Dundalk: Irish club to face Arsenal, Rapid Vienna and Molde in Europa League group

Dundalk will take on Arsenal, Rapid Vienna and Norwegian outfit Molde in the group stage of this season's Europa League.

The League of Ireland club have already secured a huge windfall in the region of £2.7m after making the group stage for the second time in four years.

Each win thereafter will secure in the region of £520,000 with approximately £170,000 added to the pot for draws.

Dundalk's first match is on 22 October against Molde at the Aviva Stadium.

The Lilywhites travel to the Emirates to face English giants Arsenal a week later before back-to-back games against Vienna on 5 and 26 November.

A trip to Molde follows on 3 December before the return game against Arsenal at the Aviva on 10 December rounds out the Group B fixtures.

Dundalk reached the group stages thanks to a 3-1 win over Faroe Islands club KI Klaksvík at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday night.

Dundalk manager Filippo Giovagnoli, who watched the draw with some of his players and members of staff at Oriel Park, said being drawn in the same group as the Gunners was "super exciting".

"The way they play is amazing and (Mikel) Arteta is something special. It will be amazing to play against a coach like that who plays that style of football," added the Dundalk boss.

"There is everything to learn. It will be a challenge, of course, but we must make sure we have fun and enjoy."

Arsenal reached the Europa League final as recently as 2018-19 when they were beaten by Chelsea.

Given the historical Irish input into the London club which was particularly notable in the 1970s and 1980s, Arsenal have a big fanbase in the Emerald Isle.

While the prospects of large number of supporters being able to attend the games look remote given the ongoing measures aimed at curbing Covid-19, Dundalk's matches against the Gunners are still likely to capture the imagination of the Irish sporting public.

After finishing eighth in last season's Premier League, Arsenal secured direct entry to the Europa League's group stage by beating Chelsea 2-1 in the FA Cup Final on 1 August.

Rapid Vienna finished second in last season's Austrian Bundesliga which earned them a Champions League spot where they bowed out in the third round against Belgian club Gent.

The Austrian club progressed from last year's Europa League group stage before losing to eventual competition runners-up Inter Milan in the last 32.

Molde won the Norwegian Eliteserien title in 2019 but lie fourth in this year's table some 19 points behind runaway leaders Bodo/Glimt.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in his second spell in charge of Molde when the accepted the interim role at the Old Trafford club which was later made permanent.

Irish Premiership club Glenavon defeated the Solskjaer-managed Norwegian club 2-1 in the first leg of a Europa League qualifier in July 2018 before Molde won the tie with a 5-1 second-leg victory.