Uefa Conference League play-off spherical draw LIVE: Shamrock Rovers uncover destiny
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The draw for the Uefa Conference League play-offs takes place this afternoon with the tournament entering the knockout stages in February.
Chelsea are the only Premier League club involved in the competition and they are already through to the round of 16 having won all six of their league phase matches and finished top of the table. Enzo Maresca’s men can now relax until 21st February when the draw for the round of 16 and beyond takes place.
Instead, the likes of Ireland’s Shamrock Rovers and Greece’s Panathinaikos FC will be eagerly awaiting the results of today’s draw to see who they will face in a two-legged play-off before the knockout rounds properly begin.
There are 16 teams in today’s draw but only eight can progress to the last-16. Follow the Uefa Conference League play-off draw with out live blog below:
Who are the unseeded teams?
Here are the unseeded teams for the draw placed in order of how they finished in the league table from 17th to 24th:
KAA Gent (BEL)
F.C. Copenhagen (DEN)
Víkingur Reykjavík (ISL)
FK Borac (BIH)
NK Celje (SVN)
Omonoia FC (CYP)
Molde FK (NOR)
TSC Bačka Topola (SRB)
Who are the seeded teams?
Here are the seeded teams for the draw placed in order of how they finished in the league table from 9th to 16th:
Jagiellonia Białystok (POL)
Shamrock Rovers FC (IRL)
APOEL FC (CYP)
Pafos FC (CYP)
Panathinaikos FC (GRE)
NK Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN)
Real Betis Balompié (ESP)
1. FC Heidenheim 1846 (GER)
Which teams are in the Conference League knockout phase play-off draw?
The teams that finished between ninth and 24th in the inaugural league phase will compete in a two-legged knockout phase play-off to secure their path to the last 16 of the competition.
They are split into two groups: Seeded and Unseeded.
What is the play-off round draw?
The top eight finishers from the Uefa Conference League league phase have automatically qualified for the round of 16. These teams include the likes of Chelsea and Fiorentina.
To determine which eight teams join them there will be a play-off round for the teams that finished 9th-24th in the table. The play-off will be a two-legged tie and the winner enters the bracket for the round of 16 and onwards.
Potential opponents are also pre-defined by pairings of teams’ final league positions. For example, teams finishing ninth and tenth will face the sides that ended 23rd or 24th; teams finishing 11th or 12th will be drawn against either the 21st or 22nd-placed sides and so on.
Good morning!
Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of today’s Uefa Conference League play-off round draw.
16 teams will discover who they face in the first knockout round of the competition as they look to progress through to the last-16 ties which will take place in March.
Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea are already through to the next stage of the competition so won’t be in the draw but Ireland’s Shamrock Rovers, who were beaten by Chelsea last night, will be.
We’ll break down who’s in the draw and how it works before the action takes place at 12pm.
