Article 13 Competition stages and seeding - Europa Conference League

13.01

All matches in the competition are played in conformity with the IFAB Laws of the Game. The half-time interval lasts 15 minutes.

13.02

The competition stages are as follows (see Annex B):

1. Qualifying phase, divided into:

   • main path, composed of:

     - first qualifying round;

     - second qualifying round;

     - third qualifying round;

   • champions path, composed of:

     - second qualifying round;

     - third qualifying round;

2. Play-offs (main path and champions path);

3. UEFA Europa Conference League, composed of:

   • group stage (six matchdays);

   • knockout stage

     - knockout round play-offs;

     - round of 16;

     - quarter-finals;

     - semi-finals;

     - final.

13.03

Clubs are seeded for each round of the main path (qualifying rounds and play-offs) in accordance with the club coefficient rankings established at the beginning of the season (see Annex D). If, for any reason, any of the participants in such rounds are not known at the time of the draw, the coefficient of the club with the higher coefficient of the two clubs involved in an undecided tie is used for the purposes of the draw.

13.04

For each round in the main path (qualifying rounds and play-offs), a draw between the same number of seeded and unseeded clubs determines the pairings, in accordance with the club coefficient rankings (see Annex D) and with Paragraph 13.03. The UEFA administration may form groups for the draw in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. Clubs from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.

13.05

Clubs are seeded for the champions path second qualifying round and play-offs. No teams are seeded for the champions path third qualifying round. Clubs entering the competition from the UEFA Champions League champions path or the UEFA Europa League champions path are seeded for the round in which they enter the competition, based on the stage at which they were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League, as follows:

1. For the second qualifying round, the clubs eliminated in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League are seeded.

2. For the play-offs, the clubs eliminated in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League are seeded.

13.06

For each round in the champions path (second qualifying round, third qualifying round and play-offs), a draw is held to determine the pairings. The UEFA administration may form groups for the draw, in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. For the second qualifying round and play-offs of the champions path, seeded clubs are drawn against unseeded clubs until there are no seeded or no unseeded clubs left, at which point the draw becomes open and seeding no longer applies. For the third qualifying round of the champions path, the draw is open and no seeding applies.

13.07

The ties are determined by means of a draw. The club drawn first plays the first leg of the tie at home, subject to the provisions of Paragraph 13.02 and Article 14 to Article 24.

13.08

For the purpose of the draw, the 32 clubs involved in the group stage are seeded into four groups of eight, in accordance with the club coefficient ranking established at the beginning of the season (see Annex D). The UEFA Europa Conference League titleholders are the top seed.

13.09

For the knockout round play-offs, the runners-up are seeded above the teams that finish third in the UEFA Europa League group stage.

13.10

For the round of 16, the group winners are seeded above the eight winners of the knockout round play-offs.

13.11

The UEFA administration may decide that a tie be played in one leg, if circumstances so require, and will set the principles for determining the winner accordingly.