Conference League draw LIVE!
Chelsea will discover their last-16 opponents and potential route to the final as the Conference League knockout draw takes place this afternoon. The Blues are widely considered as the favourites for glory this season in Europe’s revamped tertiary club competition, having eased through the initial league phase with six wins from six, scoring 25 goals and conceding just five to earn top spot despite playing a second-string team for the most part.
Chelsea know that either Real Betis or FC Copenhagen now await them in the last 16, with those clubs earning aggregate wins this week in respective play-off ties against Gent and Heidenheim. Enzo Maresca may look at the Conference League for some respite from his side’s recent domestic struggles, which has seen them drop to sixth in the Premier League table as well as being knocked out of the FA Cup in the fourth round.
Maresca has received public backing from the club amid some growing criticism from fans, but it remains to be seen if victory in this competition would assuage the doubters if his side continue to toil in pursuit of a top-four finish. Follow the Conference League draw live below!
Conference League draw latest news
- Start time: 1pm GMT | Nyon, Switzerland
- How to watch the draw live
- Who could Chelsea face in last 16?
- Qualified teams
- Last-16 fixture dates
- How does the draw work?
Chelsea route to final
13:31 , George FloodThe Conference League draw is complete!
So it’s FC Copenhagen for Chelsea in the last 16, with one of Molde or Legia Warsaw then in the quarter-finals if they avoid an upset against the Danes.
Then in the semi-finals it would be one of Borac, Rapid Vienna, Pafos or Djurgarden.
Could a potential final showdown with Fiorentina or Real Betis await? They have already beaten Panathinaikos in Greece during the league phase.
Enzo Maresca should be very happy with that.
Conference League semi-final draw
13:27 , George FloodMolde or Legia Warsaw or Copenhagen or Chelsea vs Borac or Rapid Vienna or Pafos or Djurgarden
Conference League semi-final draw
13:26 , George FloodReal Betis or Vitoria SC or Jagiellonia Bialystok or Cercle Brugge vs Celje or FC Lugano or Panathinaikos or Fiorentina
Conference League quarter-final draw
13:25 , George FloodBorac or Rapid Vienna vs Pafos or Djurgarden
Conference League quarter-final draw
13:24 , George FloodMolde or Legia Warsaw vs Copenhagen or Chelsea
Conference League quarter-final draw
13:24 , George FloodCelje or FC Lugano vs Panathinaikos or Fiorentina
Conference League quarter-final draw
13:23Real Betis or Vitoria SC vs Jagiellonia Bialystok or Cercle Brugge
Conference League quarter-final draw
13:21So in the quarter-finals it’ll be Copenhagen or Chelsea against Molde or Legia Warsaw
Conference League draw
13:18 , George FloodFC Copenhagen vs Chelsea
Conference League draw
13:18 , George FloodReal Betis vs Vitoria SC
Conference League draw
13:18Borac vs Rapid Vienna
Conference League draw
13:17 , George FloodPanathinaikos vs Fiorentina
Conference League draw
13:17 , George FloodPafos vs Djurgarden
Conference League draw
13:16 , George FloodCelje vs FC Lugano
Conference League draw
13:16 , George FloodMolde vs Legia Warsaw
Conference League draw
13:16 , George FloodJagiellonia Bialystok vs Cercle Brugge
Conference League draw
13:15 , George FloodHere we go!
Conference League draw
13:12 , George FloodThe rather complicated full draw procedure is currently being explained in full.
After that, we’ll be underway.
Remember, it’ll be either Real Betis or FC Copenhagen for Chelsea in the last 16.
Conference League draw
13:09 , George FloodFormer Poland captain Michal Zewlakow will help conduct today’s draw.
He is an ambassador for this season’s Conference League final in Wroclaw in May.
There are two Polish teams left in the competition in Legia Warsaw and Jagiellonia Bialystok.
Conference League draw
13:05 , George FloodThe draw proceedings are about to get underway at Uefa headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
Uefa deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti is on the stage and we’re off and running.
Less than 10 minutes to go now until today’s Conference League draw.
The balls and draw pots are ready to go...
