The Europa Conference League reignites this week! Chelsea hosts Gent, and Real Betis travels to face Legia Warsaw

On October 2nd, the group stage of the new season of the Europa Conference League is set to kick off. Due to the restructuring of Europe’s third-tier competition, the Europa Conference League has adopted a league system similar to that of the Champions League and Europa League. Each team will play three home and three away matches against a total of six different opponents during the league stage. The top eight teams in the league stage will directly advance to the Round of 18, while teams ranked 9th to 24th will compete for the remaining eight spots in the Round of 16. The first round of league matches is about to begin, with particular attention on the teams from the top five leagues.

In the first round, Chelsea will host Belgian powerhouse Gent at home. The latter secured their participation by defeating Genk in last season’s Belgian Europa Conference League qualifying playoffs and went on to defeat IFK Göteborg, Silkeborg, and Partizan Belgrade to reach the main tournament. This shows that Gent should not be underestimated.

Serie A team Fiorentina will also play at home, facing The New Saints. As champions of last season’s Welsh Premier League, The New Saints suffered defeats in both the Champions League and Europa League qualifiers but managed to secure their historic first entry into European competition by winning the Europa Conference League playoff against Parnawa.

German Bundesliga team FC Heidenheim will host Ljubljana Olympia at home, while La Liga’s Real Betis will travel to face Legia Warsaw. In addition to teams from the top five leagues, teams from Denmark, Norway, Austria, Hungary, and others will also take the stage, and we look forward to seeing what sparks will fly in the first round!