The next two days will witness the drawing of the first couple of rounds of the Europa Conference League, as the 2023/24 edition of the competition prepares to commence. The tournament marks Aston Villa’s first involvement in European competition in over a decade, as they aim to emulate the achievements of fellow Premier League side West Ham, who lift the trophy in Prague earlier this month.
Tomorrow (20th June) will host the draw for the first qualifying round of the tournament, followed by the draw for the second qualifying round on the following day (June 21st).
Aston Villa’s Seeding Issue
There will be a third round of qualifying before Villa enters the fray in the play-off round, which will determine whether they qualify for the group stages of the competition. Villa enters the play-off rounds directly due to England’s national coefficient ranking.
While Villa won’t be in action until the 24th August, the qualifying rounds will be of interest, as they are currently ranked first on the list of unseeded teams for the play-offs. However, if one of the seeded teams that have to enter the competition in the qualifying rounds (due to a low national coefficient ranking) loses, Villa will be promoted to the seeded group, most likely resulting in an easier play-off tie.
As you can see from the table below, the seeded half of the draw includes several experienced European campaigners such as Juventus, Eintracht Frankfurt, Brugge, Basel, and Dynamo Kiev, so Villa will be hoping for the best.
In the two previous editions of the Europa Conference League that have been played so far, at least one seeded team has been eliminated in the second qualifying round. Therefore, history is on Villa’s side.
For Aston Villa to become seeded in the UECL Play-off round, one of the nine teams in orange needs to be eliminated in the QR2.
Two UECL seasons are behind us, so have top nine seeded clubs been eliminated in the QR2 before?
Well, yes they have. Check below for more details. 👇 pic.twitter.com/3CG1pQZV2E
— UEFA Rankings (@UefaRankings) June 15, 2023
When Will Aston Villa Know Their ECL Opponent?
The draw for the play-off round will take place on August 7th, two weeks before the first leg is played.
Below are all the official dates for both the respective draws and then the tournament’s fixture dates, if you dare plan ahead.
There Full Europa Conference League 2023/24 schedule
When are the 2023/24 Europa Conference League qualification rounds?
First qualifying round: 13 and 20 July 2023
Second qualifying round: 27 July and 3 August 2023
Third qualifying round: 10 and 17 August 2023
Play-offs: 24 and 31 August 2023
When are the 2023/24 Europa Conference League group stage matches?
Matchday 1: 21 September 2023
Matchday 2: 5 October 2023
Matchday 3: 26 October 2023
Matchday 4: 9 November 2023
Matchday 5: 30 November 2023
Matchday 6: 14 December 2023
When is the 2023/24 Europa Conference League knockout stage?
Knockout round play-offs: 15 and 22 February 2024
Round of 16: 7 and 14 March 2024
Quarter-finals: 11 and 18 April 2024
Semi-finals: 2 and 9 May 2024
Final: 29 May 2024
When are the 2023/24 Europa Conference League draws?
First qualifying round: 20 June 2023
Second qualifying round: 21 June 2023
Third qualifying round: 24 July 2023
Play-off round: 7 August 2023
Group stage: 1 September 2023
Knockout round play-off: 18 December 2023
Round of 16: 23 February 2024
Quarter-finals & Semi-finals: 15 March 2024
UTV
