The draw for the Uefa Conference League play-offs takes place this afternoon with the tournament entering the knockout stages in February.
Chelsea are the only Premier League club involved in the competition and they are already through to the round of 16 having won all six of their league phase matches and finished top of the table. Enzo Maresca’s men can now relax until 21st February when the draw for the round of 16 and beyond takes place.
Instead, the likes of Ireland’s Shamrock Rovers and Greece’s Panathinaikos FC will be eagerly awaiting the results of today’s draw to see who they will face in a two-legged play-off before the knockout rounds properly begin.
There are 16 teams in today’s draw but only eight can progress to the last-16. Follow the Uefa Conference League play-off draw with out live blog below:
Uefa Conference League play-off round draw LIVE
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The draw for the Conference League play-offs takes in Nyon
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Chelsea have already progressed to the round of 16
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Shamrock Rovers will face Molde in play-off round
Marc Guiu shines again as Chelsea complete perfect Conference League group stage
12:43 , Mike Jones
Chelsea signed off with a perfect record in the league phase of the Conference League as Marc Guiu scored a first-half hat-trick to seal a 5-1 demolition of League of Ireland side Shamrock Rovers at Stamford Bridge.
The 18-year-old former Barcelona striker is yet to start for head coach Enzo Maresca in the Premier League but selected for the fourth time in Europe he demonstrated a poacher’s instinct to bury the visiting side, twice intercepting passes back to the goalkeeper to score before glancing in a fine header for his third.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall also netted, as did Marc Cucurella for the second time in as many matches, as Chelsea confirmed what had long been apparent – they have been far too strong for the teams they have faced in the first phase of Europe’s third competition.
Marc Guiu shines again as Chelsea complete perfect Conference League group stage
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
12:30 , Mike Jones
Based on the other league phase results it is now clear that Chelsea will play either the winners of Gent (17) vs Real Betis (15) or the winners of Copenhagen (18) vs Heidenheim (16) in the last-16.
That will only become clear after the play-off round is done and the draw for the rest of the knockouts follows.
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
12:28 , Mike Jones
Here are the full results of the draw:
Gent (17) vs Real Betis (15)
TSC Backa Topola (24) vs Jagiellonia (9th)
Celje (21) vs APOEL (11th)
Vikingur Reykjavík (19) vs Panathinaikos (13)
Borac (20) vs Olimpija (14)
Omonoia (22) vs Pafos (12)
Molde (23) vs Shamrock Rovers (10)
Copenhagen (18) vs Heidenheim (16)
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
12:25 , Mike Jones
Finally, Jagiellonia Białystok (9th) will play TSC Bačka Topola (24th) and Shamrock Rovers (10th) face Molde (23rd).
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
12:24 , Mike Jones
Panathinaikos FC (13th) will face Víkingur Reykjavík (19th) while NK Olimpija Ljubljana (14th) take on FK Borac (20th).
APOEL FC (11th) take on NK Celje (21st) and Pafos FC face Omonoia FC (22nd).
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
12:22 , Mike Jones
Okay, now we’ll find out who plays who.
First out will be the teams that finished 15th and 16th and they will face the teams who finished 17th and 18th.
Real Betis come out first and they’ll take on Gent on the silver side of the draw.
Facing FC Copenhagen is FC Heidenheim.
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
12:20 , Mike Jones
The eight unseeded teams need to come out of the pots first before the fixtures can be made.
On the silver side of the draw goes Víkingur Reykjavík (19th) and FK Borac (20th) are placed on the green side.
Finally for this part of the draw, Gent (17th) are put on the silve side and FC Copenhagen (18th) on the green side.
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
12:18 , Mike Jones
The first team out is TSC Bačka Topola (24th) and they are placed on the silver side of the draw with Molde (23rd) put on the green side.
Next out will be the teams who finished 22nd and 21st.
They are NK Celje (21st) who go on the silver side with Omonoia FC (22nd) on the green side.
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
12:16 , Mike Jones
Legia Warszawa legend Michal Zewlakow is now on stage as the special guest who will be pulling out the balls.
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
12:15 , Mike Jones
So, simply put teams have been paired together based on where they finished in the league phase. 9th and 10th together, 11th and 12th together etc.
The teams that finished 23rd and 24th will end up facing one of the two teams that finished 9th and 10th. The draw will then be repeated for the remaining pairings.
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
12:12 , Mike Jones
There’s a reflection on stage about what the tournament means and how it provides European experience for teams that wouldn’t usually get some.
An example being Shamrock Rovers getting to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last night – they lost 5-1.
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
12:07 , Mike Jones
Giorgio Marchetti is introduced to the stage to oversee the draw and explain how it will all work including the different pot pairings and how the league position helps determine the draw for the play off rounds.
