LAST UPDATE | 2 Oct 2020
DUNDALK ARE BACK in the big time, and will be in the draw for the Europa League group stages later today.
That they have made it so far this season is faintly staggering, given it’s only six weeks since Vinny Perth was sacked and the hitherto unknown Filippo Giovagnoli was parachuted in. Nonetheless, Giovagnoli’s inexperience has been offset by his players’ muscle memory of the 2016 campaign, when Stephen Kenny’s side qualified and played against AZ Alkmaar, Zenit St Petersburg and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
In the aftermath of last night’s 3-1 play-off win against KI of the Faroe Islands, Giovagnoli was asked who he’d like to face in this year’s competition.
“I would love to play against Jose Mourinho. He is an icon in soccer, just to meet him on the pitch would be great.”
Daniel Kelly, the scorer of Dundalk’s third goal, went along with his manager. “I’d like Spurs as well. I’d take Gareth Bale down the line.”
Facing Spurs is a possibility. Tottenham are in Pot One of the draw, with Dundalk in Pot Four. Dundalk will be drawn against a side from each of the three pots ahead of them, although there is a stipulation that clubs from the same country cannot be drawn together.
Here’s how the draw looks:
Pot 1: Arsenal, Tottenham, Roma, Napoli, Benfica, Bayer Leverkusen, Villareal, CSKA Moscow, Braga, Gent, PSV Eindhoven, Celtic
Pot 2: Dinamo Zagreb, Sparta Prague, Slavia Prague, Ludogorets, Young Boys, Red Star Belgrade, Rapid Vienna, Leicester City, Qarabag, PAOK, Standard Liege, Real Sociedad
Pot 3: Granada, AC Milan, AZ Alkmaar, Feyenoord, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, AEK Athens, Rangers, Molde, Hoffenheim, LASK, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, Cluj
Pot 4: Zorya Luhansk, Nice, Lille, NK Rijeka, Dundalk, Slovan Liberec, Royal Antwerp, Lech Poznan, Sivasspor, Wolfsberger, Omonia Nicosia, CSKA Sofia
The draw will take place today at 12pm today.
Regardless of who Dundalk draw, it will be a lucrative business for them. They have bagged a guaranteed €2.9 million for qualifying, with a €570,000 bonus for each win and €190,000 for a draw.
Dundalk will play each of their opponents home and away in the group stages, though won’t play games at Oriel Park, with either Tallaght or the Aviva Stadium the most likely alternate venue.
These games may not be behind closed doors, either. Uefa will permit up to 30% stadium capacity where the local government allows, and the FAI are raising this with the Irish government with a view to permitting fans to Dundalk’s games along with November’s Uefa Nations League games.
The match day dates are as follows:
Matchday one: 22 October
Matchday two: 29 October
Matchday three: 5 November
Matchday four: 26 November
Matchday five: 3 December
Matchday six: 10 December
