ST PATRICK’S Athletic will have a better idea by lunchtime today just how much yesterday’s performance in the Russian city of Samara is going to be worth to them, reports Emmet Malone. The draw for the play-off round of the Europa League takes place around 12.30pm with 76 teams to be paired off.
The winners of those ties will be joined in the group stages of the competition by 10 Champions League fourth-round losers, with the 48 teams drawn in 12 groups of four with each club playing the others both home and away.
The Dubliners will get €90,000 in prize-money for making it to the play-offs but now hope for either a lucrative draw against a team from one of Europe’s richest leagues – Werder Bremen, Villarreal, Lazio, Everton and Aston Villa are all possibilities – or a weaker team that might offer a good chance of further progression.
Big-name opposition would be likely to bring substantial television revenue and a large crowd (the RDS is a likely venue), while a place in the group stages would guarantee €1 million in prize-money plus €140,000 for each win and €70,000 for each draw in subsequent games as well as a share of a television pool.
