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Ireland are home less than a wet week from Poland and it is already time for the draws for Europe’s premier club competitions. Who did Shamrock Rovers get?

Last season, Shamrock Rovers made history by reaching the group stages of the Europa League, the first League of Ireland side ever to do so. To get there they had to produce a thrilling win over Partizan Belgrade, in Serbia, but despite the success, Rovers are not seeded for this year’s preliminary Champions League, missing out by one place.

That meant there was always a chance that Rovers were going to get a tricky draw for their second qualifying round tie, with FC Basel one of their potential opponents. However, the Tallaght lads should be pleased as the landed one of the lowest ranked teams they could play, FK Ekranas of Lithuania. The tie will be played over two legs on July 17-18 and July 24-25, with the first leg in Dublin.

Update@13:10

As promised, here’s the latest news for Irish clubs in the Europa League. St Pat’s and Bohs were seeded in the first qualifying round and both will be heading to Iceland. The Inchicore team will play IBV Vestmannaeyjar while the Northsiders will play Thor Akureyri.

Update@14:00

And completing the Irish line-up we have Sligo Rovers, who will play Spartak Trnava in the second qualifying round of the Europa League.