August 24 – It was always going to be a tall order and as expected Dundalk’s attempt to become the first Irish side to make the Champions League group stages fell just short as they lost 3-1 to Legia Warsaw on aggregate after a creditable 1-1 draw in Poland.
As reported yesterday, just four years after almost going out of business and playing before crowds of little over 200, the League of Ireland side faced the Poles knowing that although their chances of survival were slim, they were guaranteed a place in the group stages of the Europa League.
Last week, the Lilywhites, whose supporters not so long ago handed round buckets in a ‘Save Our Club’ campaign, filled the national stadium in Dublin with 30,000 fans as they lost 2-0 in the home leg after switching the tie from their own tiny ground.
The lowest-ranked team in the play-off round for the group stage of Europe’s premier club competition, they gave it their all in Tuesday’s tie in Poland but it wasn’t quite enough for a team that was only the second from their country ever to reach the final qualifying round of the competition.
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