Dundalk are one game away from reaching the Europa League and making some serious money.

Despite the fact that Shamrock Rovers seem certain to take Dundalk’s title as SSE Airticity League champions, it’s clear where the main focus of Filippo Giovagnoli and Dundalk’s owners is.

After all, the Lillywhites were happy to play a weakened team against Rovers because, in the grand scheme of things, Dundalk’s one-legged Europa League play-off tie against KÍ Klaksvik is a far bigger fish to fry.

Yes, they would have liked to field a full-strength team to face Rovers but given their fixtures list and the importance of the game against KÍ, Giovagnoli’s team selection in the 4-0 defeat was understandable.

As for KÍ, the 18-times champions of the Faroe Islands are bound to provide a stern test for Dundalk and if they beat the Irish champions, KÍ would be the first side in the history of the Faroe Islands to qualify for a major European competition.

In the previous round, KÍ thrashed Dinamo Tbilisi 6-1 in Tórshavn, so they’re not to be underestimated.

However, if Dundalk win on Thursday night at the Aviva Stadium, it would be their first appearance in the Europa League group stages since 2016-17, when they were drawn to face AZ Alkmaar, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Zenit St Petersburg.

The Lilywhites picked up four points during that campaign, ultimately finishing bottom of their group.

If they can win on Thursday night, Dundalk stands to make some significant money from Europa League qualification.

In terms of the money that Dundalk could make from Europa League qualification, reaching the group stages is worth €2.92m, split into a down payment of €2.75m, and a balance payment of €170,000.

On top of this, a win in the group stages is worth €570,000 and even a point is worth €190,000. Also, each group winner earns €1,000,000 and each runner-up gets €500,000.

If Dundalk go even further than the group stages, the money continues to improve because clubs that qualify for the knockout stage can expect to receive the following amounts:

• Qualification for the round of 16: €1.1m
• Qualification for the quarter-finals: €1.5m
• Qualification for the semi-finals: €2.4m
• Qualification for the final: €4.5m each
• The UEFA Europa League winners can expect to pick up an additional €4m

For those that want to watch the match, RTÉ will be providing live coverage of the game on Thursday, starting at 7pm.