Previously, it was common to come across punters betting on football matches in far-flung areas such as the Americas. What the Conference League Means to Punters Nevertheless, the allure of winning a European cup may prove to be a draw in the Conference League. Previously, most clubs fielded weakened sides in the competition until bigger teams started participating in it. It’s only in recent years that clubs started taking the Europa League seriously. It remains to be seen if teams across Europe will embrace the Conference League. Thus, this format follows the promotion system that UEFA had in place for its club competitions. On their part, Europa Conference League winners will qualify for the following year’s Europa League unless they qualify for the higher-ranked Champions League via domestic competition.Įuropa Conference League winners will avoid the Europa League qualifiers and head straight to the group stage. Traditionally, winners of the Europa League get an automatic slot in the following season’s Champions League group stage. What Does the Europa Conference League Winner Get? Punters are excited about the competition because it promises more opportunities to make money by betting on their favorite teams. The group stage of the competition will run from 16th September to 9th December 2021. Nonetheless, kick-off will be at 5.45 pm and 8.00 pm. Matches will be played on Thursdays on the same days as the Europa League matches.
Albania’s capital, Tirana, will host the inaugural final of the UEFA Europa Conference League on 25th May 2022. The group stage will be followed by knockout round games, the round of 16, quarters, semis, and the final. Like the case with the top two UEFA competitions, the group stage of the inaugural Conference League will comprise eight groups of four teams. Ten teams eliminated from the Europa League play-offs.Five teams drawn from the Conference league champions path.17 teams drawn from the Conference League main path.However, the 32 teams at the group stage will comprise of: No team will qualify automatically for the group stage. UEFA has released an access list that outlines the teams that will participate in the competition and which round they will enter the competition.īesides, the list explains how clubs will transfer from the Champions League and Europa League into the Conference League. Teams dropping down from the Champions League and Europa League will have a champions path.
There will be three qualifying rounds as well as a play-off round before the group stage. In the 2021-2022 season, ten teams eliminated from the Europa League play-offs will automatically drop down to the Conference League.įor the most part, the Conference League will be for winners of domestic cup competitions in their respective countries. This idea is to make it harder to qualify for the second-tier UEFA competition so that more quality teams get relegated to the Europa Conference League. This season, the Europa League group stage has been cut back to 32 teams from 48. At least one team will be drawn from the 55 national associations, while 46 clubs will drop down from the Europa League or Champions League. Participation in the UEFA Conference LeagueĪccording to UEFA, 184 teams will get involved in the Europa Conference League in its inaugural season. Such a team would probably never have had the opportunity to participate in the elite UEFA club competitions.
Thus, it’s no surprise that hitherto unknown clubs such as Sochi FC participated in the tournament. Originally named “Europa League 2” as a tentative working title, the Conference League aims to give teams from smaller nations and associations an opportunity to play in Europe. The inaugural competition will incorporate clubs from more countries, thus making UEFA’s club tournaments more inclusive. The top two UEFA club tournaments primarily involved better funded and known teams. It will run alongside the Champions League and Europa League. UEFA inaugurated the competition to rope more clubs into the continental scene.
The Europa Conference League is the third-tier club competition below the Champions League and the Europa League. So, here’s all you need to know about UEFA’s latest brainchild: Many football enthusiasts are yet to understand what the competition is all about. However, the competition still elicits fierce debate amongst football fans, pundits, and bookmakers in UK and beyond. It’s been less than a month since the first UEFA Europa Conference League match was played.