The 2024–25 UEFA Conference League league phase will begin on 2 October and end on 19 December 2024. A total of 36 teams will compete in the league phase to decide the 24 places in the knockout phase of the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League.
This will be the first season with the single-league format, which replaces the group format used until the previous season.[1] With the format change, the number of matches prior to the knockout phase will increase from 96 to 108.
Format
Each team will play six matches, three at home and three away, against six different opponents, with all 36 teams ranked in a single league table. Teams will be separated into six pots based on their 2024 UEFA club coefficients, and each team will play one team from each of the six pots. The top eight ranked teams will receive a bye to the round of 16. The teams ranked from 9th to 24th will contest the knockout phase play-offs, with the teams ranked from 9th to 16th seeded for the draw. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th are eliminated from the competition.
Tiebreakers
Teams will be ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams are equal on points upon completion of the league phase, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine their rankings:[2]
Goal difference;
Goals scored;
Away goals scored;
Wins;
Away wins;
Higher number of points obtained collectively by league phase opponents;
Superior collective goal difference of league phase opponents;
Higher number of goals scored collectively by league phase opponents;
Lower disciplinary points total (direct red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
The 36 teams were divided into six pots of six teams each, with teams allocated to pots based on their 2024 UEFA club coefficients.[3][4] The participants include:
The draw for the league phase pairings was held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on 30 August 2024, 14:30 CEST.[5][6] All 36 teams were manually drawn using physical balls. For every team manually drawn, automated software digitally drew their opponents at random, determining which of their matches were at home and which ones away. Each team will face one opponent from each of the six pots, three of which they will face at home and three away. For the purposes of determining match venues, pots were paired (Pot 1 with 2, 3 with 4, and 5 with 6) so that, for each pot pairing, teams faced one opponent at home and one away. Teams could not face opponents from their own association, and could only be drawn against a maximum of two sides from the same association. The draw started with Pot 1, assigning opponents to all teams, one after the other, and continued with the other pots in descending order until all teams were assigned their opponents.[7][8][9]
The switch to a primarily computer-based draw was made due to issues with the complexity and duration required by a manual draw.[10] The draw software, developed by AE Live, will guarantee total randomness within the framework of the draw conditions and prevent any deadlock situations. The software was reviewed by external auditor Ernst & Young, which will also provide review and control of the manual and digital draw operations on-site.[7]
The venue for each club's fixtures is shown in brackets below (H: home; A: away).
The fixture list was announced on 31 August 2024, the day after the draw.[13][14][15] This was to ensure no calendar clashes with teams in Champions League and Europa League playing in the same cities.[7]
In principle, each team will not play more than two home matches or two away matches in a row, and will play one home match and one away match across both the first and last two matchdays. The matches will be played on 3 October, 24 October, 7 November, 28 November, 12 December and 19 December 2024 (exclusive week).[note 2] All matches will be played on Thursdays. In principle, the scheduled kick-off times will be 16:30, 18:45 and 21:00 CET/CEST. All fixtures on the final matchday will be played simultaneously at 21:00.[17][18]
Times are CET or CEST,[note 3] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
^As part of the scheduling for the 2024–25 UEFA men's club season, each competition will have an "exclusive week" in the calendar, with no other competitions scheduled during this week. For the Conference League, this will take place on matchday 6 (19 December 2024).[16]
^CEST (UTC+2) for dates up to 26 October 2024 (matchdays 1–2), and CET (UTC+1) for dates thereafter (matchdays 3–6).
^ abcAstana will play their home matches at Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, instead of their regular stadium, Astana Arena, Astana, due to renovation works.[23]
^ abcNoah will play their home matches at Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, instead of their regular stadium, Armavir City Stadium, Armavir, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^ abcLugano will play their home matches at Stockhorn Arena, Thun, instead of their regular stadium, Cornaredo Stadium, Lugano, due to renovation work.[34]
^ abcPetrocub Hîncești will play their home matches at Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău, instead of their regular stadium, Stadionul Municipal, Hîncești, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^ abcLarne will play their home matches at Windsor Park, Belfast, instead of their regular stadium, Inver Park, Larne, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^ abcPafos will play their home matches at the Alphamega Stadium, Limassol, instead of their regular stadium, Stelios Kyriakides Stadium, Paphos, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^ abcVíkingur Reykjavík will play their home matches at Laugardalsvöllur, instead of their regular stadium, Víkingsvöllur, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
