UEFA has conducted the draw for the first phase of the 2024/25 Conference League.

Following the format changes applied to both the Champions League and Europa League, the Conference League has also been restructured to feature a league stage and a knockout stage, with 36 qualifying teams competing in a single table.

The key difference in the Conference League is that each team will play only six league matches, compared to the eight played by clubs in the Champions League and Europa League.

Teams were placed into six pots based on their UEFA coefficient rankings and were drawn to face one team from each pot. Each club will play three home fixtures and three away.

Here’s a guide to the competing teams and who Chelsea will be facing.

Pots for Conference League league phase draw

• Pot One: Chelsea, Kobenhavn, Gent, Fiorentina, LASK, Real Betis.

• Pot Two: Istanbul Basaksehir, Molde, Legia Warsaw, Heidenheim, Djugardens, APOEL.

• Pot Three: Rapid Wien, Omonia, HJK Helsinki, Vitoria de Guimaraes, Astana, Olimpija Ljubljana.

• Pot Four: Cercle Brugge, Shamrock Rovers, The New Saints, Lugano, Heart of Midlothian, Mlada Boleslav.

• Pot Five: Petrocub Hincesti, St Gallen, Panathinaikos, TSC Topola, Borac Banja Luka, Jagiellonia Bialystok.

• Pot Six: Celje, Larne, Dinamo Minsk, Pafos, Vikingur Reykjavik, Noah.

Chelsea’s Conference League draw

Chelsea enter the 2024/25 Conference League as heavy favorites, boasting the highest UEFA coefficient in the competition (96.000). Despite avoiding many of the other big names, Enzo Maresca’s side will face some challenging and lengthy away trips.

Their Pot 1 opponents are Gent, who secured their spot by winning the Belgian Pro League’s mini-league for European qualification at the end of the 2023/24 season. Chelsea will host this match at Stamford Bridge.

From Pot 2, Chelsea will face a tricky away tie against Bundesliga side Heidenheim, who are making their European debut.

The Blues’ farthest journey in the league stage will take them to Kazakhstan to face Astana, a team with regular European experience.

An intriguing draw from Pot 4 sees Irish champions Shamrock Rovers visiting Stamford Bridge, adding a unique flavor to Chelsea’s campaign.

In Pot 5, Chelsea drew Greek giants Panathinaikos for another tough away fixture.

Finally, Chelsea’s Pot 6 opponents are Armenian minnows Noah, who enter the competition with the lowest coefficient (2.125).

When does the Conference League league phase begin?

UEFA will release the full Conference League schedule with fixtures on 31 August, though dates for the league phase have already been set in stone.

Provisionally, teams will not play more than two successive home or away games, while they will split one home and one away match for the last two fixtures.

The full Conference League draw for all 36 teams can be found HERE

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UEFA has announced a new format for the Champions League, set to take effect from the 2024-2025 season onward.

In the video announcement shared by UEFA (via Fabrizio Romano), key changes to the competition format were outlined.

The current 32-team group stage will be replaced by a unified 36-team league phase across the Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League.

Under this new format, each team will face eight different opponents, with two matchups against each team drawn from four seeding pots. This means teams will play four home games and four away games.

The top eight teams in the league phase will advance directly to the Round of 16.

Teams ranked ninth through 24th will compete in a knockout playoff round to join the top eight teams in the pre-quarterfinals.

However, teams ranked 25th to 36th will be eliminated directly from all competitions, a departure from the previous system where third-placed group finishers dropped down to the preliminary playoff round of the lower European leagues.

🚨🏆 New Champions League format from 2024/25, confirmed.pic.twitter.com/XHqye6FQZO

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 4, 2024

Recall, Al Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has shared his predictions for the winners of the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League. The former Real Madrid star believes that Manchester City, the current titleholders, have a “good chance” of securing the coveted trophy for the second time.

In addition to Manchester City, Ronaldo identified two other football powerhouses, Real Madrid and Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, as strong contenders for Champions League glory this season.

The 38-year-old, drawing from his extensive European experience, mentioned, “Manchester City have a good chance to win the Champions League again for sure. Favorites? Man City, Real Madrid, Bayern.”

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According to reports, West Ham United turned down Arsenal initial offer for captain Declan Rice, but negotiations between the two teams will continue.

Following their victory over Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League, the Hammers have been waiting for offers to come in for Rice. Their negotiation position is clear: a deal cannot be reached without an offer of at least £100 million.

The club has grudgingly agreed to release the 24-year-old, and Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Manchester United are all interested in signing Rice. Chairman David Sullivan just acknowledged this.

The front-runners for Rice have been Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal and reported on Tuesday that the club had hinted at being willing to meet West Ham’s asking price. However, sources have stated that the initial offer was just for £80 million plus an additional £10 million, and West Ham quickly rejected it.

Given that they have been very clear about their position on Rice’s price, the Hammers are in fact perplexed and startled by the magnitude of Arsenal’s offer.

