Champions League qualifier preview: Shamrock Rovers -v- Breidablik

Shamrock Rovers 

The Hoops will be looking to make a strong start to their European crusade this season with a win on Tuesday night against Icelandic side Breidablik in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. 

After winning their third successive league title, Rovers once again qualified for UEFA’s most prestigious domestic competition. 

Stephen Bradley will be looking to mastermind another successful campaign after leading the Tallaght side to the Europa Conference League last year. 

After having a taste of European group stage football for the first time since 2011, the Hoops will be hungry to replicate this once more.

Rovers know if they win the tie against the Icelandic champions, they will guarantee another three rounds in Europe this season and at a minimum, they will have a Europa Conference League play-off on the horizon. 

At the same stage last season, Shamrock Rovers won comfortably 3-0 on aggregate against the Maltese champions Hibernians. Bradley will be hoping for a similar result this time around. 

On the injury front, the Irish champions don’t come into the game in full strength with first choice wing backs Neil Farrugia and Trevor Clarke both ruled out. Justin Ferizaj will also be missing after his red card in the Europa Conference League group stages carries over for this season. 

There is positive news for Rovers fans with Bradley confirming that Jack Byrne could feature after it looked initially, he would be unavailable. The Rovers playmaker suffered a knee injury against Derry City last month and his progress has been watched closely by the medical staff. 

Gary O’Neill and Lee Grace will be fit for selection as will Alan Mannus who returned to the Rovers matchday squad last Friday after a finger injury. 

Discussing the opponents, Bradley stated the difficulty of the opposition when speaking to the club media. 

“It will be a very difficult game. We’ve watched them quite a lot obviously, I got to see them live last week, we know there a very good with real dangers all over the pitch. It’s going to be a difficult game but one we feel we can win over two legs”.

Bradley hopes a full house on Tuesday night will drive the team on and make it a hostile place for the visitors to come play. 

“Hopefully it’s a sold-out Tallaght and we can make it as hard as possible for them because like I said they’re a good side but we know if we are at our levels in Tallaght and it’s sold out, it’s a difficult place for anyone to play and hopefully we can sell it out tomorrow night and make it a real intimidating place to play”. 

Breidablik

The Icelandic outfit won their domestic league in 2022 to secure a place in the Champions League qualifying rounds.

Blikar won their first Besta Deildin crown since 2010 finishing ten points clear of KA Akureyri last year. This was only the second time in the club's history that they captured a league title. 

Their domestic form as been patchy this season. They are currently 11 points behind league leaders Vikingur Reykjavik.

Óskar Hrafn Þorvaldsson side have a good European record and have won in the preliminary round to get through to the first qualifying round of the Champions League. 

They hosted the preliminary round of the Champions League where they beat San Marino side Tre Penne 7-1 in the semi-final and Montenegrin champions Buducnost Podgorica 5-0 in the final.

Breidablik are expected to name a similar XI to the one that played in the preliminary round, with Hoskuldur Gunnlaugsson looking to add to his three Champions League goals so far this season.

Star player Stefan Sigurdson, who scored in both the semi-final and the final and has ten league goals to his name this season, is a doubt for the visitors with transfer speculation surrounding his future at the club. 

Referee: Chrysovalantis Theouli (Cyprus)

MATCH STATS:

Tuesday night’s game will see Stephen Bradley take charge of his 34^th European game as Shamrock Rovers Head Coach. 

This is the first time Video Assistant Referee will be used for an Irish team in a European competition.  

Four players still remain at the club the last time Shamrock Rovers faced Icelandic opposition, Stjarnan back in 2017 – Graham Burke, Trevor Clarke, Ronan Finn, & Pico Lopes.   

PREDICTION

3-0 home win

Shamrock Rovers

Injured: Neil Farrugia, Trevor Clarke.

Doubtful:  Jack Byrne.

Suspended: Justin Ferizaj.

Breidablik 

Injured: n/a

Doubtful: n/a

Suspended: N/A

Who are Shamrock Rovers' Champions League first round qualifier opponents Breidablik? - https://t.co/94rjArrGiRhttps://t.co/Ouqf5HvUm7

— Extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) July 9, 2023