Everything you need to know about the Conference League

Villarreal will be the first Spanish club to play in UEFA’s third competition

Villarreal sealed their participation in the next edition of the UEFA Europa Conference League after beating Barcelona at the Camp Nou (0-2). The Submarine will be the first Spanish club to play in the European competition. The Conference League debuted this season as an official competition. The finalists for this season are Roma and Feyenoord, who will play tonight’s final at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana, Albania.

Competition format

The group stage of the UEFA Europa Conference League is made up of 32 teams, divided into eight groups of four teams. To get there, teams need to get through four double-legged preliminary rounds. The first round will start on 7^th July and the final will be on 18^th and 25^th August. Villarreal will only play in the final play-off round.

After the group stage, the knock-out stage is like the UEFA Europa League. There will be a play-off between the third-placed team from each group in the Europa League and the second-placed team from the Conference League groups. The winners of that tie will go through to the Round of 16, alongside the first-placed team from each group of the competition.

The tournament will finish on 7^th June 2023, when the Eden Arena in Prague will host the final of the 2022/23 Conference League. The winner of the competition will qualify directly for the UEFA Europa League group stages, should they not have qualified for the UEFA Champions League via their domestic league.

The matches in the competition (except the final) will be played on Thursdays, at 4:30pm, 6:45pm or 9pm Central European time.

Yellows’ participation

As Villarreal CF will join the competition in the Play-off Round, should they get through that, they will play in the group stage, which will take place between September and November 2022.

Possible opponents

Other teams from leading European leagues who have qualified for the Conference League are West Ham (Englnad), Fiorentina (Italy), Köln (Germany) and OGC Nice (France).

Conference League schedule

Qualification stage
First qualifying round: 7^th and 14^th July 2022
Second qualifying round: 21^st and 28^th July 2022
Third qualifying round: 4^th and 11^th August 2022
Play-off round: 18^th and 25^th August 2022

Group stage
Matchday 1: 8^th September 2022
Matchday 2: 15^th September 2022
Matchday 3: 6^th October 2022
Matchday 4: 13^th October 2022
Matchday 5: 27^th October 2022
Matchday 6: 3^rd November 2022

Knockout stage
Play-off knockout round: 16^th and 23^rd February 2023
Round of 16: 9^th and 16^th March 2023
Quarter-finals: 13^th and 20^th April 2023
Semi-finals: 11^th and 18^th May 2023
Final: 7^th June 2023