UEFA Conference League round of 16 draw: Copenhagen draw Chelsea, Real Betis face Vitória SC, Panathinaikos get Fiorentina

The 2024/25 UEFA Conference League round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final draw has been made at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

Copenhagen have been drawn against Chelsea, while Real Betis will start at home against Portuguese side Vitória SC. Panathinaikos face a tough task against Fiorentina, while Legia Warszawa and Jagiellonia can dream of an all-Polish final in Wroclaw.

2024/25 Conference League round of 16 fixtures

First legs

Thursday 6 March
Copenhagen vs Chelsea (18:45 CET)
Molde vs Legia Warszawa (18:45 CET)
Panathinaikos vs Fiorentina (18:45 CET)
Real Betis vs Vitória SC (18:45 CET)
Borac vs SK Rapid
Celje vs Lugano
Jagiellonia vs Cercle Brugge
Pafos vs Djurgården

Second legs

Thursday 13 March
Cercle Brugge vs Jagiellonia (18:45 CET)
Djurgården vs Pafos (18:45 CET)
Lugano vs Celje (18:45 CET)
SK Rapid vs Borac (18:45 CET)
Chelsea vs Copenhagen
Fiorentina vs Panathinaikos
Legia Warszawa vs Molde
Vitória SC vs Real Betis

2024/25 Conference League quarter-final draw

Real Betis (ESP)/Vitória SC (POR) vs Jagiellonia (POL)/Cercle Brugge (BEL)*
Celje (SVN)/Lugano (SUI) vs Panathinaikos (GRE)/Fiorentina (ITA)
Copenhagen (DEN)/Chelsea (ENG) vs Molde (NOR)/Legia Warszawa (POL)*
Pafos (CYP)/Djurgården (SWE) vs Borac (BIH)/SK Rapid (AUT)

Ties will take place on 10 and 17 April.

* The potential home matches of Cercle Brugge and Chelsea in the quarter-finals may be subject to a change of schedule.

2024/25 Conference League semi-final draw

Real Betis/Vitória SC/Jagiellonia/Cercle Brugge vs Celje/Lugano/Panathinaikos/Fiorentina*
Copenhagen/Chelsea/Molde/Legia vs Pafos/Djurgården/Borac/SK Rapid*

Ties will take place on 1 and 8 May.

* The potential home matches of Chelsea and Panathinaikos in the semi-finals may be subject to a change of schedule.

2024/25 Conference League final draw

For administrative purposes, the winners of semi-final 1 will be the 'home' side for the Conference League final in Wroclaw on 28 May.

How did the Conference League knockout draw work?

How did the round of 16 draw work?

The clubs were paired based on their positions at the end of the league phase to form four seeded pairs (clubs in positions 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, and 7 and 8).

The clubs in each seeded pair were drawn into one of two positions in the round of 16 against the relevant winner of the knockout phase play-offs, whose position was determined by the knockout phase play-off draw.

Four bowls were prepared for the draw, with the balls containing the names of each pair of seeded teams placed in the corresponding marked bowls according to the league rankings.

The draw allocated the side of the bracket for all the seeded teams, starting with the teams ranked 7/8 and finishing with the teams 1/2.

One ball was taken from the bowl containing the two relevant ranked teams (i.e. the teams ranked 7 and 8) and was opened to display the team. The first team drawn from this bowl was placed in their reserved spot on the silver side of the bracket. The other seeded team of the pairing was then drawn and displayed, and allocated in the corresponding reserved spot on the green side of the bracket.

The same procedure was carried out with the remaining seeded teams.

In principle, the seeded clubs play the return leg at home.

How does the Conference League quarter-final draw work? 

The draw was made to determine the order of the matches (i.e. which team will host the first leg and which team the return leg) as all the potential opponents are known until the final.

Four bowls were prepared for this draw, two for the silver side of the bracket and two for the green side of the bracket. Each bowl contained two balls representing the winners of the round of 16 matches from one rung of the relevant side of the bracket, with the first silver bowl containing slips of paper marked 'Winners R16 1' and 'Winners R16 2' and the second silver bowl 'Winners R16 3' and 'Winners R16 4'.

The first bowl on the green side contained slips of paper marked 'Winners R16 5' and 'Winners R16 6' and, finally, 'Winners R16 7' and 'Winners R16 8' in the second bowl on the green side.

The draw started by shuffling and then drawing the balls placed in the first bowl of the silver side of the bracket. The first ball drawn from this bowl indicated the team which will play the first match of the quarter-final at home, and the second ball the team which will play the return leg at home.

The procedure was repeated with the remaining bowls to complete the quarter-final pairings.

How did the Conference League semi-final draw work? 

Two bowls were prepared for this draw, one for the silver side of the bracket with balls containing slips of paper marked 'Winners Q-F 1' and 'Winners Q-F 2', and one for the green side of the draw containing 'Winners Q-F 3' and 'Winners Q-F 4'.

The draw started by shuffling and then drawing the balls placed in the bowl for the silver side of the bracket. The first ball drawn indicated the team which will play the first match of the silver side semi-final at home, and the second ball the team which will play the return leg at home.

The procedure was repeated with the remaining bowl to complete the semi-final pairings.

Was there also a draw for the Conference League final? 

As the teams were designated to a side of the bracket by the draw for the knockout phase play-off / round of 16, no draw was made for the final. The winners of the semi-final on the silver side of the bracket are designated as the nominal home team for the final.