UEFA Conference League 2025/26 Season

[Spack17]

The thing I was afraid of really happened and Samsunspor stayed out of top 8. If only they didn't mess up against AEK home at least... They weren't going to need to play an extra knockout round.



Now no matter they are on silver or green side of the tree, their first opponents won't change. I think they can eliminate their first opponent no matter which one comes. But I highly doubt their chance in last 16.

KuPS shouldn't have been underrated. Palace have been in European games 9 years in a row, having missed group and league phases only by losing to Union Berlin and Young Boys, hitting well above their weight almost every season. Hilariously, they were the ones with experience in Europe.

KuPS can easily be underrated mate. The only reason why they managed to get points from Crystal Palace was that Glasner did a high rotation in the lineup. Otherwise we would have seen a completely different result. 

[Daniel91]

Source: The Conference League pre-draw bracket

Rijeka ended up in 16th position after the final minutes of AEK’s game, which will benefit them as they will be on the seeded side of the draw. The potential opponents are Omonia or Jagiellonia—not a great draw, but definitely something Rijeka can get through with the home advantage. Later in the draw they could face Strasbourg or Raków. I will definitely be praying it’s the Polish team, but even they are no walk in the park. It will take a lot of thought and effort—that’s what the playoffs are all about.

Rijeka is one of the surprises of this European competition. They started off poorly, but as the competition progressed, they got better and more consistent. 
Their best matches were at the end, against Celje and Shakhtar, where they showed that they can compete on equal terms even with the strongest teams in this competition. 
I think they will be a very tough opponent for anyone, although they will probably be weakened because their best player, Fruk, will soon leave the team.

[Silence Scream]

I was following Samsunspor's matches, but unfortunately, they had to play in the playoffs after playing poorly in their last two games. I hope they can get through the playoffs and reach the quarter-finals. If they had finished in the top eight, an easier knockout round awaited them. As Turkey, we support Samsunspor all the way in this tournament. I hope we have a team that can achieve success this year. For me, even if Samsunspor only reaches the quarter-finals, it will be considered a success.

[paco92x]

Rijeka is one of the surprises of this European competition. They started off poorly, but as the competition progressed, they got better and more consistent. 
Their best matches were at the end, against Celje and Shakhtar, where they showed that they can compete on equal terms even with the strongest teams in this competition. 
I think they will be a very tough opponent for anyone, although they will probably be weakened because their best player, Fruk, will soon leave the team.

They didn’t start great, I agree with you, with a defeat against Noah—a game they should have won. But a red card happened, and it’s hard to recover from that. In the other games, though, they played superbly and managed to reach the playoffs.

We will see what happens in the winter transfer window. I think Fruk will definitely move to a bigger club. He deserves it—he gave up the title, and now, after 46 years, there is European playoff football. Now it’s up to the board to bring some quality players for the new coach to work with. I think it will be interesting to follow and watch Rijeka during this winter transfer period.

[Hanadawa]

Rijeka is one of the surprises of this European competition. They started off poorly, but as the competition progressed, they got better and more consistent. 
Their best matches were at the end, against Celje and Shakhtar, where they showed that they can compete on equal terms even with the strongest teams in this competition. 
I think they will be a very tough opponent for anyone, although they will probably be weakened because their best player, Fruk, will soon leave the team.

Rijeka is on my radar along with Samsunspor. Both are dark horses among the big teams. I hope they both advance to the next round. They beat Celje and held Shakhtar to a draw. These are certainly extraordinary results. And regarding their midfielder, Toni Fruk, I don't think he'll pass up the opportunity to join a top European team. I've heard rumors that Arsenal have already tried to negotiate. And if a deal is reached, there's no reason for Toni Fruk to stay with Rijeka. The Europa Conference League has been a blessing for him, having been offered a place in one of Europe's top five leagues.

[Mustang Shelby]

Rijeka is one of the surprises of this European competition. They started off poorly, but as the competition progressed, they got better and more consistent. 
Their best matches were at the end, against Celje and Shakhtar, where they showed that they can compete on equal terms even with the strongest teams in this competition. 
I think they will be a very tough opponent for anyone, although they will probably be weakened because their best player, Fruk, will soon leave the team.

Rijeka is on my radar along with Samsunspor. Both are dark horses among the big teams. I hope they both advance to the next round. They beat Celje and held Shakhtar to a draw. These are certainly extraordinary results. And regarding their midfielder, Toni Fruk, I don't think he'll pass up the opportunity to join a top European team. I've heard rumors that Arsenal have already tried to negotiate. And if a deal is reached, there's no reason for Toni Fruk to stay with Rijeka. The Europa Conference League has been a blessing for him, having been offered a place in one of Europe's top five leagues.

