CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND
Shamrock Rovers v Breidablik, Tallaght Stadium, 7.45pm
TV
There's live coverage on the RTÉ2 starting at 7.30pm, with commentary from Des Curran.
Stephen Rice and Stuart Byrne join Peter Collins in Tallaght.
You can also watch it on the RTÉ Player here.
ONLINE
We'll have a live blog on rte.ie/sport, the RTÉ News app, as well as updates and goals on RTÉ Soccer Twitter and RTÉ Sport Facebook.
WEATHER
A mix of cloud and sunny spells on Tuesday but there will be further showers. Worryingly for conditions some of the showers are expected to turn heavy during the afternoon and evening, bringing a risk of isolated thunderstorms. There will be a light breeze and a cool 15 degrees around kick-off.
The opposition
Iceland's Breidablik scored 12 goals in the preliminary round to reach this stage but the level of opposition (San Marino and Montenegro) means that is nothing to write home about.
Having won the league title by 10 points last season, this campaign has not gone as swimmingly, currently sitting in third spot midway through the year.
That was just their second-ever league crown, previously landing it in 2010.
A successful league title defence looks out of reach, with Vikingur Reykjavik 11 points clear having dropped just seven points in 15 matches. Breidablik were knocked out of the Icelandic Cup on penalties to KA a week ago but responded with a 5-1 victory over Fylkir.
Breidablik are a multi-sport club, not just solely focused on football, and have a decent European pedigree.
They have two decent victories under their belts, beating Sturm Graz in 2013 and Austria Vienna in 2021.
Breidablik were beaten 5-3 on aggregate by Aberdeen in the third round of Europa League qualifying that year.
When the Hoops were given the preliminary qualifiers in the draw, it looked a great result on paper. But as time goes on it's certainly looking a trickier tie.
Icelandic sides have come up against League of Ireland teams in recent years.
FH beat Sligo Rovers in 2021 in the Conference League, while Bohemians saw off Starjnan 4-1 in the same season.
Byrne and Mannus to return?
Jack Byrne, Lee Grace, Alan Mannus and Gary O'Neill are back in contention with Mannus possibly set for a return in goals after close to two months out.
Ireland international Byrne has missed two league games since suffering a knee injury in the win over Derry last month.
Trevor Clarke has another few weeks before a return while Neil Farrugia could feature in the second leg.
Stephen Bradley spoke to us yesterday.
The prize on offer
FC Copenhagen, a group stage regular, await the winner for this tie.
Given the proximity of Iceland and Denmark, it's another incentive for the Icelandic side to upset the odds in this lie.
The loser will face the defeated side from Ferencvaros and KI Klaksvik (Faroe Islands). Shamrock Rovers know the Hungarian side from last year when they had a 4-1 aggregate defeat, while Dundalk beat KI to reach the Europa League a few years back.
The players to fear
In a rare feat these days, all 11 players that lined out for Breidablik against Buducnost in the final qualifier were Icelandic.
Faroe Islands internationals Kamint Olsen and Patrik Johannesen are the exceptions to their rule in the squad.
Olsen has over 50 caps and 10 international goals and was used off the bench in that last European tie. Johannesen, with 20 caps to his name, will sit out with injury.
The squad is filled with former internationals or some of the most experienced playing at home in the country.
Andri Rafn Yeoman and Damir Muminovic are two of their all-time greats. They have over 700 appearances together and make up the spine of their side.
Hoops thoughts
Rory Gaffney is a veteran when it comes to European football.
He admits there is a different feeling when it comes to this stage.
"It's a great opportunity and very exciting," he said.
" I suppose this is why we work so hard to win the league; get the reward of Tuesday night and the chance to fight for a place in group stages of European football.
"We watched video of them on Saturday. Like any other European games, you can watch them all but you don't know what they are like until you get out there and you're up against them.
"It's a huge game. We know they have an attacking threat but we back ourselves. When we have the ball and we get opportunities to make something, we know we will do it."
The Premier Division champions have their eyes on the prize of getting to at least the Conference League.
This is the crucial tie so he knows there is no room for error.
"If we don't win this tie it becomes a lot more difficult to reach a group stage. For the players it's an unbelievable experience. We spent the summer last year flying around Europe playing matches.
"You're going to different stadiums and different cities. For the club there is the financial reward which helps a great deal."
