Soccer

Shamrock Rovers drawn with Gent and Molde in Europa Conference League group

Stephen Bradley’s side reached the final Europa League qualifier before being knocked into Conference League

Former Turkish goalkeeper Volkan Demirel with Uefa's deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti during the draw for the Europa Conference League. Photograph: Getty Images
Paul Buttner
Fri Aug 26 2022 - 14:25

With manager Stephen Bradley insisting after Thursday night’s Europa League play-off home leg win over Ferencváros that his side were very much in the Conference League group stages to win games, Shamrock Rovers can’t be too displeased following the draw in Istanbul at lunchtime.

Turkish goalkeeping legend Volkan Demirel drew Rovers from pot three into Group F along with top seeds KAA Gent of Belgium, Norwegian side Molde FK and fourth seeds Djurgårdens IF of Sweden.

A grouping that brought a guarded response from Rovers’ veteran goalkeeper, Alan Mannus, who has been in tremendous form during the campaign this summer.

“Obviously at this stage of the competition you are not going to get any easy games, even more so getting into the group stages,” said 40-year-old Mannus, who produced several top stops against the Hungarian side on Thursday night.

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“The further you get the harder it becomes. We have Gent, a very big team, and the other teams are obviously big teams as well. They are going to be tough enough games for us.”

[ Rovers drop down to Conference League despite consolation win ]

Rovers, who have won all four home games in Europe this campaign, did avoid West Ham United and Villareal of the top seeds along with Fiorentina and FC Cologne from pot two.

“You are guaranteed to get one big team at least, with the way the draw works, and we got Gent. That is going to be a very difficult tie for us.

“As for the other teams, we’ve played against Swedish and Norwegian teams in the last few years and we’ve done well against them.

“So we have that bit of experience. We know we can give any team in Europe a tough game, especially in Tallaght, regardless of who they are or how good they are.”

Gent, who lost 4-0 on aggregate to Cypriots Omonia Nicosia in the Europa League play-off round, won their Conference League group last year, beating Rovers’ nemesis Flora Tallinn twice on the way, before losing in the knockout round of 16 to Bohemians’ conquerors PAOK.

Seasoned European campaigners, Gent have also made the Europa League groups on four occasions as well as the 2015/16 Champions League group stage. This is their first meeting with League of Ireland opposition.

Likewise, Molde FK, sitting five points clear of their domestic league, possess pretty respectable continental pedigree.

The former club of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erling Haaland beat Sligo Rovers home and away in the Champions League qualifiers in 2013. They were in Dundalk’s Europa League group in 2020, beating the Louth 2-1 at Tallaght Stadium, eventually finishing second behind Arsenal, before going out to Granada in the round of 16.

Stockholm side Djurgardens IF are not unfamiliar with Rovers having beaten them in the Uefa Cup 20 years ago. Cork City subsequently knocked them out of the same competition in 2005.

The Swedes have impressed in the Conference League qualifiers to date, winning five of six games, scoring 15 goals in the process.

“We have a good record at home this season in Europe and we want to keep that going, regardless of who we play,” added Mannus.

“We obviously have a lot of respect for all the teams we will play against, but we’ll still give them a good game and we will be playing to get points, not just to be there.

“At the same time, I’m sure all three teams will be thinking they can get points off us. We are very much aware of that as well.”

The fixtures will be finalised by Uefa on Saturday.