The draws for the first qualifying rounds in both the 2020 Champions League and the 2020 Europa League took place at UEFA Headquarters in Nyon on Tuesday the 18th June and were followed by the second round draws on Wednesday the 19th June 2019.
The draw for the Women’s Champions League took place on Friday the 21st June 2019.
Champions League
In the first qualifying round our representatives Dundalk have been drawn against FC Riga of Latvia with the first leg set for Oriel Park on Tuesday the 9th July and the second leg one week later in Riga.
The second qualifying round draw produced the following scenarios for Dundalk:- if they are successful against FC Riga they will play the winners of the Partizani(Albania)/Qarabag(Azerbaijan)first round contest. Defeat by FC Riga would see Dundalk face the losers of the BATE Borisov(Belarus)/Piast Gliwioce(Poland) first round contest.
In the first qualifying round, Northern Ireland representatives Linfield face Rosenborg of Norway with the first leg in Belfast, Scottish champions Glasgow Celtic take on the Bosnia & Herzegovina champions Sarajevo with the first leg at home while the Welsh representatives The New Saints will face the winners of the four team preliminary round mini-tournament which involves the champions of Andorra, Gibraltar, San Marino and Kosova who will host the event on the 25th and 28th of June.
Europa League
The draw for the first qualifying round of the 2020 Europa League sees Shamrock Rovers drawn against Brann of Norway with the first leg scheduled for Thursday the 11th July in Brann and the second leg one week later in Tallaght. If successful, Shamrock Rovers will face the winners of the first round tie between FK Kauno Zalgiris(Lithuania)and Apollon Limassol(Cyprus).
Cork City have been drawn against the winners of the preliminary round contest between Progres Niederkorn from Luxembourg and Cardiff Metropolitan University (Wales) with the first leg set for Turners Cross on Thursday the 11th July 2019 and the second leg scheduled for the following Thursday. If they progress, Cork City will play the winners emerging from the Glasgow Rangers/Prishtina/St Joseph’s triangle with the first leg away.
Our third representatives, St Patrick’s Athletic, find themselves pitted against Norrkoping of Sweden with the away first leg set for Sweden on the 11th July 2019 and the home leg scheduled for Richmond Park on the 18th July 2019. Should they prevail, St Pat’s will face the winners of the Dinamo Minsk(Belarus)/FK Liepaja(Latvia)contest.
The draw also produced the following first round ties:-
Malmo(Sweden) v Ballymena United(NI)/ NSI Runavik(Faroe Islands)
Connah’s Quay Nomads(Wales) v Kilmarnock(Scotland)
Crusaders(NI) v B36 Torshavn(Faroe Islands)
Pristina(Kosova)/St Joseph’s(Gibraltar) v Glasgow Rangers(Scotland)
Barry Town(Wales)/Cliftonville(NI) v Haugesund(Norway)
Aberdeen(Scotland) v RoPS Rovaniemi(Finland)
The second round draw saw English representatives Wolverhampton Wanderers drawn against the winners of the Crusaders/B36 Torshavn first round tie.
Women’s Champions League
Our representatives in the Women’s Champions League are Wexford Youths WFC and they have been drawn in Qualifying Group 10 alongside Gintras Universitetas(Lithuania), KF Vllaznia(Albania) and Birkirkara FC(Malta).
The Group will be hosted by the Lithuanian side, with the fixtures scheduled for Wednesday 7 August, Saturday 10 August and Tuesday 13 August 2019.