New knockout format for European soccer competitions debuts with Conference League playoffs draw

NYON, Switzerland — It is a rare win in modern soccer. A new and expanded competition that is widely popular with clubs and fans while earning praise for the organizer.

The Conference League's place in European soccer since launching in 2021 — and paying almost $300 million in prize money this season — is helping to keep its mostly unheralded clubs happy enough with UEFA to resist offers elsewhere.

On Friday, the third-tier men's club event took shape with the first draw for knockout playoffs. It's a new format the Champions League will also use when its group phase finishes in January.

The 16 teams placed from ninth to 24th in the single-league, 36-team Conference League standings that finished on Thursday were paired in a seeded bracket like a tennis tournament.

Most of the teams involved on Friday, like Ireland's Shamrock Rovers, will play European games in February for the first time. They are being kept in action after years of their international ambitions ending in August with exits from qualifying rounds for the Champions League and Europa League.

Rovers will face Molde of Norway in a two-leg playoff on Feb. 13 and 20 with the winner advancing to the round of 16. Waiting for them are Conference League leader Chelsea — which ended Rovers' unbeaten run on Thursday — third-placed Fiorentina and the other top eight teams in the standings.

The champion of Ireland already has earned a bonanza of 5 million euros ($5.2 million) in prize money from the Conference League's total fund of 285 million euros ($297 million). Most of the money goes to clubs where $5 million can make a big difference.

“You can actually try and invest in your squad knowing that there’s a realistic opportunity of progressing,” John Martin, the Shamrock Rovers CEO, told The Associated Press after the draw.

Playing Chelsea, even though losing 5-1 at Stamford Bridge, was “a game that Rovers supporters will remember in 50, 70, 100 years,” Martin said. "That’s the beauty of the competition, there’s a space for both of us. And we’re both still in it as well.”

Other playoff pairings included Copenhagen hosting European newcomer Heidenheim, Gent hosting Real Betis, and Celje of Slovenia playing at home first against Cypriot club APOEL.

Copenhagen has been a Champions League regular in recent years and APOEL was a surprise quarterfinalist in 2012. Both have found a safety net in the Conference League.

“I haven’t heard one single negative comment from the clubs,” UEFA deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti said of the competition ahead of making the draw. “We know that broadcasters are very happy, and if the broadcasters are happy it means their viewers are happy.”

Cyprus is the only country with three teams left in the competition and Friday’s draw set up a domestic derby between Omonoia and Pafos.

The most dramatic passage on Thursday to the knockout phase was for Molde, the Norwegian club that nurtured a teenage Erling Haaland.

Molde scored a stoppage-time goal to beat Mlada Boleslav 4-3 and rise from 27th to 23rd in the standings. That goal also eliminated Mlada, which dropped to 27th, and Hearts, which fell to 25th and was eliminated on the tiebreaker of total goals scored.

“I was in the match center and we were going crazy because the results were changing and teams were going up and down,” Marchetti said. “The format is delivering unpredictability."

The Champions League and Europa League have their draws for the knockout playoff rounds on Jan. 31, after completing their eight-round group phase that week.