On September 20, matches will begin in the groups of the 2023/24 Conference League. This is the third season, sorry for the tautology, of the third most prestigious European club tournament.
Any football fan can easily name the two previous winners of the competition – "Roma" and "West Ham United".
A "carrot" in the form of a pass to the group stage of the 2024/25 Europa League is dangled before the participants of the competition. This privilege is granted to the future trophy holder.
The reward is nullified if this club earns the right to participate in the 2024/25 Champions League based on the results of the national championship for 2023/24. However, practice shows that teams from the Conference League only dream of the Champions League.
The Conference League matches take place on Thursdays or on the same day as the Europa League. One round is scheduled for September and December, and two rounds for October and November.
Battles in the preliminary playoff stage will take place in the second half of February.
The main knockout stage schedule is as follows:
Round of 16 – March 7 and 14;
-
-
Quarter-finals – April 11 and 18;
-
Semi-finals – May 2 and 9;
-
Final – May 29 in Athens.
-
On September 1, a blind draw distributed 32 teams into 8 groups:
-
-
Group A – "Lille", "Slovan", "Olympia", "Klaksvik";
-
Group B – "Gent", "Maccabi" Tel Aviv, "Zorya", "Breidablik";
-
Group C – "Dinamo" Zagreb, "Victoria Plzen", "Astana", "Balkani";
-
Group D – "Brugge", "Bodø/Glimt", "Beşiktaş", "Lugano";
-
Group E – "Aston Villa", AZ, "Legia", "Zrinjski Mostar";
-
Group F – "Ferencváros", "Fiorentina", "Genk", "Čukarički";
-
Group G – "Eintracht", PAOK, HIK, "Aberdeen";
-
Group H – "Fenerbahçe", "Ludogorets", "Spartak" Trnava, "Nordsjælland".
-
In the overall modest list, those who recently "sniffed gunpowder" in the Champions League stand out – "Dinamo" Zagreb, "Victoria Plzen", "Brugge", "Beşiktaş", "Eintracht", "Fenerbahçe"...
All teams are eager to finish first and automatically advance to the Round of 16.
Clubs that finish the group stage in second place will participate in the playoff round. Third-placed teams from the Europa League groups will also qualify.
The duo of losers from each group will leave the Conference League for at least the next season.
Long-term Bets
In the "Conference League" section of the Leon bookmaker's line, long-term bets are not yet available. Stay tuned for updates.
At the moment, it is clear that the most realistic chance of becoming the third winner of the Conference League is given to "Aston Villa".
During the summer transfer window, the owners of this Birmingham club invested €88M in the acquisition of Pau Torres from "Villarreal" and Moussa Diaby from "Bayer". The Spaniard cost the "villans" €33M, while they paid €55M for the Frenchman.
Nicolo Zaniolo and Clement Lenglet joined the squad as loaned players.
Unai Emery has a number of high-class footballers at his disposal: world champion, goalkeeper – Emiliano Martinez, national team players from various countries – Matty Cash, Tyrone Mings, Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digne, Robin Olsen, Leander Dendoncker, Leon Bailey, John Duran.
No competitor can boast such a "world team".
We believe that "Villa" will not lack motivation. Firstly, it is honorable to win a European club trophy. Secondly, to secure a place in the Europa League 2024/25.
Comments 0
Please log in on the site, to add a comment, like or dislike.