Thursday 22 August
Europa League play-off round first leg
PAOK (Greece) v Shamrock Rovers, Toumba Stadium, 6.30pm
Conference League play-off round first leg
St Patrick's Athletic v Istanbul Basaksehir (Turkey), Tallaght Stadium, 7.45pm
Coverage
Follow a live blog with updates on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app. Both matches are available on streaming service. No TV broadcast will be showing the games.
Play-offs with different backgrounds
As Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick's Athletic begin their final qualifying matches, the Hoops have the advantage of already securing their place in one competition.
Victory over Celje last week ensures they will compete in the league phase of the UEFA Conference League if the can't overcome PAOK.
With a prize fund of €3.6m secured, all that is left now is to reach an even bigger competition in the Europa League.
St Pat's are in a winner takes all scenario. Istanbul Basaksehir was one of the toughest draws possible and it will take a remarkable upset for them to progress.
No Irish side has ever qualified for a European competition through the qualifying rounds without being in a champions route.
Stephen Kenny is looking to create more history, just months back involved in the League of Ireland.
Champions try to avoid Greek tragedy
PAOK have come up against Irish sides twice in the last 12 years.
In 2021 Bohemians produced two excellent displays to lose 3-2 on aggregate in the third qualifying round. The home leg was played at the Aviva Stadium.
The Greek side went on to reach the quarter-finals of the competition before losing to Marseille.
They reached the same stage of the Conference League last year, going out against Club Brugge after a lengthy campaign.
It demonstrates the level Shamrock Rovers need to reach to progress here.
During the Michael O'Neill era when the Hoops reached the Europa League group phase, PAOK beat Shamrock Rovers 2-1 and 3-1.
Quality evident for PAOK
Serbia's Andrija Zivkovic will be ring a bell for anyone who watched England as Euro 2024 as he started that fixture.
Vieirinha is a survivor from the 2011 team that came up against Shamrock Rovers.
Baba Rahman enjoyed many spells in Europe as he failed to secure a spot at Chelsea. He has now settled into life at PAOK as a permanent signing.
Outside of current internationals, you can expect PAOK to be a quality outfit and this is a real challenge for Stephen Bradley's side.
Striking woes for the visitors
Aaron Greene picked up a knock in the win over Celje but should be okay to feature. Johnny Kenny could return next week while Rory Gaffney remains out. Bradley has confirmed there are a number of small concerns, including Roberto Lopes, without getting into specifics.
The games are coming thick and fast for the four in a row champions. The weather will also be a big factor with temperatures expected around 33 degrees at kick-off.
Bradley's thoughts
The Hoops boss said: "It's definitely our intention and our aim, to try and win this tie and make the Europa League group stage. It remains to be seen can we achieve that.
"But it is nice going into the game knowing that we’ve secured group stage football, but our aim will be to try and win the tie against PAOK and qualify for the Europa League. We know it will be a tough game, but that’s definitely our aim.
"As a staff we've all watched them. There are one or two players we’ve come up against in the past, but we can see they have good players.
"When you’re at this level in Europe, that’s what you come up against. We know they’re a good team with good individuals, but we need to focus on us, go into the game with our game plan and take it back to Tallaght and hopefully win the tie."
Saints aim to break new ground
There was not a great deal of optimism around St Pat's when they began their European campaign due to poor league form before and during the Kenny era.
Wins over Vaduz and Sabah have changed the mood in Dublin 8 and given their manager a platform to build on.
This is a real step-up in clash, however.
Istanbul famously beat Manchester United in 2020 while they also reached the group stage of this competition two years ago.
Again this is a side filled with current and former international players with huge experience on a big stage. It will not be easy for Pat's as they look to secure a positive result to bring to Turkey.
Selection options for Kenny
The main rotational area for the Saints has been in attack with 16-year-old Mason Melia edging out Aidan Keena last week.
It's likely Kenny will continue that idea.
In the last round Jake Mulraney and Romal Palmer were superb in the home leg against Sabah and Pat's will look to them to make the difference.
Aiming for history
Having achieved so much as a manager with Dundalk in Europe, Kenny returns to the venue of their famous triumph over BATE Borisov.
Getting through this tie would be even more remarkable, he feels.
Kenny said: "It would be the first time in the history of the club to get into the group stages, only two clubs have ever done it, and mainly through winning the league.
"If we do it we do it the hard way, but we must strive to do that because the European wins are really really special and none would be more special than this one."
Over 7,000 Saints fans are expected in Tallaght for the fixture.
