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It may not be the Ajax of the 2019 UEFA Champions League semi-finals, but as glamour ties go, it isn’t a bad one for Shelbourne in the Conference League third qualifying round. Last season saw both Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers make the group stages of the competition, with the former going down 3-0 at the hands of eventual winners Crystal Palace. Two rounds from group stage qualification, the draw could have been kinder as the Drumcondra men set their sights on the Johan Cruyff Arena. Indeed, any kind of a result would be up there with the best in the club’s storied European history, with draws against both Lille and Deportivo La Coruna in 2004/05 amongst the standout results. Ajax managed only a fifth placed finish in last season’s Eredivisie, ending up almost 30 points behind title winners PSV, with all of NEC, Twente and Feyenoord also finishing ahead of them. Since Erik Ten Hag’s four and a half year stint came to an end in June 2022, the club have gone through 10 managers, none of whom have lasted a full year in charge. Former Girona boss Míchel Angel Sanchez is now the man at the helm, with the Amsterdam outfit coming through their last tie against FC Vojvodina 8-2. Elsewhere, fellow League of Ireland side Bohemians are up against Midtjylland, also on Wednesday night. The Danes, who qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history 2020/21, will head for Phibsborough and Richmond Park as heavy favourites. Bohs will look to 26-year-old striker Colm Whelan, who has netted 10 goals in this season’s SSE Airtricity League. Manager Alan Reynolds is promising something different from his side: “I’m not sure anyone is giving us a chance so we’ll have a game plan, a way of playing. It might be slightly different to the domestic league.”