The Europa Conference League is another UEFA club competition that will run alongside the
Champions League and
Europa League from next season.
It has been introduced so clubs from more national associations are involved in UEFA competitions. The new structure means that at least 34 nations will be represented in the group stage of the three competitions, with 12 domestic champions set to feature in the Europa Conference League.
One place is also reserved for a
Premier League club. Spain, Germany, Italy and France will have one spot, while Scotland, Portugal, Netherlands, Russia and Belgium get two.
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said: “The new UEFA club competition makes UEFA’s club competitions more inclusive than ever before. There will be more matches for more clubs, with more associations represented in the group stages.”
How will it work?
There will be eight groups of four teams in which every team will play each other twice. The group winners automatically qualify for the last 16.
Prior to the first knockout round, an additional play-off round will be contested between the eight group runners-up and the teams who finished in third-place in the Europa League groups. The winners will progress to the last 16 of the Europa Conference League.
Who qualifies from the Premier League?
As it stands, the likelihood is that the seventh-placed Premier League team will be England’s representative in the Europa Conference League.
The winner of the
Carabao Cup would ordinarily be granted a place in the competition, but this year it was
Manchester City who lifted the cup (for the fourth consecutive season) and they’ve already qualified for the Champions League.
This means that their place will be passed onto the next highest-ranked Premier League side who haven’t qualified for Europe.
Similarly, the winner of the
FA Cup earns a place in the Europa League. However,
Leicester - who are in the Premier League’s top four - won this season's final with a dramatic 1-0 win over
Chelsea.
Therefore, provided the Foxes remain in their current position, sixth place would get a place in the Europa League and seventh a spot in the inaugural Europa Conference League.
Who qualifies from the Scottish Premiership?
Third-placed Hibernian and fourth-placed Aberdeen have already qualified for the Europa Conference League.
Will it impact the Champions League and Europa League?
The introduction of the Europa Conference League means the number of teams competing in the Europa League group stages will be reduced from 48 to 32.
Like in the Europa Conference League, the eight runners-up in the Europa League groups will take on the eight third-placed teams in the Champions League groups for a place in the last 16.