The draws for the 2024-25 UEFA Conference League season were held on Friday at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
The new Conference League format will see all 36 teams compete in a single league phase, with each side facing six different teams comprising of three home and three away matches.
The top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the knockout stages, while the teams finishing in ninth to 24th place will compete in a two-legged play-off to secure a place in the last 16 of the competition. Teams ranked 25-36 will be eliminated from all competitions.
The official draw of the NEW UEFA Conference League! 🆕🌟
Each team has been drawn a different team from each pot to face either home or away.
Some interesting ties are in store!#TheGoalpostNews #UEFAConferenceLeague #ConferenceLeague #UECL #UECLDraw #UEFA #Football #Soccer pic.twitter.com/74nN0Lfhch
— The Goalpost (@TGoalpost) August 30, 2024
Drawn in Pot 1, Chelsea, competing in their first-ever Conference League campaign, have been handed away games against Bundesliga side Heidenheim, Gent, and Astana. Meanwhile, the Premier League club will welcome Panathinaikos, Shamrock Rovers and Armenian side Noah FC to the Stamford Bridge.
As the highest-ranked team in the competition, the Blues are bidding to become the first team to win the Champions League, the Europa League, and the Conference League.
Scottish side Hearts, have been drawn at home against Copenhagen, Omonoia Nicosia, and Petrocub. Subsequently, they will battle Cercle Brugge, Heidenheim and Dinamo Minsk away from home.
Shamrock Rovers will welcome APOEL, The New saints and Borac to the Tallaght Stadium, while visits to Chelsea, SK Rapid and Larne awaits them in their away encounters.
Larne being the first Irish League club to progress to the group stages of a European club competition will battle Gent, Shamrock Robers and Dinamo Minsk at home, with away fixtures against Molde and Dinamo Minsk.
The New Saints of Wales will host Djugarden, Astana while also visiting Fiorentina, Shamrock Rovers ,Panathinaikos and Celje.
The dates for all fixtures will be announced on Saturday, and this season’s UEFA Conference League final will be played in Stadion Wrocław in Poland, on May 28, 2025.
