Juventus the incentive as Hoops face Bnei | Airtricity League

Juventus the incentive as Hoops face Bnei

Shamrock Rovers face Beni Yehuda in Tel Aviv tonight looking for a result to set-up a match against Juventus in the next round.

The tie is delicately balanced at 1-1 after the first leg and manager Michael O’Neill is expecting a tight match this evening (kick-off 6.30pm Irish time).

With Juventus awaiting the winners in the Third Qualifying Round, there is massive incentive for both teams to win the fixture.

“The player’s know the significance of a game like that,” said O’Neill. “They know that taking part in a game like that would be a major highlight in their career.

“They’ve been very professional, I haven’t heard it mentioned much. We have talked about it briefly here and we’ll talk about it at training.

“It will be an incentive. I don’t think it will make them anxious or nervous in any way. I think it’s there to give them that bit of added inspiration, to be part of a game likes that – particularly at Tallaght.”

Rovers are in confident form, going into the match on the back of a ten game unbeaten run. The Hoops had the better over their Israeli opposition in Tallaght, although they had to wait until the 92nd minute to get on the scoresheet.

“Confidence is high,” said O’Neill. “We’re in a nice enough position in the tie, I’m not taking it for granted by any manner of means but I think we’ll get chances and if we can take those, I think we’re strong enough at the back to make that count.

“We will have to be very disciplined and focussed mentally. They will have the ball for periods of the game. In Europe the key is when the ball changes hands, teams can counter attack you quickly like we saw in Tallaght, and that will be a key factor in the game – defending it and trying to exploit it.”

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