Tottenham Hotspur are in pole position to be in the new UEFA Conference League next season, but what is it?
The Spurs fell in a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa on Wednesday night, which left them in sixth place, with West Ham yet to play West Brom for the Hawthorns.
UEFA has launched the Europa Conference League, its third club competition to be played alongside the Champions League and the Europa League.
Confused? Don’t worry, here is everything you need to know about the Europa Conference League.
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UEFA has created a new competition called the Europa Conference League
What is the Europa Conference League?
This completely new competition is a way for clubs struggling to qualify for the other two UEFA competitions to experience European football.
With the Champions League battle still raging after Liverpool beat Manchester United recently, it is still unknown who will finish in the top four, but as it stands, the seventh Premier League team will play in the Europa Conference League. .
Speaking about the competition, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said: “The new UEFA club competition makes UEFA club tournaments more inclusive than ever.
“There will be more games for more clubs, with more associations represented in the group stage.”
Who qualifies in the Prem?
The winner of the Carabao Cup qualifies for the Conference League.
However, with Manchester City winning the cup for the fourth consecutive season and their position in the UCL sealed, the spot will be awarded to the next highest ranked team that has not qualified for a European tournament.
That means the team in seventh place would qualify. As the table stands, that would be Tottenham.
Liverpool, West Ham, Arsenal, Everton and even Leeds are also in the mix.
As in the Premier League, the seventh best teams from Spain, Italy and Germany would also qualify.
Liverpool or Arsenal could end up in the Europa Conference League
When will the games be?
The matches in the new tournament are the same as in the Europa League. The games will take place on Thursdays and will start at 5:45 PM and 8:00 PM UK time.
This will begin in the 2021/22 season.
How does it work?
There is a first qualifying round, a second qualifying round, a third qualifying round, and then a tie-breaking round before the group stage.
The team that qualifies from the Premier League will enter the Play-Off Round with the two matches on August 19 and 26.
The eight group winners will advance to the round of 16. The knockout round play-offs will be played before the round of 16 between the eight group runners-up and the third-placed finishers from the Europa League groups.
The final of the Europa Conference League will be played on May 25 in Tirana, Albania.
Which is the prize?
The winner of the Conference League will earn a place in next season’s Europa League group stage, unless they have qualified for the UCL.
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