Thursday, August 4, 2016

If Dundalk get Celtic, Aviva Stadium could work against them

Dundalk achieved one of the biggest results in the club's European history by seeing off BATE Borisov over two-legs to reach the Champions League play-off round. With Tallaght Stadium needing numerous upgrades to make it fit by UEFA standards to host a tie in this round, the Aviva Stadium is looking more likely to be used by the Lilywhites for their home leg, and this could be to Dundalk's detriment if they do indeed draw Celtic.

The Scottish champions aren't the only team Dundalk could draw in Nyon tomorrow, with Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic), Red Bull Salzburg (Austria), Apoel Nicosia (Cyprus) and Legia Warsaw (Poland) also in the pot - but it is the inclusion of Celtic which has piqued the most interest.

Frankly, on the field, Dundalk have nothing to fear against the Glaswegians. They are in a period of serious transition, with the future looking bright at Parkhead following the astute appointment of Brendan Rodgers as manager. Yet this is still very much Ronny Deila's team and, as such, is still prone to lIMP performances in Europe (I couldn't resist).

Granted, they have managed to demonstrate a resilience in their early Champions League qualifiers to date, overturning that shocking 1-0 away defeat to Gibraltar outfit Lincoln Red Imps with a very comfortable 3-0 win back in Glasgow. They followed that up with a 1-1 draw in Astana before needing two penalties - one in stoppage time to avoid extra-time - to beat nine men and secure a 3-2 aggregate win over the Kazakhstani champions.

Traces of mental fragility are still apparent, though, with Astana's goal in Glasgow owed to Agim Ibraimi capitalising on a poor headed clearance from goalkeeper Craig Gordon to volley home from 40 yards. This is so much the case that Rodgers admitted afterwards that the Celtic fans "put the players on edge" in the second leg and called for them to "trust the players."



Agim Ibraimi gives Astana a lifeline with this ridiculous goal against Celtic at Parkhead. The Kazakhstani champions eventually lost 3-2 on aggregate. Source: Football YouTube channel.

So, this Dundalk team could definitely take Celtic 11 v 11, with the manner of their emphatic second leg win over BATE in Tallaght Stadium confirmation of this. For one thing, BATE have been in the group stages of the Champions League four times in the last five seasons. Celtic haven't been that far since 2013/14 when they lost five of their six games. BATE, it would be fair to say, are stronger than Celtic.

The concern with this fixture, should fate pair the two together, is that Dundalk's home leg of such a tie is played in the Aviva Stadium. According to a number of reports in today's papers, the Lansdowne Road venue is quite likely to be selected with both the RDS and Tallaght Stadium ill-equipped to do so.

One of these reports was from Daniel McDonnell of the Irish Independent, who said that Shamrock Rovers' ground, where Dundalk hosted BATE in the previous round, would need a number of upgrades to meet the requisite UEFA standard for a Champions League play-off round tie, while Paul Lennon in the Irish Daily Star wrote that, if chosen, the capacity in Tallaght could be reduced by almost 2,000 to accommodate extra television cameras.

McDonnell added that the Louth side are expected to confirm before Friday's draw where they intend to play the home game of the play-off as they will be required to inform UEFA of their plans in this regard when they arrive in Switzerland. Should they reach the group stages, they will have to use the Aviva for their three home games.



Robbie Benson seals the deal for Dundalk by making it 3-0 against BATE Borisov. Source: eirSport Twitter account.

Meanwhile, the hierarchy in the FAI must be salivating at the money spinning potential of hosting Celtic in a competitive game, on top of the six-figure fee it costs to rent the national stadium, especially on the back of the Glasgow giants' recent friendly match with Barcelona in the same venue.

The interest from Celtic fans home and abroad for this fixture would be massive given a place in the group stages of the Champions League is at stake and the game could easily expect to surpass the 47,900 that crammed in for Celtic-Barca. The problem with this is that all of a sudden Dundalk face the prospect of playing two away games.

While this wouldn't be the first time they had to do it in qualifying so far, having been forced to vacate Oriel Park for the BATE tie as it isn't up to the required UEFA standard, playing Celtic in the Aviva is a different prospect altogether. Tallaght was packed with Dundalk fans and neutrals urging the Lilywhites on to victory; the Aviva would most definitely be jammed with Celtic supporters singing 'You'll Never Walk Alone' at full voice.

Dundalk boss Stephen Kenny, in the same McDonnell article on the Independent website, said that he is less interested in a draw with Celtic and more interested in getting Dundalk into the Champions League proper, becoming the first League of Ireland side to do so in the process. In another article on the42.ie, Kenny said his "preference" would be to play their play-off tie in the Aviva.


Victory for Dundalk over BATE in Tallaght Stadium perhaps helped Kenny exercise some demons from his ill-fated spell as Shamrock Rovers manager - his last job prior to taking over at Oriel Park. Source: The42.ie.

Given the huge pressure Celtic are under to progress, even from their own fans according to Rodgers, the last thing Dundalk need is their (potential) opponents heeding the Hoops' boss pleas for patience by turning the Aviva into another Parkhead, creating an atmosphere which works to the detriment of the real 'home' team. 

So while Kenny would like to see the game at the national stadium, regardless of the opposition, in the event they do draw Celtic it would probably suit Dundalk better to play their home leg at Tallaght once again and give the Scottish club the bare minimum in terms of tickets.

Get the upgrades done and get the place jammed with Dundalk fans who can really crank up the pressure on the Bhoys because if these two teams were to face each other, it is Celtic who should be the more fearful.

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