Why Chelsea won’t play in Europe until October as UEFA confirm change

Chelsea will be looking to add a new piece of silverware to the collection when they enter the UEFA Conference League this season.

Enzo Maresca will steer Chelsea into their maiden UEFA Conference League campaign after a late-season surge saw the Blues creep into the European places last month – but they’ll kick off a month later than most European teams.

Following their win over AFC Bournemouth on the final day of the season many Chelsea fans would’ve been preparing for the new campaign with Mauricio Pochettino. However, the Argentine was dismissed from his role as head coach less than 12 months into the position following the topsy-turvy campaign. Chelsea qualified for the competition for the first time in their history as the tournament enters its fourth year.

The Conference League is the third-tier competition from UEFA behind the Champions League and Europa League. For Chelsea, it is an opportunity to add a new piece of silverware to their trophy cabinet and become just the fourth team to win it after Roma, West Ham United and Olympiacos.

Chelsea’s first appearance in the competition comes during a landmark year for UEFA club tournaments. This year, 108 teams will participate in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League – with 36 teams in each.

Teams will enter the competition and be drawn into a 36-team league phase, with the final ranking in the league phase determining which 24 teams advance to the knockout phase and their seeding position for the knockout phase.

The points system will remain the same with three points per win and one point per draw. Each team will play six games against six different opponents – three at home and three away- in the league phase, unlike the Europa League and Champions League which will have eight matches each.

Teams will be seeded into six pots of six, and each club will be drawn against one opponent from each of the six pots. They will be paired (pots one and two, three and four, five and six) playing one opponent at home and the other away from each of the two pots.

At the end of the league phase in the Conference League, teams placed one to eight in the ranking quality directly for the round of 16. Teams finishing between ninth and 24th will compete in a two-legged playoff to reach the last-16 and those below 25th will be eliminated from the competition.

To strengthen the competition and provide more sporting incentives. The table for the knockout seeding will be formed based on the final ranking of the league position, and teams will be paired (1 and 2, 3 and 4 etc.) and split into opposite parts of the draw.

If a club enters the knockout playoffs, those between ninth and 16th will be seeded and play against teams between 17th and 24th, with the seeded clubs having home advantage in the second leg. Teams that have automatically qualified for the Round of 16 (positions one to eight) will be seeded and play the winners of each playoff, playing the second leg at home.

The knockouts will be two-legged until the final which will be held, like normal, at a neutral venue in a one-legged match. League phase matches in the Conference League will begin October and end in December with two matchdays in each month.

It means Chelsea’s European campaign will kick off one month later than the Champions League and Europa League, both of which starts in September.