Yes, the Conference League is sometimes a very good showcase for some players. That's why it's a very important place for players from smaller teams who want to transfer to bigger leagues. Both Rijeka and Samsunspor, in my opinion, had a successful tournament. Of course, it would have been great if they had finished in the top eight. Samsunspor finished 12th and Rijeka 16th in the Conference League. We'll see what they can do in the playoffs.

[püsür]

Rijeka is one of the surprises of this European competition. They started off poorly, but as the competition progressed, they got better and more consistent. 
Their best matches were at the end, against Celje and Shakhtar, where they showed that they can compete on equal terms even with the strongest teams in this competition. 
I think they will be a very tough opponent for anyone, although they will probably be weakened because their best player, Fruk, will soon leave the team.

Rijeka is on my radar along with Samsunspor. Both are dark horses among the big teams. I hope they both advance to the next round. They beat Celje and held Shakhtar to a draw. These are certainly extraordinary results. And regarding their midfielder, Toni Fruk, I don't think he'll pass up the opportunity to join a top European team. I've heard rumors that Arsenal have already tried to negotiate. And if a deal is reached, there's no reason for Toni Fruk to stay with Rijeka. The Europa Conference League has been a blessing for him, having been offered a place in one of Europe's top five leagues.

Yes, the Conference League is sometimes a very good showcase for some players. That's why it's a very important place for players from smaller teams who want to transfer to bigger leagues. Both Rijeka and Samsunspor, in my opinion, had a successful tournament. Of course, it would have been great if they had finished in the top eight. Samsunspor finished 12th and Rijeka 16th in the Conference League. We'll see what they can do in the playoffs.

The main purpose of the Conference League was to bridge the gap between big teams and smaller teams. Yes, when a team like Chelsea comes along and dominates after a poor season, it loses its meaning. But for countries like Poland, Greece, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Norway, it's a godsend... Poland continues with three teams. Olympiakos won the championship. Even Cyprus continues with two teams. Samsunspor had a very good start but ended badly; nevertheless, they will continue through the play-offs. They are also attracting local audiences in these countries. Opening up to those markets was one of the main objectives. Thanks to this, they are progressing quite successfully. It's not just the competition from lower-level countries. Watching the competition between average teams from the big leagues is also quite exciting. Teams like Real Betis, Fiorentina, Crystal Palace, and AZ Alkmaar undoubtedly add colour.

[paco92x]

The main purpose of the Conference League was to bridge the gap between big teams and smaller teams. Yes, when a team like Chelsea comes along and dominates after a poor season, it loses its meaning. But for countries like Poland, Greece, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Norway, it's a godsend... Poland continues with three teams. Olympiakos won the championship. Even Cyprus continues with two teams. Samsunspor had a very good start but ended badly; nevertheless, they will continue through the play-offs. They are also attracting local audiences in these countries. Opening up to those markets was one of the main objectives. Thanks to this, they are progressing quite successfully. It's not just the competition from lower-level countries. Watching the competition between average teams from the big leagues is also quite exciting. Teams like Real Betis, Fiorentina, Crystal Palace, and AZ Alkmaar undoubtedly add colour.

The Conference League is a great place for smaller clubs in smaller leagues to build up their teams and their country’s UEFA coefficient. With that, you automatically get a better qualification path. With a coefficient of over 17, you are sure to be in the seeded teams group. Also, with bigger and bigger prizes for the group stages, teams gain financial stability.

[Hanadawa]

The main purpose of the Conference League was to bridge the gap between big teams and smaller teams. Yes, when a team like Chelsea comes along and dominates after a poor season, it loses its meaning. But for countries like Poland, Greece, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Norway, it's a godsend... Poland continues with three teams. Olympiakos won the championship. Even Cyprus continues with two teams. Samsunspor had a very good start but ended badly; nevertheless, they will continue through the play-offs. They are also attracting local audiences in these countries. Opening up to those markets was one of the main objectives. Thanks to this, they are progressing quite successfully. It's not just the competition from lower-level countries. Watching the competition between average teams from the big leagues is also quite exciting. Teams like Real Betis, Fiorentina, Crystal Palace, and AZ Alkmaar undoubtedly add colour.

The Conference League is a great place for smaller clubs in smaller leagues to build up their teams and their country’s UEFA coefficient. With that, you automatically get a better qualification path. With a coefficient of over 17, you are sure to be in the seeded teams group. Also, with bigger and bigger prizes for the group stages, teams gain financial stability.

