Robbie Keane’s hopes of leading Ferencvaros back to the Champions League group/league phase took a major blow as the Hungarian champions suffered a 3-1 home defeat to Qarabag in the play-off round first leg.
Having dispatched Ludogorets 3-0 on aggregate in the previous round, Ferencvaros were hopeful of maintaining that momentum in Budapest, but will require a minor miracle in Baku next Wednesday or face a drop into the Europa League.
Republic of Ireland international Callum O’Dowda played the full 90 minutes and it was the hosts that led at the interval, courtesy of Barnabas Varga’s opener.
However, the visitors took control after the turnaround at the Groupama Arena.
Within five minutes the tie was level when Marko Jankovic found the net from long range, before Kevin Medina swung the game in Qarabag’s favour.
Musa Gurbanli’s effort five minutes from time means Shelbourne’s conquerors are in the driving seat ahead of the return leg.
Keane took over as Ferencvaros manager in the first week of January 2025, with the club second in the Hungarian championship. He subsequently guided the Budapest club to a seventh successive Hungarian title.
It was a second successive league title for Keane as a manager, the Dubliner having led Maccabi Tel Aviv to the Israeli title in 2023-24 during a short but controversial stint with the club.