The2024–25 UEFA Conference League league phase began on 2 October and ended on 19 December 2024. A total of 36 teams competed in the league phase to decide the 24 places in theknockout phase of the2024–25 UEFA Conference League.
This was the first season with thesingle-league format, which replaced the group format used until theprevious season.[1] With the format change, the number of matches prior to the knockout phase increased from 96 to 108.Vitória de Guimarães'Samu was the first-ever goalscorer of the competition's league phase.
Each team played six matches, three at home and three away, against six different opponents, with all 36 teams ranked in a single league table. Teams were separated into six pots based on their2024 UEFA club coefficients, and each team played one team from each of the six pots. The top eight ranked teams received 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 were eliminated from the competition.
Teams were ranked according topoints (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams were equal on points upon completion of the league phase, the following tiebreaking criteria were 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);
During the league phase, criteria 1 to 5 were used to rank teams who had equal number of points. If any teams were equal on points and tied on the first five criteria, they were considered equal in position and sorted alphabetically. Criteria 6 to 10 were only used to break ties upon completion of all matches.[3]
The 36 teams were divided into six pots of six teams each, with teams allocated to pots based on their 2024UEFA club coefficients.[4][5] The participants included:
The draw for the league phase pairings was held at theGrimaldi Forum inMonaco on 30 August 2024, 14:30CEST.[6][7] 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 were away. Each team faced one opponent from each of the six pots, three of which they faced at home and three away. For the purposes of determining match venues, adjacent 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 ascending order until all teams were assigned their opponents.[8][9][10]
The switch to a primarily computer-based draw was made due to issues with the complexity and duration required by a manual draw.[11] The draw software, developed by AE Live, guaranteed total randomness within the framework of the draw conditions and prevented any deadlock situations. The software was reviewed by external auditorErnst & Young, which also provided review and control of the manual and digital draw operations on-site.[8]
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.[14][15][16] This was to ensure no calendar clashes with teams inChampions League andEuropa League playing in the same cities.[8]
In principle, each team did not play more than two home matches or two away matches in a row, and played one home match and one away match across both the first and last two matchdays. The matches were played on 3 October, 24 October, 7 November, 28 November, 12 December and 19 December 2024 (exclusive week).[note 2] Matches were generally played on Thursdays. In principle, the scheduled kick-off times were 16:30, 18:45 and 21:00 CET/CEST. All fixtures on the final matchday were played simultaneously at 21:00.[18][19]
Times areCET orCEST,[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 had an "exclusive week" in the calendar, with no other competitions scheduled during this week. For the Conference League, this took place on matchday 6 (19 December 2024).[17]
^CEST (UTC+2) for dates up to 26 October 2024 (matchdays 1–2), andCET (UTC+1) for dates thereafter (matchdays 3–6).
^abcAstana played their home matches at Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, instead of their regular stadium,Astana Arena,Astana, due to renovation works.[28]
^abcNoah played 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 played their home matches at Stockhorn Arena, Thun, instead of their regular stadium,Cornaredo Stadium,Lugano, due to renovation work.[48]
^abcPetrocub Hîncești played their home matches at Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău, instead of their regular stadium,Stadionul Municipal,Hîncești, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^The Víkingur Reykjavík v Cercle Brugge match, originally scheduled for 21:00 (20:00UTC+0),[14] was later moved to 16:30 (15:30UTC+0).
^abcVíkingur Reykjavík played their home matches during the league phase at Kópavogsvöllur, Kópavogur, instead of their regular stadium,Víkingsvöllur,Reykjavík, which did not meet UEFA requirements. While the Kópavogsvöllur did not meet all the requirements due to inadequate floodlights, UEFA granted an exemption to allow matches to be played there, with the condition of an earlier kick-off time.[59]
^abcLarne played their home matches at Windsor Park, Belfast, instead of their regular stadium,Inver Park,Larne, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^abcPafos played their home matches at the Alphamega Stadium, Limassol, instead of their regular stadium,Stelios Kyriakides Stadium,Paphos, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^abcThe New Saints played their home matches at New Meadow, Shrewsbury, England, instead of their regular stadium,Park Hall,Oswestry, which did not meet UEFA requirements.[94]
^The Víkingur Reykjavík v Borac Banja Luka, originally scheduled for 18:45 (17:45UTC+0),[14] was later moved to 15:30 (14:30UTC+0).
^The Víkingur Reykjavík v Djurgårdens IF match, originally scheduled for 21:00 (20:00UTC+0),[14] was later moved to 14:00 (13:00UTC+0).
Chelsea
Vitória de Guimarães
Fiorentina
Rapid Wien
Djurgårdens IF
Lugano
Legia Warsaw
Cercle Brugge
Shamrock Rovers
APOEL
Panathinaikos
Olimpija Ljubljana
Real Betis
1. FC Heidenheim
Copenhagen
Víkingur Reykjavík
Borac Banja Luka
Molde
TSC
Heart of Midlothian
İstanbul Başakşehir
Mladá Boleslav
Astana
HJK
Noah
The New Saints
Dinamo Minsk
Larne
Petrocub Hîncești