The Europa Conference League is also a boon for players currently playing in lower-tier European football, gaining exposure and being noticed by scouts from major clubs. While it's unlikely they'll be hotly targeted by a major team, this competition can at least give them a trial or a chance to play for a major European team's second team. Furthermore, this competition provides an opportunity for teams from less popular leagues like Poland, Greece, Romania, or other European countries to earn additional income. I'm not mentioning the coefficient increase, as that's already been mentioned by @paco92x. Finally, commercially, this competition is also profitable for UEFA, as they generate additional revenue beyond the UCL and UEL, even though the Europa Conference League is a third-tier European competition.

[Spack17]

The Conference League is a great place for smaller clubs in smaller leagues to build up their teams and their country’s UEFA coefficient. With that, you automatically get a better qualification path. With a coefficient of over 17, you are sure to be in the seeded teams group. Also, with bigger and bigger prizes for the group stages, teams gain financial stability.

Indeed it's just the place for such teams.    I'm hopeful about Samsunspor to bring some more benefit to the Turkish Super League for example. They could have actually finished in top 8 which would be great but they failed on that.

Now I'm at least confident about the current playoff matchup. I mean the opponent hasn't been decided yet but both of the probable ones aren't a big deal. However most probably Samsunspor will say goodbye after reaching last 16 round.

[LGD2Business]

The UEFA Conference League last 16 play-off round matchups have been determined. We're in for some exciting matches.

Fiorentina - Jagiellonia
HNK Rijeka - Omonia Nicosie
NK Celje - Drita
AZ Alkmaar - Noah
Lech Poznan - Kuopion
Samsunspor - Shkendija
Lausanne - Sigma Olomouc
Crystal Palace - Zrinjski Mostar

Many people here may not know these teams, but these relatively small teams are very important to the people of that region.
The standout teams are Fiorentina and Crystal Palace. Normally, these teams were expected to advance directly to the last 16, but they failed to make it into the top 8 in the group stage and now have to play one more round. The number of teams has been reduced from 36 to 24. After this play-off round, it will be down to 16 teams. The matches will be played in the second half of February.

[blomen]

Many people here may not know these teams, but these relatively small teams are very important to the people of that region.
The standout teams are Fiorentina and Crystal Palace. Normally, these teams were expected to advance directly to the last 16, but they failed to make it into the top 8 in the group stage and now have to play one more round. The number of teams has been reduced from 36 to 24. After this play-off round, it will be down to 16 teams. The matches will be played in the second half of February.

i agree with you. there are teams like crystal palace and fiorentina that we could consider favorites for the tournament, but the fact that these teams can't make it into the top 8 is entirely due to the tournament format. in both the conference league and other higher-level european leagues, once the winning team is determined, we can see how little importance the points standings actually hold. the sole purpose of the ranking here is to qualify for the next stage, the playoffs or eliminations. once you secure a spot above a certain ranking, it doesn't really matter where the team finished in the league stage.

[redhack]

Confirmed in the round of 16
AEK Athens (GRE)
AEK Larnaca (CYP)
Mainz (GER)
Raków (POL)
Rayo Vallecano (ESP)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Sparta Praha (CZE)
Strasbourg (FRA)

Confirmed in the knockout phase play-offs
AZ Alkmaar (NED)
Celje (SVN)
Crystal Palace (ENG)
Drita (KOS)
Fiorentina (ITA)
Jagiellonia (POL)
KuPS Kuopio (FIN)
Lausanne-Sport (SUI)
Lech Poznań (POL)
Noah (ARM)
Omonoia (CYP)
Rijeka (CRO)
Samsunspor (TUR)
Shkëndija (MKD)
Sigma Olomouc (CZE)
Zrinjski (BIH)

Source

[emrecemsan]

Samsunspor are about to play against KF Shkëndija which is technically a quite easy matchup for the Turkish side.    Normally they should be able to win in both legs comfortably.

The winner of the matchup is going to face Shakhtar or Rayo which is a serious issue. Both of them are challenging opponents certainly. I feel like Samsunspor's journey will end in last 16 round but I'd like to be surprised - in a positive way.

Anyway there is still a month to go for the first leg of the current round...

[boltz]

Samsunspor are about to play against KF Shkëndija which is technically a quite easy matchup for the Turkish side.    Normally they should be able to win in both legs comfortably.

The winner of the matchup is going to face Shakhtar or Rayo which is a serious issue. Both of them are challenging opponents certainly. I feel like Samsunspor's journey will end in last 16 round but I'd like to be surprised - in a positive way.

Anyway there is still a month to go for the first leg of the current round...

