August 30 – Chelsea, who clung on to an aggregate 2-1 win against Servette last night to qualify for UEFA’s third tier Conference League club competition, will face Belgium’s Gent and Ireland’s Shamrock Rovers in the newly formatted six-match league phase of the competition.
Chelsea are footballing royalty and in this competition they stick out like an entitled king who has stumbled into a pauper’s banquet.
They were seeded at the top of Pot 1 and were drawn trips to FC Noah in Armenia and Astana in Kazakhstan. They will also play Heidenheim in Germany and Panathinaikos in Greece.
It is a far cry for a club that has ambition to return to ties against the elite of Europe in Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Munich and Milan.
But actually this is what inclusivity and merit-based performance is all about and UEFA have captured it in their ‘new era’ club competition. It doesn’t matter how deep your pockets are, what you wear in your feet that really counts. For the football purists who love the game this is a little bit life-affirming. It is the old values being brought through in a modern, updated and meaningful format.
Who isn’t going to be supporting FC Noah – who have already played eight matches in the Conference League to qualify for the League phase – when they turn up at Stamford Bridge?
For the league phase draw of the Europa Conference League clubs, were split into six groups of seven, ranked by their UEFA co-efficient.
A look through the draw in itself is a lesson financial diversity.
The Conference League has opened up European club football to more nations than ever before and with the qualification of The New Saints (TNS) from Wales and Larne from Northern Ireland, there are now 51 member nations who have had clubs qualified for UEFA’s competitions.
The 108 clubs qualified for the new-look Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, come from 40 of UEFA’s 55 member associations. There were 27 nations represented in the 36 clubs in the Conference League draw.
They may not all have the glamour and millions of the King’s Rd’s super-elite, but they are no strangers to winning football matches. Until recently, TNS held the record of 27 consecutive top-flight victories, achieved during the 2016-17 season. Chelsea may have something to learn about winning from these teams.
TNS may not win the competition but they will for the first time face some of football’s global names including Serie A’s Fiorentina and Panathinaikos from the Greek Super League. They also have an all-Celtic match up with Shamrock Rovers as well as ties with Sweden’s Durgarden, Astana and Slovenia’s Celje. Who knows, the UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin may even be present for that one in his home country.
Rangers versus Manchester United and Spurs in the Europa League draw promises some spicy encounters.
The Conference League can match it. Northern Ireland’s Larne vs Southern Ireland’s Shamrock Rovers promises to be no less of a classic.
To see who has been drawn against whom in the Conference League, click here.
2024/25 Conference League: League phase draw pots
Pot 1
Chelsea (ENG), Copenhagen (DEN), Gent (BEL), Fiorentina (ITA)
LASK (AUT), Real Betis (ESP)
Pot 2
Başakşehir (TUR), Molde (NOR), Legia Warszawa (POL), Heidenheim (GER), Djurgården (SWE), APOEL (CYP)
Pot 3
SK Rapid (AUT), Omonoia (CYP), Helsinki (FIN), Vitória SC (POR), Astana (KAZ), Olimpija (SVN)
Pot 4
Cercle Brugge (BEL), Shamrock Rovers (IRL), The New Saints (WAL), Lugano (SUI), Hearts (SCO), Mladá Boleslav (CZE)
Pot 5
Petrocub (MDA), St. Gallen (SUI), Panathinaikos (GRE), TSC (SRB), Borac (BIH), Jagiellonia (POL)
Pot 6
Celje (SVN), Larne (NIR), Dinamo-Minsk (BLR), Pafos (CYP), Víkingur (ISL), Noah (ARM)
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734948974labto1734948974ofdlr1734948974owedi1734948974sni@n1734948974osloh1734948974cin.l1734948974uap1734948974