UEFA Champions League 2011 Shamrock Rovers F.C. season

1 uefa europa league

1.1 play-off phase
1.2 group stage

1.2.1 group table
1.2.2 results

uefa europa league
play-off phase

after defeat f.c. copenhagen in champions league, rovers went europa league, secondary european competition. entered competition in play-off round, draw held on 5 august in nyon, switzerland. rovers placed unseeded team in pot 1, meant have faced teams such atlético madrid , panathinaikos, although club drawn against serbian club partizan belgrade. partizan had exited champions league @ third qualifying round after defeat belgian side genk. in previous season, partizan had reached group stages of champions league, many considered shamrock rovers underdogs.

the first leg, broadcast live on rtÉ two, took place on 18 august @ tallaght stadium. rovers started game defensive tactic, unable prevent nemanja tomić scoring after 14 minutes following dominant opening away side. rovers did improve towards end of half, after partizan had wasted several opportunities increase lead. partizan again better side in beginning of second half, introduction of gary o neill brought shamrock rovers game attacking force. in 81st minute, gary mccabe broke through partizan defense aid of gary twigg , scored equalising goal. despite further chances rovers, match ended 1–1, leaving tie in balance.

the second leg took place on 25 august @ partizan stadium. match broadcast live on setanta ireland. rovers went game needing score @ least 1 goal avoid being eliminated competition, due away goal scored partizan belgrade in first leg. team started game nervously , have conceded after 3 minutes vladimir jovancic shooting wide when one-on-one goalkeeper. vladimir volkov forced save ryan thompson in 28th minute, before partizan player put side in front after 35 minutes. shortly after interval, chris turner came close scoring rovers when header hit post. breakthrough rovers came in 58th minute - spectacular volley patrick sullivan put teams on level terms again. match went extra-time partizan unable convert several chances. rovers fortunate remain level in game following stefan babović s free-kick hit woodwork , reckless challenge ryan thompson have resulted in penalty home side. winning goal came in 113th minute of time. ciarán kilduff s shot parried away far karl sheppard, taken down inside penalty area partizan goalkeeper before shoot. midfielder stephen o donnell converted penalty. game ended 2–1 shamrock rovers, rovers winning tie 3–2 on aggregate , qualifying group stages of competition. first time irish club had qualified group stages of european competition.

shamrock rovers won 3–2 on aggregate

group stage

the draw europa league group stages took place on 26 august in monaco. based on uefa coefficients, rovers placed in pot 4. meant drawn 1 team each other pot. among teams rovers have faced fulham, atlético madrid , stoke city. draw paired rovers tottenham hotspur of english premier league, rubin kazan of russian premier league , paok of greek super league. matches broadcast live on tv3.

rovers first group stage fixture took place on 15 september against rubin kazan. rubin kazan started off goal obafemi martins in 3rd minute. rovers got game after goal away side still dominated possession during first half. both sides missed penalties in match, although goals christian noboa , gökdeniz karadeniz in second half ensured victory rubin kazan.

rovers travelled white hart lane face tottenham hotspur on 29 september. tottenham started off both jermain defoe , roman pavlyuchenko hitting woodwork before half-time. stephen o donnell cleared roman pavlyuchenko s header off line maintain deadlock @ end of first half. rovers took surprise lead in second half. in 51st minute, stephen rice diverted long-range shot net put rovers ahead. lead did not last long - in 60th minute, pavlyuchenko equalised header. 1 minute later, defoe scored put spurs ahead. giovani dos santos completed scoring in 65th minute. match ended in 3–1 defeat rovers.

paok opponents on 20 october in thessaloniki, greece. paok took lead in first half through costin lazăr s long range strike. both sides had chances score, shamrock rovers scored next goal - karl sheppard headed in free-kick billy dennehy. however, rovers suffered defeat due long range goal vieirinha. in return leg in dublin, paok scored 3 goals in first half comfortably won game 3–1, , in doing eliminated rovers competition. billy dennehy scored proved consolation goal rovers free kick in second half.

rovers again failed pick points in fifth group game, away game against rubin kazan. nelson haedo valdez took advantage of poor defending score side s first goal. lead did not last long, however, ken oman equalised rovers 2 minutes later. bibras natkho s goal gave rubin kazan lead @ half-time; lead have been greater had dan murray not cleared obafemi martins effort off line. rubin kazan scored twice in second half complete scoring, although karl sheppard did hit bar late in game.

the club s european campaign concluded 4–0 home defeat tottenham hotspur; result meant rovers failed pick points during group stage. in second competitive fixture since end of domestic season, rovers had better of opening minutes , should have taken lead after 2 minutes, james paterson s effort wrongly ruled out offside. steven pienaar s first goal tottenham first goal of match. andros townsend , jermain defoe scored tottenham s second , third goals respectively. although tottenham did score fourth goal through harry kane, rovers had best of second half, while both jake livermore , carlo cudicini lucky avoid red cards after bringing down rovers players when through on goal. michael o neill s final match in charge of club.

group table

results