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
12:06 , Mike Jones
Here’s a reminded of the 16 clubs in the draw:
Seeded
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Jagiellonia Białystok (POL)
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Shamrock Rovers FC (IRL)
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APOEL FC (CYP)
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Pafos FC (CYP)
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Panathinaikos FC (GRE)
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NK Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN)
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Real Betis Balompié (ESP)
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1. FC Heidenheim 1846 (GER)
Unseeded
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
12:00 , Mike Jones
It’s almost time for the draw to begin. Coverage will soon be starting over on uefa.com and we’ll have all the updates in this live blog so stay tuned.
Uefa Conference League knockout phase
11:54 , Mike Jones
Knockout phase play-offs: 13 and 20 February
Round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final draws: 21 February
Round of 16: 6 and 13 March
Quarter-finals: 10 and 17 April
Semi-finals: 1 and 8 May
Final: 28 May in Wroclaw
When do the knockout phase play-off games take place?
11:48 , Mike Jones
The knockout phase play-offs are played over the course of two weeks:
First legs: 13 February 2025Second legs: 20 February 2025
Are their any other limitations?
11:42 , Mike Jones
No, sides can face another team from the same national association in the knockout phase play-offs and clubs can also face opponents they met during the league phase.
How does the draw work?
11:36 , Mike Jones
Once all the pairings of unseeded teams have been drawn and assigned to an appropriate position on the bracket, the draw continues with the seeded teams, starting with the pairing ranked 15/16.
The process is the same as previously described for the unseeded teams, with the first team drawn from the relevant bowl allocated to the reserved designated spot on one side of the bracket and the second team on the other side.
The procedure is repeated for the remaining pairings, finishing with the teams ranked 9/10 to complete the pairings for the knockout phase play-offs.
How does the draw work?
11:30 , Mike Jones
The draw is carried out using a seeding bracket with each pair of teams allocated two predefined potential positions according to their league phase rankings.
Eight bowls are prepared for the draw, with the balls containing the names of the seeded and unseeded teams placed in the corresponding marked bowls according to the league phase rankings.
The draw starts with the unseeded teams, allocating each team from a pair of unseeded teams to one of the relevant pre-determined positions in the bracket, starting with the sides ranked 23/24 and finishing with those in 17/18.
How can I follow the draw?
11:24 , Mike Jones
The draw takes place at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland and can be streamed live on Uefa.com. The Independent will have live coverage in this live blog.
Who are the unseeded teams?
11:18 , Mike Jones
Here are the unseeded teams for the draw placed in order of how they finished in the league table from 17th to 24th:
KAA Gent (BEL)
F.C. Copenhagen (DEN)
Víkingur Reykjavík (ISL)
FK Borac (BIH)
NK Celje (SVN)
Omonoia FC (CYP)
Molde FK (NOR)
TSC Bačka Topola (SRB)
Who are the seeded teams?
11:12 , Mike Jones
Here are the seeded teams for the draw placed in order of how they finished in the league table from 9th to 16th:
Jagiellonia Białystok (POL)
Shamrock Rovers FC (IRL)
APOEL FC (CYP)
Pafos FC (CYP)
Panathinaikos FC (GRE)
NK Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN)
Real Betis Balompié (ESP)
1. FC Heidenheim 1846 (GER)
Which teams are in the Conference League knockout phase play-off draw?
11:06 , Mike Jones
The teams that finished between ninth and 24th in the inaugural league phase will compete in a two-legged knockout phase play-off to secure their path to the last 16 of the competition.
They are split into two groups: Seeded and Unseeded.
What is the play-off round draw?
11:00 , Mike Jones
The top eight finishers from the Uefa Conference League league phase have automatically qualified for the round of 16. These teams include the likes of Chelsea and Fiorentina.
To determine which eight teams join them there will be a play-off round for the teams that finished 9th-24th in the table. The play-off will be a two-legged tie and the winner enters the bracket for the round of 16 and onwards.
Potential opponents are also pre-defined by pairings of teams’ final league positions. For example, teams finishing ninth and tenth will face the sides that ended 23rd or 24th; teams finishing 11th or 12th will be drawn against either the 21st or 22nd-placed sides and so on.
Good morning!
09:44 , Mike Jones
Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of today’s Uefa Conference League play-off round draw.
16 teams will discover who they face in the first knockout round of the competition as they look to progress through to the last-16 ties which will take place in March.
Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea are already through to the next stage of the competition so won’t be in the draw but Ireland’s Shamrock Rovers, who were beaten by Chelsea last night, will be.
We’ll break down who’s in the draw and how it works before the action takes place at 12pm.
