The Europa Conference League is a brand new format from UEFA and will feature a Premier League team for its inaugural campaign.
The inaugural season of the Europa Conference League has started and if you’ve got no idea what that means, we’re on hand to explain the format and everything you need to know about UEFA’s latest brainchild.
The Champions League remains the crown jewel of European domestic football and the Europa League is growing in prestige with each passing season.
Now UEFA has introduced a third-tier European competition designed to bring more clubs onto the continental scene.
Whether you agree with the mission or not, it’s happening, and Tottenham are the first English team to enter the competition, starting in 2021/22.
RadioTimes.com brings you up to speed with everything you need to know about the Europa Conference League.
What is the Europa Conference League?
The Europa Conference League is the third UEFA club competition designed to slot into their club tournament system below the Champions League and Europa League. The new format begins from the start of the 2021/22 season.
The Champions League looks set to be reformed in the coming years, but for now it will operate in familiar fashion.
However, from this season, the Europa League group stage is set to be reduced from 48 teams to 32, the idea being that it is harder to qualify for the second-tier tournament and more quality teams will slide into the Europa Conference League.
It has been confirmed that 10 teams who are eliminated from the Europa League play-offs will drop into the UECL.
The winners of each group will progress to the Round of 16 knockouts, while the second-placed teams in each group will play the third-placed teams in the Europa League to determine who will also qualify for the UECL Round of 16.
What happens if you win the Europa Conference League?
The winner of the Europa Conference League will be automatically rewarded with a place in the Europa league for the following season, unless they qualify for the Champions League.
It remains to be seen whether the tournament will be truly embraced by teams who already field often weakened sides in the Europa League, but the allure of silverware – regardless of what it is – will always be a draw.
What are the Premier League European places?
Now, the big question, the multi-million pound question: which Premier League teams will qualify for the Europa Conference League?
The top four teams will qualify for the Champions League. The top three will all slide effortlessly into the Group Stage, while the fourth-placed team must go through a qualifying round first.
Teams in fifth and sixth will qualify for the Europa League automatically.
English teams’ route to qualification for the Europa Conference League is by finishing seventh or winning the EFL Cup.
It’s as simple as that, really.
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