first Irish side to win a tie in that manner. They were knocked out in the second qualifying round by Qarabağ when a 1–1 home draw was followed by a 3–0 defeat away in Baku. As a result, they dropped into the Europa League third qualifying round. Their interest in Europe for the season ended there, with a 4–1 aggregate defeat to Slovan Bratislava, which was characterised by the lack of clinical finishing that had dogged the side throughout the campaign. Career Opportunities (2020–2021) They entered the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League as the seeded team in the first qualifying round and were drawn away to Celje. They were defeated 3–0 in the single-leg tie, which was played at Szusza Ferenc Stadion, Budapest (Hungary) because of travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic between Slovenia and Ireland. In the aftermath of that defeat, manager Vinny Perth was sacked by the club and replaced by Filippo Giovagnoli as interim head coach. Dundalk again dropped into the Europa League and in the second qualifying round faced Andorran champions Inter Club d'Escaldes, winning 1–0. They then faced Moldovan champions Sheriff Tiraspol in the third qualifying round. Sheriff took an early lead but Dundalk rallied and equalised in first half stoppage time. Despite dominating subsequently, the game eventually went to penalties and Dundalk came out on top, 5–3. The victory gave Dundalk a chance to reach the UEFA Europa League group stage for the second time in their history. In the play-off round, they faced KÍ of Klaksvík in the Faroe Islands at the Aviva Stadium, and won 3–1. They were seeded fourth for the group stage and were drawn in Group B alongside Arsenal, Rapid Wien, and Molde. In the first match at home to Molde, Dundalk took a first half lead through Sean Murray, before going down 2–1. Matchday 2 saw a comfortable win for Arsenal in the Emirates Stadium, 3–0, while Matchday 3 in Vienna finished 4–3 to Rapid after Dundalk had again taken the lead. After a three-week break, the visit of Rapid to Dublin saw the Austrians win more comfortably, 3–1. They failed to pick up any points from the second set of matches, and finished bottom of the group on 0 points. They also received a €50,000 fine from Uefa for 'shadow coaching', as interim head coach Filippo Giovagnoli did not hold a Uefa Pro Licence. In 2021, they