Rice’s contract with West Ham runs through the summer of 2025, thus the club would likely be able to get the most money from a sale this year. He had previously mentioned his desire to play in the Champions League and win titles, but he has now fulfilled the latter after becoming only the third captain in the club’s history to raise trophies above his head, after Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds.

The negotiations between West Ham and Arsenal will continue over the next few days, although Chelsea, Manchester City, and Manchester United are all prepared to make an offer for Rice.

Meanwhile, the Hammers are working diligently in the background to find Rice’s replacements. Among the players shortlisted as prospective candidates, Kalvin Phillips, Edson Alvarez, and Joao Palhinha are three.

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West Ham chairman David Sullivan has revealed that Declan Rice wants to leave the club this summer and expects to part ways with the midfielder soon.

After beating Fiorentina on Wednesday to win the Europa Conference League final, reports that West Ham is anticipating many offers for their star midfielder, with Rice carrying a £100 million price tag.

Rice protested after hoisting the trophy that it was “not goodbye yet,” but Sullivan has now acknowledged that he thinks the 24-year-old has played his last game for the team.

“I think it has to be [Rice’s final game],” Sullivan told talkSPORT. “We promised him he could go. He set his heart on going. You can’t ask for a man who has committed more to us this season.

“In due course, he has to get on and we have to get a replacement – or several replacements.

“It’s not something we want to happen. We offered him £200,000-a-week 18 months ago. He turned it down. It’s cost him £10m to stay at West Ham in that time [in lost wages]. And he wants to go. You can’t keep a player who doesn’t want to be there.”

Sullivan insisted West Ham are yet to receive any bids for Rice but, with their calendar now clear, he believes the bids will start flying in.

“I think the offers will start to come today,” he continued. “There are three or four clubs who have shown interest, but out of respect to West Ham, while we’re still playing, you don’t make offers for players.

“That’s not the way decent clubs do things.”

According to sources, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Manchester United are all interested in signing Rice, while Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich are also intrigued.

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In a thrilling final match in Prague on Wednesday night, West Ham United defeated Fiorentina 2-1 to win the second season of the UEFA Europa Conference League.

Luka Jovic believed he had given Fiorentina the lead in the first half stoppage time when Alphonse Areola mishandled Christian Kouame’s header, but VAR intervened following a protracted offside examination. Fiorentina controlled the game for extensive stretches without really posing a danger.

Early in the second half, Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi was given a penalty for a handball in the area after previously being injured by a projectile thrown by West Ham supporters in the crowd.

Said Benrahma confidently converted the resulting spot-kick. However, Giacomo Bonaventura equalized less than five minutes later with a beautiful finish into the far corner. The game was then becoming stretched when Rolando Mandragora missed a great opportunity to totally change the course of the match.

Until Lucas Paqueta slipped in Bowen, who still had a lot to do but finished coolly to win West Ham’s first trophy since 1965, it appeared like extra time might be necessary. This led to raucous celebrations.

Many of Fiorentina’s attacking players impressed throughout the entire game, but Bowen deserves all the praise for permanently inking his name in Hammers history with a superbly taken goal, a true critical moment. A particular mention should also go to midfielder Declan Rice, who is unstoppable.

Pietro Terracciano of Fiorentina will be reflecting on his failure to stop Bowen’s goal and what could have been. Biraghi will also be kicking himself for making a careless handball that led to Benrahma’s penalty.

Going into this final, David Moyes’ status as West Ham’s manager was in question, but now the club looks up to him for guiding them to victory in Europe. If he chooses to, he now appears certain to remain in his position.

YOUR UEFA EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE CHAMPIONS. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/ZJNXnaF7uu

— West Ham United (@WestHam) June 7, 2023

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The Europa Conference League play-off round draw has been made and unveiled. Check out all the confirmed fixtures below.

In its second year, the Europa Conference League has proven to be a thrilling competition to watch. Great football has been played by top teams like West Ham United, Fiorentina, Basel, and many others.

With the group stages concluding, we now advance to the next stage of the competition which is the play-off round.

The teams that placed second in their Europa Conference League group will play a third-place team from the Europa League group stage in the play-off round.

Which knockout round play-off tie do you want to see? 🤔

_______ 🆚 _______#UECLDraw | #UECL pic.twitter.com/eb4ILXBdnD

— UEFA Europa Conference League (@europacnfleague) November 7, 2022

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Here is the full Europa Conference League play-off round draw.

The teams will play home and away, with the team on the left of the fixture playing at home first:

• Qarabag DK vs KAA Gent
• Trabzonspor vs FC Basel
• SS Lazio vs 1907 Cluj
• FK Bodo/Glimt vs Lech Poznan
• SC Braga vs Fiorentina
• AEK Larnaca vs Dnipro-1
• FC Sheriff vs FK Partizan
• Ludogorets vs Anderlecht

The knockout round play-off draw is set! 🤩

Which game are you looking forward to?#UECLdraw pic.twitter.com/aXNxs0Poiz

— UEFA Europa Conference League (@europacnfleague) November 7, 2022

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