THE CHANCES OF three Irish derbies in the first qualifying round of the Champions League and Conference League increased after UEFA confirmed the seeded and unseeded groupings for tomorrow’s draw.
League of Ireland champions Shamrock Rovers could face Larne, their Irish League counterparts, with trips to NK Celje (Slovenia), Panevezys (Lithuania), Vikingur Reykjavik and FC Differdange (Luxembourg) also on the cards.
The draw takes place at 1pm tomorrow and the two-legged ties are set for 9/10 July and 16/17 July.
For Premier Division sides in the Conference League there are clashes close to home or much further afield.
Crusaders are on the radar for Damien Duff’s Shelbourne, along with Breidablik from Iceland who beat Rovers in Champions League qualifying and reached the Conference League group stage last season.
Tre Penne (San Marino) and St Joseph’s (Gibraltar) are also in the mix for Shels, as well as Diddileng of Luxembourg who knocked St Patrick’s Athletic out last summer.
The Saints have a bye into this season’s second qualifying round but Derry City face the prospect of playing Linfield, with FK Žalgiris (Lithuania), Paide Linnameeskond (Estonia) and Latvia’s FK Liepaja also on the other side of the draw.
