2021/22 Europa Conference League

And then there were three. Back in the day, there used to be three European club competitons and now that situation has returned. The Europa Conference League has been launched and a total of 184 teams are taking part in the 2021/22 competition. Sides from all around Europe have made it into the Europa Conference League via their domestic league placing or winning cup competitions. Others will be transferred into the Europa Conference League after being knocked out of the other European competitions. It's actually possible for a club to play in all three competitions this season.

The Europa Conference League is an opportunity for some of the lowest ranked teams to play in a major competition. Teams will have to win through some qualifying rounds to get into the group stages. There will be eight groups of four as in the Champions League and Europa League. The teams finishing second and third in their groups will go into a play-off round. Then it's the final knockout stage with the winners of the play-off round joining the eight group winners.

The winners of this competition will gain direct entry into the group stages of the 2022/23 Europa League. That's unless they have already made it into the Champions League. The final will be played on 25 May in Tirana, Albania.

Dates for your Diary

• Semi-Finals - 5 May
• Final - 25 May in Tirana, Albania

See the latest Europa Conference League odds at bet365

Expert advice for your Europa Conference League predictions

There are going to be some top teams in this 2021/22 Europa Conference League. Sides such as Eintracht Frankfurt, Tottenham Hotspur, Union Berlin and Rennes are among the favourites to become the first winners of this new competition.

This being a new competition, that means we can't compare it to the previous season's results. Come back to this page later in the week when we will look at the first three qualifying rounds and produce a statistical analysis of the many games played so far. We'll update this after the play-off rounds. This will include stats such as:

• Under/over goals markets
• Both teams to score
• Home wins
• Away wins
• Draws
• When goals are being scored
• Average number of goals per game

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Draw for the Group Stages

Group A: LASK 16, Maccabi Tel-Aviv 11, HJK 6, Alashkert 1

Group B: Gent 13 Partizan 8, Anorthosis Famagusta 6, Flora 5

Group C: Roma 13, Bodo/Glimt 12, Zorya Luhansk 7, CSKA Sofia 1

Group D: AZ Alkmaar 14, Randers 7, Jablonec 6, CFR Cluj 4

Group E: Feyenoord 14, Slavia Prague 8, Union Berlin 7, Maccabi Haifa 4

Group F: FC Copenhagen 15, PAOK 11, Slovan Bratislava 8 Lincoln Red Imps 0

Group G:  Rennes 14, Vitesse 10, Tottenham 7, Mura 3

Group H: Basel 14, Qarabag 11, Omonia 4  Kairat Almaty 2

Play-Off Round Results

There are eight ties in this round, the winners of the two-legged matches join the eight group winners in the last 16  Games will be played on 17/24 February

• Marseille beat Qarabağ FK 6-1 on aggregate
• PSV Eindhoven beat Maccabi Tel-Aviv 2-1 on aggregate
• Slavia Prague got a 6-4 aggregate win over Fenerbahçe
• PAOK Salonika got through via penalties after drawing 2-2 on aggregate with FC Midtjylland.
• Leicester beat Randers FC 7-2 on aggregate.
• Bodo/Glimt reached the last 16 with a 5-1 aggregate win over Glasgow Celtic
• Partizan Belgrade defeated Sparta Prague 3-1 on aggregate
• Vitesse beat Rapid Vienna 3-2 on aggregate

Last 16 Results

• FK Partizan 3 Feyenoord 8
• Bodo/Glimt 4 AZ Alkmaar 3
• Slavia Prague 7 LASK 5
• PSV Eindhoven 8 FC Copenhagen 4
• Vitesse 1 Roma 2
• PAOK Salonika 3 Gent 1
• Leicester City 3 Rennes 2
• Marseille 4  FC Basel  2

Quarter Final First leg results

• Bodo/Glimt 2 Roma 1
• Feyenoord 3 Slavia Prague 3
• Marseille 2 PAOK 1
• Leicester City 0 PSV 0

Quarter Final Second leg results

• Roma 4 Bodo/Glimt 0 - Roma won 5-2 on aggregate
• Slavia Prague 1 Feyenoord 3  -  Feyenoord were 6-4 aggregate winners
• PAOK 0 Marseille 1 - Marseille won the tie 3-1
• PSV 1 Leicester City 2 - Leicester won the tie 2-1 on aggregate

Semi-Final first legs

• Leicester City 1 Roma 1
• Feyenoord  3  Marseille  2

Semi-Final second legs

Roma 1 Leicester 0  - Roma win 2-1 on aggregate

Marseille 0 Feyenoord 0 - Feyenoord win 3-2 on aggregate

Final - May 25 - Roma beat Feyenoord 1-0 to win the trophy

Bet on the knockout stages at William Hill

How to bet on the Europa Conference League

Now let's take a look at some of the factors that you need to take into consideration when betting on a Europa Conference League match. In the first place. Team news is going to be extremely important. Just as in the Europa League, clubs are unlikely to field anything like a full strength team. They may do in the latter stages of the competition but not in the group stages. It will be important to find out just who is and who isn't going to be playing. Clubs with a strong squad will do well because they can make plenty of changes and still put out an impressive team. Others who don't have such a strong squad will not do so well.

Just how important is the game that is being played?  It may be that some clubs wish they weren't in this competition, just another match added to an already congested fixture list. Early group games should see maximum effort but as teams make it through to the next round or have no chance of finishing in the top three in their group, the significance of the game will drop. It's the same in the knockout stages. If a team loses the first leg by a wide margin, or win it say 3-0 or 4-0, then a weaker line-up is likely for the second leg.

Look at the different odds available for each match. One site may have what you think are good odds on your selection to win. However, another site may have even better odds available, so check out as many sites as you can before placing your bet.

See the latest odds

Who will be the top scorer in the 2021/22 Europa Conference League?

There are plenty of bets that can be placed on the Europa Confernce League. One of them is the top scorer in the competition. When looking to bet on this market, there are factors in play that need to be examined. For example, will a top player such as Son of Tottenham be playing games in this competition. If there's a vital Premier League game being played at the weekend, he may be on the bench for this midweek game.

Look to bet on a player whose club is likely to go deep in the 2021/22 Europa Conference League. A player whose club may get knocked out in the group stages will struggle to be top scorer. Don't ignore the fact that there have been a lot of qualifying matches played. 

Place your Europa Conference League wagers at bet365

Our free prediction for the 2021-2022 Europa Conference League season

It's a difficult job predicting who will win the first ever Europa Conference League. Just like in the Europa League, we don't know all the clubs that will be playing. After the group stages we do finally know the teams that have come into the competition from the Europa League. Tottenham failed to make the knock-out stages but Leicester City are now in this competition. Celtic have also entered the Conference League.

Check out all the latest betting odds