Athlone Town primed to make Europa Cup impact in Glasgow

Amid the managerial turmoil currently engulfing the club, matters return to on-pitch importance when Athlone Town play Glasgow City in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Women's Europa Cup tonight (Wednesday) at 7.35pm.

In the first of a two-legged tie, Athlone travel to Scotland to play their Glasgow opposition at Petershill Park, with the return leg scheduled for Lissywollen on Wednesday, September 17, at 7.30pm.

Athlone Town's European campaign continues following a 2-0 win over Crvena Zvezda in the Netherlands, which secured a third-place Champions League second qualifying group finish and earned the club a place in the inaugural Europa Cup competition.

Athlone go into the game tonight with momentum. A weekend 2-0 defeat of Shamrock Rovers saw the team extend their lead at the top of the Women's Premier Division to four points over Shelbourne. Following tonight's game, Athlone travel to Tallaght Stadium on Sunday to play Rovers in the Women's FAI Cup semi-final before the home leg next midweek.

The Scotland Women's Premier League team are certain to provide stern opposition. Undefeated in their domestic league campaign to date, Glasgow City have yet to concede a goal in games against Motherwell, Aberdeen and Montrose. They sit third in the Premier Division table behind city rivals Celtic and Rangers but will be buoyed by their early season form.

A UEFA Women's Champions League defeat to FK Austria Wien put paid to their aspirations in Europe's premier competition, tonight's encounter with Athlone being their first fixture in the Europa Cup.

Glasgow City have tasted European action at the highest level in recent seasons, losing at the quarter-final stage of the competition on two occasions, firstly to PSG in 2014/15 and then to Wolfsburg in 2019/20.

Similar to Athlone's previous European games, tonight's game will be streamed live on https://www.loitv.ie/ie