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:
Marc Guiu shines again as Chelsea complete perfect Conference League group stage
Chelsea signed off with a perfect record in the league phase of the Conference League as Marc Guiu scored a first-half hat-trick to seal a 5-1 demolition of League of Ireland side Shamrock Rovers at Stamford Bridge.
The 18-year-old former Barcelona striker is yet to start for head coach Enzo Maresca in the Premier League but selected for the fourth time in Europe he demonstrated a poacher’s instinct to bury the visiting side, twice intercepting passes back to the goalkeeper to score before glancing in a fine header for his third.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall also netted, as did Marc Cucurella for the second time in as many matches, as Chelsea confirmed what had long been apparent – they have been far too strong for the teams they have faced in the first phase of Europe’s third competition.
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
Based on the other league phase results it is now clear that Chelsea will play either the winners of Gent (17) vs Real Betis (15) or the winners of Copenhagen (18) vs Heidenheim (16) in the last-16.
That will only become clear after the play-off round is done and the draw for the rest of the knockouts follows.
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
Here are the full results of the draw:
Gent (17) vs Real Betis (15)
TSC Backa Topola (24) vs Jagiellonia (9th)
Celje (21) vs APOEL (11th)
Vikingur Reykjavík (19) vs Panathinaikos (13)
Borac (20) vs Olimpija (14)
Omonoia (22) vs Pafos (12)
Molde (23) vs Shamrock Rovers (10)
Copenhagen (18) vs Heidenheim (16)
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
Finally, Jagiellonia Białystok (9th) will play TSC Bačka Topola (24th) and Shamrock Rovers (10th) face Molde (23rd).
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
Panathinaikos FC (13th) will face Víkingur Reykjavík (19th) while NK Olimpija Ljubljana (14th) take on FK Borac (20th).
APOEL FC (11th) take on NK Celje (21st) and Pafos FC face Omonoia FC (22nd).
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
Okay, now we’ll find out who plays who.
First out will be the teams that finished 15th and 16th and they will face the teams who finished 17th and 18th.
Real Betis come out first and they’ll take on Gent on the silver side of the draw.
Facing FC Copenhagen is FC Heidenheim.
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
The eight unseeded teams need to come out of the pots first before the fixtures can be made.
On the silver side of the draw goes Víkingur Reykjavík (19th) and FK Borac (20th) are placed on the green side.
Finally for this part of the draw, Gent (17th) are put on the silve side and FC Copenhagen (18th) on the green side.
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
The first team out is TSC Bačka Topola (24th) and they are placed on the silver side of the draw with Molde (23rd) put on the green side.
Next out will be the teams who finished 22nd and 21st.
They are NK Celje (21st) who go on the silver side with Omonoia FC (22nd) on the green side.
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
Legia Warszawa legend Michal Zewlakow is now on stage as the special guest who will be pulling out the balls.
Conference League play-off draw LIVE
So, simply put teams have been paired together based on where they finished in the league phase. 9th and 10th together, 11th and 12th together etc.
The teams that finished 23rd and 24th will end up facing one of the two teams that finished 9th and 10th. The draw will then be repeated for the remaining pairings.
