THE two teams in Ireland could be set for another ‘night in November’ at Windsor Park, this time with both vying for a place at Euro 2021.
Twenty-seven years on from the infamous clash which eventually confirmed the Republic of Ireland’s trip to USA ’94, Northern Ireland could host their island rivals if both win through their Euro play-off semi-finals.
Those matches – with the north heading to Bosnia & Herzegovina and the Republic bound for Slovakia – have been re-fixed for Thursday October 8, with the winners of that first tie due to host the decider five weeks later, on Thursday November 12.
New Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny will be on home ground for at least two Euro 2021 matches – if his side secures qualification – as all 12 host cities for the planned Euro 2020 tournament, including Dublin, have confirmed that they will be ready for next summer’s re-scheduled event.
Uefa’s Executive Committee also decided that national associations will have until Monday August 3 to ascertain which clubs will represent them in the planned 2021/22 European club competitions. That means the NIFL Premiership will probably only be completed on a truncated basis.
In order to fit the Champions League and Europa League qualifying processes into the enforced shorter time-frame, almost all ties will be one-off matches, with the exception being the final qualifying round for the Champions League, which will be two-legged as usual.
This year’s Champions League is to be completed in Lisbon between August 12 and 23, with knockout quarter-finals, semi-final, and final. Any incomplete round of 16 ties – such as Manchester City v Real Madrid – will be finished before that, although the venues remain to be confirmed.
The same principle applies to the 2019/20 Europa League, which will be completed in Germany, at four different venues, between August 10 and 21, with the final in Cologne.
