Shamrock Rovers v Juventus
Football : Uefa Europa League, Third Qualifying Round, First Leg
Thursday 29th July Kick Off 7.45pm<

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Shamrock Rovers face Juventus in one of the biggest games in the clubs history. An Irish side hasnt faced a team from Serie A in a European Competition since the 70's when Athlone Town took on the might of AC Milan and nearly beat them only for a missed penalty in a 0-0 draw at home, only to lose 2-0 in Milan.

This is truly an historic occasion for Rovers having been through so many hard ships in recent times, from having their old Milltown ground sold, without a permanent home for over 20 years until last year when they moved to their new Tallaght Stadium and being relegated and on brink of extinction 5 years ago.

However with the fans taking over the club and immediate Promotion back to the top flight of Irish football, Ireland's most famous club appear to have put the bad times behind them and are top of the League of Ireland and are back playing Eurpoean football again and against one of the giants of European Football.

Rovers knocked out the more fancied Bnei Yehuda of Israel in the last round with a 1-0 win in Israel after drawing 1-1 in Dublin. Rovers have been in terrific form and unbeaten in 12 games in all competitions. They sit on top of the League Of Ireland and and have been outstanding in recent weeks.

However they wont have faced an opponent such as Juventus and any sort of result here in the first leg for Rovers would be a memorable one for the fans. Its important to remember that the League Of Ireland is a summer league so the Rovers players certainly wont be lacking in fitness and sharpness, certainly one advantage that Rovers will have over their more illustrious opponents.

Juventus travel to Dublin with a few injuries and stars such as Buffon and Iaquinta will not feature in this tie. Several of the squad are also only back in training after a short break since the world cup so although on paper this should be comfortable for Juventus, I dont think their squad will be anywhere near their best at this stage of the season and may face a harder game than many might expect.

Juventus finished last season terribly and ended up 7th in Serie A and 27 points behind winners Inter.They reached the Quarter Final of this competitionn last season only to lose 5-4 to Fulham on aggregate. Its unusual for Juventus to be playing a competitive game in July but to lose this tie would be disastrous and also a major shock for the Turin side. They should advance comfortably but this away leg in Dublin I expect to be tighter.

VERDICT

Shamrock Rovers +2 goals handicap is a good bet for me, available at 5/6 in paddy powers.

The Pick :

Shamrock Rovers 0-1 Juventus

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

SHAMROCK ROVERS +2 GOALS HANDICAP