UEFA Europa League, first qualifying round, second leg
Derry City v CSKA Sofia, (2-3 first leg) The Ryan McBride Brandywell 18.30
UEFA Conference League, first qualifying round, second leg
St Joseph’s v Bohemians (0-2) first leg, Europa Point Stadium, Gibraltar, 18.00
WATCH
The Derry City game will be streaming online in partnership at https://derrycityplay.com/.
The Bohemians game will be streaming online at https://play.bohemians.ie/
ONLINE
Live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app.
WEATHER
In Derry it will be another dry, warm and sunny day, though the sunshine may turn hazy at times. Highest temperatures of 24 to 29 degrees in a light mostly northeast breeze.
Gibraltar will have similar weather although the temperatures will be higher with a high of 31C forecast for kick-off time.
DERRY AND BOHEMIANS FLYING THE FLAG
Following Shamrock Rovers impressive 5-1 victory over Floriana in the Champions League, it’s now the turn of Derry and Bohemians who are both looking to extend their European runs.
The Candystripes are in action in their Europa League second leg qualifier against Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia at the Brandywell.
City kept their Europa League hopes alive thanks to a late James Olayinka header.
Although the Candystripes suffered a 3-2 loss in the first qualifying round first leg last week, the midfielder’s late header means it’s all to play for in the return leg.
Stunning goals from Ioannis Pittas and Bruno Jordao, with Liam Boyce netting in between gave the Bulgarians the lead at the break, before their Cypriot striker scored his second in the night early in the second half, but it was Olayinka’s late header which keeps the tie alive.
Bohemians enjoyed a better result in their Europa League, first qualifying round first leg against Gibraltar side St Josephs but it took a last-minute Connor Parsons goal to put some real gloss on the scoreline as they won 2-0.
Alan Reynolds’ team dominated the ball for much of the night but struggled to create clear-cut chances until late on after Ross Tierney won a penalty on the hour mark which Douglas James-Taylor converted.
Adam O’Reilly is back for Derry
DERRY AIDED BY CSKA VISA WOES
CSKA’s preparations have been hampered by visa problems after two of their key players were refused entry to the UK.
Goalkeeper Fyodor Lapoukhov and midfielder Hristo Yanev are both absent from the travelling party after the club confirmed that they were unable to obtain receive UK visas.
The duo are both Belarusian internationals and their country is subject to sanctions due to its part in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
While Yanev did not feature in the first leg, Lapoukhov was entrusted to keep goal in Sofia and manager Hristo Yanev will have to shuffle his deck at the Brandywell.
Derry, meanwhile, are able to welcome back midfield duo Adam O’Reilly, who was suspended for the first leg, and Brandon Fleming, who missed out due to a family bereavement.
City boss Tiernan Lynch believes that his side can turn the tie in their favour and called on the club’s fans to make the difference in Derry.
“We said coming into this, our main objective was to try make sure we’re still in the tie,” he insisted. “We’re not sitting here thinking this is a done deal by any stretch.
“We know that we still have a mountain to climb. But I’d prefer to be climbing that mountain at Brandywell with five or six thousand of our own supporters behind us. It’s a game we must relish and look forward to.”
Bohs manager Alan Reynolds
BOHEMIANS TAKING NOTHING FOR GRANTED
Bohs have travelled to Gibraltar with no visa issues. Manager Alan Reynolds has a full strength squad to chose from and may well stick with the same starting XI that earned a 2-0 win in the first leg.
Reynolds is hoping for a better performance from his side after they laboured to victory in the club’s first European match at Dalymount in more than a decade.
“We had to dig in and stick with it. It was difficult, but we got there,” was the Bohs manager’s verdict on the first game and he’s hoping that the lessons learned from that tie will help them in Gibraltar.
“It was the first time a lot of those lads have played in Europe. It was the first European game at Dalymount Park in 14 years. “It was edgy, and patience isn’t great in football. It will help them (the players). Now we know what we’re facing. We need to be better.”
“We’re not good enough to go out there and think the job is done, we’re not at that level, that’s for sure.
“The players are well aware of that, we know it’s going to be tricky and we’re preparing for that.”
Reynolds side will face either Kosovan outfit Ballkani or Connah’s Quay of Wales should they see out the tie – two teams that they would believe they can overcome.