UCD have been drawn against FK Molde of Norway in the first round of the Uefa Youth League, with the Dubliners set to face either Zimbru Chisinau of Moldova or Albania's KF Vllaznla if they can progress.
“We’re confident,” said the Irish club’s coach, Maciej Tarnogrodzki, on hearing confirmation of the draw. “We saw how well Cork did last season in the competition and I said to the players that it shows we can compete at this level. We’ve reached another national cup final this season and I’ve seen plenty of positives from the players so far.
“It is going to be difficult to pick the squad as we can only pick three players who were born in 1998 and the rest of the players will be from 1999 and younger.
“All the players are eager to take part in the competition but we’ve also got to consider the first-team players as well. It is a discussion we will have as coaching staff as we need to select the squad which gives us the best chance of progressing.”
Cork City became the first club to represent Ireland in the competition last season when they got through a round before going out to Roma with the home games attracting significant crowds to Turner’s Cross.
UCD’s first game will be the Belfield Bowl with the second leg in Norway. Dates for the games have yet to be confirmed but most of the round’s fixtures have been provisionally pencilled in for September 27th and October 18th.
