Champions League second qualifying round, second leg,
Qarabag (3) v Shelbourne (0),
Wednesday, 5pm Irish time,
Live on Solid Sport stream
Shelbourne manager Joey O’Brien and his ever-evolving squad know that an expected defeat to Qarabag merely changes the course of this European adventure.
The true value of overcoming Linfield in the Champions League first-round qualifier earlier this month is that it provides an opportunity to end up in the Uefa Conference League group stages.
If the Azerbaijani champions finish the job, Shels will be rerouted to the Europa League and a third-round qualifier against the losers of Rijeka of Croatia and Bulgaria’s Ludogorets.
If the Europa League standard also proves too much, they drop into a season-defining playoff to reach the Conference League with at least €3 million in Uefa prize money on offer.
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Last season, Shamrock Rovers earned €6.4 million from their European run.
Trailing Qarabag 3-0, despite a competitive first leg at Tolka Park, the jet-lagged visitors might forgive themselves for lacking enough motivation to avoid a thumping in Baku.
“Motivation? You are playing Champions League round two, away from home, against a team that has made the group stages for the last 10, 11 years,” said O’Brien. “This is the level the lads want to play at. This is what you dream of as a kid, coming away and playing in Europe. None of them are hiding.”
JJ Lunney echoed his manager despite having to cope with the head-spinning play of Brazilian midfielders Kady Borges and Pedro Bicalho.
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“Just the speed of the game,” said Lunney of the first leg. “How quick your brain thinks, they close you down so fast. In the last five minutes, you think you are having a good game, you take a half-yard touch too big and they take it. There is learning in that. You cannot switch off for one second. But there are massive games to come.”
Despite a turbulent period off the pitch, the Shelbourne investors have refused to stand still, signing three young players to multiyear deals in the past week while adding Dutch goalkeeper Wessel Speel on loan to cover for the injured Conor Kearns.
Speel could start in Baku, but French defender Milan Mbeng and Ireland under-21 winger Seán Moore are not registered for this round, while Jack Henry-Francis, who arrived from Arsenal, is injured.
“They are three great young players who add quality to the group,” said O’Brien. “The strength of the squad we already have is one of the reasons I took the job.”
That is the closest O’Brien will come to mentioning his former boss, Damien Duff, who resigned on June 22nd before the crowning achievement of guiding Shelbourne into the Champions League after 3½ years of steady progress.
This Thursday, RTÉ One broadcasts the first episode of Football Families, a three-part documentary about Shelbourne. Naturally, the previous manager features, which is a stark reminder that the Duff era is behind the Drumcondra club.
With St Patrick’s Athletic away in the FAI Cup on August 15th and at least four more European nights next month, there is still plenty to look forward to.
