THREE LEAGUE OF Ireland clubs compete in Europe tonight, and it’s not inconceivable that all of them get knocked out of their respective competitions.

Shamrock Rovers are best placed to advance.

They hold a 3-1 lead over Albanian side Egnatia Rrogozhinë (kick-off: 8pm).

But the Hoops play the second leg on the road.

In both their Champions League qualifiers, they suffered a 2-0 defeat in the away game.

In those instances, Stephen Bradley’s men had the advantage of playing the second leg in Tallaght, beating Maltese side Floriana 5-1 before failing to advance from the second round, despite a 2-1 home victory over Ararat-Armenia.

Nonetheless, Rovers have enough European experience to feel they can navigate tonight’s second leg safely, having looked superior to the Albanians last week.

And whatever happens, the Hoops’ European dream will not end. A victory would see them face Norwegian outfit Lillestrøm in the playoff round and guarantee entry into the Conference League’s league phase at a minimum. And defeat would mean they get transferred to the Conference League play-off round, where they would come up against the loser of the Europa League tie between Romania’s Universitatea Craiova and Finland’s KuPS.

The same cannot be said in the Uefa Conference League for Shelbourne, who faced a daunting trip to Ajax last week and probably considered themselves fortunate to come away with a 3-1 defeat after goalkeeper Eddie Beach produced a couple of excellent saves.

The result was no disgrace considering the pedigree of the Dutch giants’ players – ex-Premier League footballers Steven Berghuis, Daley Blind and Davy Klaassen were among those to feature last week, as well as Julian Brandt, who Jürgen Klopp allegedly once wanted to sign instead of Mo Salah at Liverpool, and Mika Godts, the promising 21-year-old starlet who has been linked with PSG.  

So it’s safe to say that if John Russell’s men manage to turn the tie around and advance at Ajax’s expense this evening (kick-off: 7.45pm), it would be the greatest ever result by a League of Ireland club in Europe.

The Shelbourne team applaud their fans after the first leg against Ajax. Manuel Blondeau / INPHO Manuel Blondeau / INPHO / INPHO

Bohemians face a similarly tall order. They travel to play Midtjylland (kick-off: 6pm) on the back of a 2-0 first-leg defeat at home.

The runners-up in the Danish Superliga last season convincingly overcame Alan Reynolds’ side at Tallaght Stadium.

Bohs did cause Midtjylland – who started with five senior internationals – some problems in the first leg.

But Mike Tullberg’s men, who finished third in the Europa League’s league phase last year, looked the better team overall and will be firm favourites to prevail on home turf.

If Bohs’ and Shels’ European journeys end tonight, they can consider themselves somewhat unlucky to have been paired with strong opposition at an early stage.

Regardless, such setbacks tend to attract the doom merchants, who are prone to making sweeping statements about the state of the League of Ireland.

It seems to happen every time an Irish club suffers a loss in Europe: a contingent of people will draw dramatic conclusions from a standalone fixture and argue that Premier Division sides cannot cut it at that level.

A generous reading of these unfair assertions is that those who make them have short memories.

The reality is that League of Ireland clubs have made significant progress on the European stage over the past decade.

It should be remembered that no Irish team had reached the group stages in Europe before Shamrock Rovers did so in the Europa League in 2011.

Rovers have since built on that long-awaited breakthrough. The Hoops have now made the Conference League group stages in three of the last four seasons, and look well-placed this year to make it four out of five.

Dundalk also reached the group stages of the Europa League in 2016-17 and 2020-21, while Shels advanced to the Conference League’s league phase last year.

In the 2024-25 campaign, Shamrock Rovers finished 10th in the Conference League’s league phase, becoming the first Irish team to get to the knockout round.

The Hoops also made it to the league phase last year without the benefit of the Champions’ Path, meaning two Irish sides competed in the Conference League proper for the first time.

The Hoops’ victory last season over Santa Clara, who had finished fifth in the Portuguese league in the previous campaign, was up there with the most memorable nights for League of Ireland clubs in Europe.

There is still room for improvement, of course, as Irish teams remain badly underfunded compared with most of their rivals.

And there is no doubt that it is easier to go on a long European run now than it was 20 years ago, owing to the recent creation of the Conference League among other factors.

But anyone who looks objectively at the results can only conclude that Premier Division sides have made significant forward steps.

Even the worst-case scenario outcomes in this evening’s fixtures should not be an excuse for anyone to overlook those long-term positive strides.