Uhm , nothing is easy in Conference League as everything can happen. On paper , you're right ...Samsunspor should win both games against Skendija but this team has had quite great games in the current season of Conference League so personally I can see them scoring on both games against Samsunspor and maybe even make a draw against them but overall , Samsunspor should qualify further without massive issues.

[Lida93]

Rijeka is one of the surprises of this European competition. They started off poorly, but as the competition progressed, they got better and more consistent. 
Their best matches were at the end, against Celje and Shakhtar, where they showed that they can compete on equal terms even with the strongest teams in this competition. 
I think they will be a very tough opponent for anyone, although they will probably be weakened because their best player, Fruk, will soon leave the team.

Both Rijeka and Samsunspor have being performing as underdogs all through this campaign in the Europa conference league but some how they are beginning to attract some recognition as two formidable even haven faced  lots of difficulties in the group stages, they both seem to be on their way to the next round, a feat which no one saw coming since both clubs are not as popular or do not have any antecedents that show that they could go this far.

[Hanadawa]

Rijeka is one of the surprises of this European competition. They started off poorly, but as the competition progressed, they got better and more consistent. 
Their best matches were at the end, against Celje and Shakhtar, where they showed that they can compete on equal terms even with the strongest teams in this competition. 
I think they will be a very tough opponent for anyone, although they will probably be weakened because their best player, Fruk, will soon leave the team.

Both Rijeka and Samsunspor have being performing as underdogs all through this campaign in the Europa conference league but some how they are beginning to attract some recognition as two formidable even haven faced  lots of difficulties in the group stages, they both seem to be on their way to the next round, a feat which no one saw coming since both clubs are not as popular or do not have any antecedents that show that they could go this far.

Rijeka and Samsunspor have been in the spotlight for their performances, suggesting they can compete with Europe's elite. Neither team is from a top European league. I think Rijeka's last match was highlighted because they managed to hold Shakhtar, one of Europe's best teams, to a draw. But beyond those two teams, I'm interested in Raków Częstochowa. They're from Poland, but they surprisingly made it to the knockout stages and finished second in the standings. And honestly, among the top eight teams in the Europa Conference League, the only team I'm unfamiliar with is Raków Częstochowa.

[Daniel91]

Rijeka is one of the surprises of this European competition. They started off poorly, but as the competition progressed, they got better and more consistent. 
Their best matches were at the end, against Celje and Shakhtar, where they showed that they can compete on equal terms even with the strongest teams in this competition. 
I think they will be a very tough opponent for anyone, although they will probably be weakened because their best player, Fruk, will soon leave the team.

Both Rijeka and Samsunspor have being performing as underdogs all through this campaign in the Europa conference league but some how they are beginning to attract some recognition as two formidable even haven faced  lots of difficulties in the group stages, they both seem to be on their way to the next round, a feat which no one saw coming since both clubs are not as popular or do not have any antecedents that show that they could go this far.

Rijeka and Samsunspor have been in the spotlight for their performances, suggesting they can compete with Europe's elite. Neither team is from a top European league. I think Rijeka's last match was highlighted because they managed to hold Shakhtar, one of Europe's best teams, to a draw. But beyond those two teams, I'm interested in Raków Częstochowa. They're from Poland, but they surprisingly made it to the knockout stages and finished second in the standings. And honestly, among the top eight teams in the Europa Conference League, the only team I'm unfamiliar with is Raków Częstochowa.

Today we expect a very interesting day in this competition.
Realistically, Rijeka has already achieved a great result this season in the conference league (higher than expectations) but I think they have reached their maximum this season.
Omonoia is a better and more experienced team and they are the favorites in this match.
The same, as for Rijeka, can be said for Zrinjski against Crystal Palace.
Fiorentina is also the obvious favorite against Jagiellonia and in the other matches I expect more uncertain results.

[execijutiere]

I expect Crystal Palace to win comfortably against their opponents. They don't have much to look forward to in the league, but we can say they are favorites in the Conference League, so they will comfortably defeat their opponents one by one. It seems likely that Crystal Palace will score 3-4 goals in this match.
Our representative Samsunspor has changed their head coach, and frankly, it's hard to predict what they will do. I think they will concede a goal in this match, and I expect both teams to play an open game.

[MK-74]

I definitely expect our representative Samsunspor to beat KF Shkëndija.
Compared to Samsunspor, they have a much weaker squad.
Samsunspor should get a comfortable win both tonight and next week.

Crystal Palace will play against HŠK Zrinjski Mostar this evening. I can’t say they will definitely win, because Crystal Palace have been performing really poorly in recent weeks.