Rovers have it all to do in Europe

SHAMROCK Rovers return to European action, Thursday 28th of August, when they play PAOK Thessaloniki FC in the return tie of their Europa League play-off in Tallaght Stadium reports Stephen Farrell.

The game has an 8pm kick-off time and ‘the Hoops’ and their fans know that they have it all to do if they are to overturn the 4-0 defeat they suffered in the first leg last Thursday. Indeed if Rovers were to secure a draw or perhaps sneak a one or two nil victory, this may be seen as progress as PAOK are a seasoned outfit when it comes to European football.

In the first leg the Hoops were unlucky as they were holding their own in the first half until an own goal in the final seconds of the opening period handed the advantage to the home side.

However, in the second half PAOK began to show their experience when they extended their lead through Taison, with the experienced Giannis Konstantelias putting real day light between the teams with his side’s third goal.

At this level the margin for error is very small and the sending off Rovers then suffered only added to the mountain they had to climb.

Indeed PAOK had the luxury of being able to squander a penalty before Fedor Chalov completed the victory by scoring his side’s fourth goal.

However, Rovers know that they still have the safety net of dropping down to the league stage of the Conference League if they do not succeed in overturning the 4-0 deficit tonight.

Such an eventuality would still be financially very favourable to the Tallaght club as it would bring their earnings up to a minimum of €3.87 million.

The Tallaght club will also receive additional five year and ten year rankings UEFA prize money that may come to close to another €1 million.

However Rovers and their head coach will certainly want to put in a performance tonight and show their supporters and other observers what they are about.

It is interesting to note that the PAOK squad is peppered with players from various countries including Croatia, Poland, Spain, Portugal, Ghana, Guinea, Austria, Brazil, Russia, Serbia, Bulgaria and the Netherlands.

By contrast the vast majority of the Rovers players are from Ireland, with only goalkeeper Léon Pohls and recent signing Marc McNulty the only players from overseas coming from Germany and Scotland respectively.

Rovers were out in the League of Ireland Premier Division at the weekend when they secured a 1-1 draw at home to Galway United.

It was the away team who came within two minutes of pulling off a famous victory in Tallaght Stadium but substitute Danny Mandriou rescued Rovers with a late header.

Galway took the lead in the 74th minute through Patrick Hickey but the home team managed to retain their very slim hopes of securing a fifth league title in a row with a last gasp equaliser.

Returning to tonight’s tie, while European club history is littered with teams over-turning big deficits, a good performance is what everyone wants from the Hoops.