Europe’s third club competition has undergone a format change this season – FFT explains what to look out for
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The draw for the new league phase of the Conference League takes place this week, when Chelsea will discover their opponents, providing they overcome Servette.
The Blues return to Europe this season after a year away, and won 2-0 at home to Servette in the first leg of the play-off round last week. The second leg takes place in Switzerland on Thursday night.
Should Chelsea progress as expected, they will enter the competition in the league phase, with the draw taking place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Friday, August 30, from 1.30pm UK time. The draw will be shown live on UEFA.com.
The format
Unlike recent seasons, the Conference League proper (newly renamed from the Europa Conference League) will not begin with 32 clubs. Instead, it has increased to 36.
The group phase is no more, so forget the traditional groups of four. It has been replaced by the ‘league phase’ – every team involved goes into one big 36-team division.
At the end of the 36-teams-in-one-group group stage, the overall top eight will advance straight to the last 16. The sides finishing ninth to 24th will go into a play-off round, while the clubs finishing 25th to 36th will be eliminated. The play-off round will be seeded: ninth or 10th will face 23rd or 24th, determined by a draw, while 11th or 12th will face 21st or 22nd, and so on.
The winners of each play-off round tie will progress to the last 16 – also seeded, to ensure that the team that finished first in the league phase will face one that finished 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th. The side that finished eighth in the league phase will play a team that finished ninth, 10th, 23rd or 24th.
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Previously, there was an open draw from the quarter-finals onwards. That’s gone, too. Again, it’s seeded, like a tennis draw, so that the teams who finished first and second in the league phase will be in opposite halves of the draw, unable to play each other until the final in the Polish city of Wroclaw on May 28, and unable to face the teams who finished third or fourth until the semis.
It means that the finishing positions of the league phase could be critical to who ends up winning the competition.
More matches (slightly)
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The league phase now has 108 matches, up from 96. That’s because there are more teams, but the Conference League’s new format is not exactly the same as the new format in the Champions League and the Europa League.
In those two competitions, each club will play eight fixtures in the league phase, compared to six previously. However, because there isn’t the same money-making potential (let’s be honest here), each team plays only six times in the Conference League.
To facilitate that, the league phase draw has divided clubs into six pots rather than four, and teams will play six different opponents.
The Conference League starts on October 3, with the sixth and final set of group fixtures taking place in a midweek of its own, with no Champions League or Europa League action, on December 19.
How will the draw be done?
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Should Chelsea beat Servette and reach the league phase, they will be top seeds in Friday’s draw.
The seedings are less important than previously, however, because each team plays one club from every pot anyway – unlike previously, when they could not face a team from the same pot.
All 36 entrants to the league phase will be confirmed depending on the results of this week’s play-off round fixtures, with no clubs qualifying automatically.
Among the potential top seeds, should they end up in the Conference League as currently predicted, would be Fiorentina, Real Betis and FC Copenhagen, who lead Kilmarnock 2-0 after the first leg of their play-off round tie.
Vikingur Reykjavik, Omonia Nicosia, Cercle Brugge and Armenians FC Noah are among those with commanding leads from their first legs, making them highly likely to reach the league phase.
Welsh side TNS are 3-0 up against Lithuanians Panevezys, while Northern Irish club Larne will hope to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar.
Hearts will also play in the competition, if they’re unable to overturn their 1-0 deficit from their Europa League play-off round tie against Viktoria Plzen.
Shamrock Rovers look certain to drop down from the Europa League play-offs to the Conference League league phase, after losing their first leg 4-0 to Greek side PAOK.
Chris joined FourFourTwo in 2015 and has reported from 20 countries, in places as varied as Jerusalem and the Arctic Circle. He's interviewed Pele, Zlatan and Santa Claus (it's a long story), as well as covering the World Cup, Euro 2020 and the Clasico. He previously spent 10 years as a newspaper journalist, and completed the 92 in 2017.
