Uefa Conference League draw LIVE: Chelsea discover play-off round opponents plus Hearts in Europa
The 2024/25 season is fast approaching and the Blues are set to compete in Europe’s third-tier competition
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The new domestic season is just around the corner after a summer of international football at the Olympics, Euro 2024 and the Copa America - and for one Premier League team in Chelsea, a new start under a new boss also means a new competition.
They’ll be taking part in the newly rebranded Uefa Conference League - formerly the Europa Conference League - after finishing sixth in the top flight last season. That would have seen them sneak into the Europa League, but Manchester United’s FA Cup victory instead bumped them down into the third Uefa competition.
Enzo Maresca has had a tricky start to life as boss after switching from Leicester in summer and he’s still yet to take charge of a top-flight game, but now knows he’ll need to beat either Braga or Servette to take Chelsea through into the group stage in Europe.
Follow the live blog below for the full play-off round draw reaction and Chelsea’s draw:
Europa League play-off draw LIVE
So TNS are off to Macedonia first and if they win, it’s off to Azerbaijan or Bulgaria in the first leg of the play-off.
In Group 2 we’ve got Shamrock Rovers from Ireland involved. On we go.
Europa League play-off draw LIVE
Europa League play-offs Group 1
FC Dinamo Minsk (BLR) / Lincoln Red Imps FC (GIB) v RSC Anderlecht (BEL)
Jagiellonia Bialystok (POL) / FK Bodø/Glimt (NOR) v Panathinaikos FC (GRE) / AFC Ajax (NED)
Qarabag FK (AZE) / PFC Ludogorets 1945 (BUL) v FC Petrocub (MDA) / The New Saints FC (WAL)
FK Partizan (SRB) / FC Lugano (SUI) v Besiktas JK (TUR)
Europa League play-off draw LIVE
Group 1 coming up: Ajax, Besiktas and Anderlecht are among the bigger names here. The New Saints FC are the Welsh representatives awaiting their fate.
Europa League play-off draw LIVE
Tom Barlow, the Uefa senior competitions manager is speaking now ahead of the draw:
First legs on 22 August, second legs on 29.
We then embark on a ludicrous coefficient-based explanation of why there are so many teams, where they come from and why they are already split into draws. Not sure too many care any more, these get longer and longer.
Anyway, the seeded and unseeded sides from each Group are in separate bowls, one from each is plucked and dropped into a new bowl, then they are shuffled and picked again to determine home and away in each leg.
Chelsea await Uefa Conference League draw
Not that it affects today’s draw too much but a reminder of the national pairings who are kept apart by Uefa:
Armenia – Azerbaijan Gibraltar – Spain Kosovo – Bosnia-Herzegovina Kosovo – Serbia Kosovo – Russia* Ukraine – Russia* Ukraine – Belarus
Russia, in any case, remain prohibited from competing from Uefa competitions, including Russian club outfits.
Chelsea await Uefa Conference League draw
So the Europa League draw is up first of course, starting in around 10-15 minutes. Chelsea’s Conference League draw will follow that from 1pm.
The last time they were in a third-tier European competition was 1998/99, when they were in the old Uefa Cup Winners’ Cup and reached the semi-finals, losing to Mallorca before Lazio in turn beat the Spanish side in the final.
Since then they’ve won the 2012 Champions League, the 2013 Europa League, the same competition again in 2019 and the 2021 Champions League.
Bit of a fall over the last couple of years since then, highlighting the job Maresca has on his hands.
Chelsea await Uefa Conference League draw
New Chelsea signing Marc Guiu reveals reasons behind Barcelona exit
Chelsea’s new striker Marc Guiu says his move to England was all about playing in the Premier League and not about money. The 18-year-old joined from Barcelona after the Blues triggered a £5m release clause in his contract, a move he described as a dream.
“I’ve always dreamt of playing in the Premier League and Chelsea is a great club with a lot of history,” he said.
“It was a tough decision but it was an amazing opportunity, so I had to go for it.”
The Spaniard has made four appearances for Chelsea during their preseason tour of the USA, scoring once in the 3-0 win over Club America - and he believes he is ready to make a name for himself in the Premier League.
New Chelsea signing Guiu reveals reasons behind Barcelona exit
He took just 33 seconds to score on his Barcelona debut, with the winner against Athletic Club
Chelsea await Uefa Conference League draw
Enzo Maresca hasn’t had an easy start to what is not an easy job, clearly.
Chelsea drew with Wrexham and lost to Celtic as well as Man City, though they have beaten Club America. Here’s what the head coach has said about his team’s summer form:
“I have no doubts about the progress this team is making in this moment. Mistakes are part of the process.
“I have known City for many years and even in friendly games, they don’t concede possession to the opposition, don’t concede many chances and they have long [spells of] possession. Thinking about the first half, I don’t remember them making six or seven passes in a row, so that was good from us off the ball.
“On the ball, we had many long [spells of] possession, some good chances and – I don’t know but I think – we had about 60 per cent possession in the first half.
“It doesn’t matter that it was a friendly game and they didn’t have six or seven of their starting players missing, this is the analysis of this moment.
“In any game, if you concede two goals [early on], it is not good.”
Chelsea await Uefa Conference League draw
So this is one the more long-winded and quite absurd Uefa processes for these draws, involving teams from different paths and indeed different competitions, some of which are not yet known.
But the Groups are already set and seeded teams from each group therefore know they’ll be facing one of the unseeded options from that collection, meaning Chelsea’s options are thus:
Maribor (Slovenia) or FK Vojvodina (Serbia)
Spartak Trnava (Slovakia) or Wisla Krakow (Poland)
Paksi FC (Hungary) or Mornar (Montenegro)
St Patrick's Athletic (Ireland) or Sabah (Azerbaijan)
Braga (Portugal) or Servette (Switzerland)*
Now, while that’s fairly straightforward for the most part, the top four fixtures listed there are Conference qualifying ties, so it would be Chelsea vs the winner of whichever they are drawn against.
If they are drawn against Braga or Servette, however, they will play the loser of that tie - as it’s a Europa League qualifier, so the loser drops down into the Conference play-off instead.
Chelsea await Uefa Conference League draw
Chelsea are the big British club involved of course, but not the only one today. Also featuring from the UK and Ireland in the two draws will be...
Europa League:
The New Saints FC (WAL) - unseeded Group 1
Shamrock Rovers FC (IRL) - unseeded Group 2
Heart of Midlothian FC (SCO) - unseeded Group 3
Conference League:
Kilmarnock FC (SCO) - unseeded Group 1
St Mirren FC (SCO) - unseeded Group 2
Chelsea FC (ENG) - seeded Group 3
St Patrick’s Athletic (IRL) - unseeded Group 3
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