield.
Damien Duff’s outfit face Irish League champions Linfield in the first round in the first two weeks in July and this morning were drawn to face Qarabag if they win.
The first leg would be at home on July 22 or 23, with the away leg the following week.
The Baku-based outfit are one of the toughest potential opponents are are group stage regulars having reached that stage of one of UEFA’s three competitions for 11 years straight.
Last season, they reached the Europa League groups by virtue of qualifying for the Champions League play-off.
And they previous experience against Irish opposition beating Dundalk 4-1 on aggregate in the Champions League in 2019.
Manager Gurban Gurbanov has been in charge for 18 years and his squad also provides the backbone of the Azerbaijan national team – five that featured against Hungary last week were Qarabag players.
Shelbourne know that victory over Linfield will also guarantee them the ‘champions path’ which means they are guaranteed three more ties even if they lose.
That route guarantees €1.75 million in prize money and it can rise to €3.87 million if they win one tie, as it guarantees Conference League group stages at least.
But defeat to Linfield would see Shelbourne parachuted into the Conference League second round and needing to win three consecutive ties to make the group stages.
If the Reds are in the Conference League, they will have a tie with Lithuanians Zalgiris or Maltese outfit Hamrun Spartans with the first leg due to be away on July 24 and home on July 31.
But the pick of the Conference League ties for Irish clubs is the potential meeting between Shamrock Rovers and Belfast outfit Cliftonville.
The Hoops enter the competition at the second round phase by virtue of their high ranking which saw them given a first round bye following Drogheda United’s expulsion.
But they will now watch the first round closely as they face the winners of Cliftonville or Gibraltar outfit St Joesph’s – who Shelbourne beat last year.
St Patrick’s Athletic also learnt they will face Kalju of Estonia or Partizani of Albania if they beat Hegelmann of Lithuania in the first round of the Conference League with the first leg at home.
But the three Dublin clubs could potentially see ties and dates move as UEFA do not allow clubs to play on the same day in the same city.
That is potentially a problem for Rovers and Shels, but also because of a potential clash between Cliftonville and Linfield as well.
