Dundalk's magnificent win at the Aviva Stadium against Klaksvik landed them a glamour draw in the Europa League group stages.
The League of Ireland champions will face Arsenal, Austrian's Rapid Vienna and Norwegian outfit Molde.
Dan McDonnell believes that they have a good chance to get a positive result against Molde which would see the club receive an additional financial windfall.
McDonnell joined John Duggan on Off The Ball for The Football Show and outlined why the draw was a dream one for Filippo Giovagnoli's men.
"I thought it was the perfect draw. I actually thought if you could pretty much handpick the type of draw they would want, it was a dream because you have the Arsenal one which is [two] games they will remember forever.
1 October 2020; Dundalk interim head coach Filippo Giovagnoli and Dundalk assistant coach Giuseppe Rossi, right, celebrate following the UEFA Europa League Play-off match between Dundalk and Ki Klaksvik at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile"Rapid Vienna is hard to get a handle on. They lost one Champions League tie and got into the Europa League groups. Molde is the one they will probably fancy purely because Molde are definitely from a stronger league but I suppose if you look in recent memory Shamrock Rovers beat [SK] Brann last year."
"Molde, this year, are actually fourth, a bit like Dundalk they're not going to be the champions this year, they are miles off it."
While accepting that the Norwegian league is stronger than the League of Ireland, McDonnell feels there is nothing to fear for Dundalk.
"They are going to be a level up but they are not going to be an insurmountable level if Dundalk gets back to something approaching their best."
For the players at the club, the opportunity to play in a stadium like the Emirates will be one they will relish. Despite a poor return to the domestic game post-lockdown, Dundalk have excelled in Europe in recent weeks.
Even though they were helped with a somewhat favourable draw, Damien Delaney believes that nothing can be taken away from the achievement.
1 October 2020; Dundalk opposition analyst and coach Shane Keegan celebrates his side's third goal during the UEFA Europa League Play-off match between Dundalk and Ki Klaksvik at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile"To win three games on the spin like they did is unbelievable," the former Crystal Palace defender said.
"For these players, it is an unbelievable opportunity to go and play at the Emirates and to have Arsenal come to Dublin for a competitive fixture is brilliant."
Dundalk's achievements have given Irish football a shot in the arm and are hugely positive for the league's growth.
The only drawback for the club's supporters, and fans of Irish football more generally, is the fact that many of the ties will be played behind closed doors due to the pandemic.
The game against Arsenal is scheduled for December and there is a hope that some supporters will be allowed into sporting grounds in Ireland at that point.
During their 2016 run in the Europa League, Dundalk created superb memories that they shared with many people and there is a hope this can be recreated in at least one or two of their fixtures this time around.
1 October 2020; Dundalk opposition analyst and coach Shane Keegan celebrates his side's third goal during the UEFA Europa League Play-off match between Dundalk and Ki Klaksvik at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile"I just hope now that the Arsenal game is in December at least there is a possibility by then if it's the same week as the All-Ireland final. I think if Croke Park are going to get a dispensation, they clearly want to get bodies into the All-Ireland finals, even if it is 10,000 or 15,000 people, I think that would probably be mirrored by the IRFU and FAI with events around that time."
"Hopefully, all things going well they would at least get to share the moment with people."
Should that happen it will be an added bonus for Dundalk. Either way, they have another campaign of winter football to look forward to in the coming months.
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