🔜#UECLdraw pic.twitter.com/iMmWPNr22e
— UEFA Conference League (@Conf_League) February 21, 2025
Defiant Maresca hits back at Chelsea critics in fierce response
12:42 , George FloodHere’s more from Standard Sport’s Chelsea correspondent Malik Ouzia on a passionate press conference showing from Enzo Maresca at Cobham earlier today as we edge closer to the Conference League last-16 draw...
Enzo Maresca has at last set his Chelsea players the public target of finishing in the top four this season as he bids to silence criticism over a lack of ambition.
The Blues are in the midst of a dismal run of form, having taken just nine points from their last nine Premier League games ahead of Saturday’s trip to Aston Villa.
However, they remain sixth, just one point behind fourth-placed Manchester City and level with Bournemouth in fifth, with England looking increasingly likely to secure an additional Champions League place for next season.
Maresca has been notably coy when it has come to specific targets for his debut campaign.
Maresca blames injuries and rejects claims over lack of ambition
12:23 , George FloodChelsea’s poor recent run after they had been looking like potential title contenders early in the season has led to increasing criticism from fans and pundits alike, though club director Jonathan Goldstein publicly backed Enzo Maresca this week, saying he was doing a “great job” and would “100 per cent” be in charge for the whole campaign.
Now the passionate Blues boss has hit back against claims that he and the club are lacking in ambition.
Asked if he believed that Chelsea could finish in the top four this season, Maresca said: “I've always been clear since day one: I'm not here to - and I've said this already a few times - I'm not here to survive, I'm here to win games, I'm here to bring this club to fight for titles.
“I've said this already many times but the problem is, when you win games, you look humble and when you don't win games, you look like you lack ambition.
"Since day one, I joined this club and my intention was to win games, win titles and to bring this club where this club deserves to be.
“I've said this since day one. If you review all of my press conferences, I always say the same.
"I'm ambitious, the club is ambitious. We have the same manager, same players, same owners and same sporting directors from two months ago when we were second in the league. Nothing has changed.
“The only thing that has changed is we are dealing with many injuries and this has affected a little bit the level of the team.”
Maresca sets public Chelsea target before Aston Villa clash
12:16Enzo Maresca has addressed the media already today ahead of tomorrow evening’s potentially tricky trip to Aston Villa in the Premier League.
The Blues could really use a result in the Midlands after their back-to-back defeats down at Brighton left them sixth in the Premier League and out of the FA Cup fourth round.
Chelsea have won just two of their last nine league games, though Maresca has now set his players a public target of finishing in the top four despite a worsening injury situation that will now see Noni Madueke sidelined until April.
"I think we spent almost the whole season in the top four,” he said. “Now we have just 13 games to go, so for sure now, the target for us now is to try and finish in the top four - to finish in the best way.
“We are going to try to do our best to achieve that, knowing that the difficult moment we have now is probably one of the reasons why, and the most important reason why, is because of the injury situation; we have five or six players, significant players, that are out.
"I was watching two days ago the first game against Villa and unfortunately, we have five players in that game that are out. Wes [Fofana], Noni, Nico [Jackson], Romeo [Lavia] - so the team changed completely and it's something this season happens almost with many clubs.
“Arsenal have injuries, City have injuries and we are going to try our best to win games even with the amount of injuries we have.”
How does the draw work?
11:54 , George FloodThe teams that finished in the top eight at the end of the Conference League league phase went straight through to the last 16, with the clubs that finished between ninth and 24th then contesting a two-legged knockout play-off tie to join them and the rest eliminated from Europe altogether this season.
The competition is bracketed from the knockout play-offs onwards, with the path for each team pre-defined by parings that are based on where they finished in the league phase.
After finishing first, Chelsea knew they would play one of the teams that finished 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th.
That has since become the 15th and 18th-placed sides after those wins for Real Betis and FC Copenhagen respectively.
Whichever of those sides Chelsea don’t face will play second-place finishers Vitoria de Guimaraes of Portugal.
The top-eight finishers from the league phase are seeded, with the eight play-off tie winners unseeded.
We will spare you all the dull detail of the full procedure, but the quarter-final and semi-final draws will also be made today, so every team will know their potential path through to the final in Wroclaw in May.
Conference League last-16 fixture dates
11:42The Conference League round of 16 will take place in early March.
The first-leg ties will be played on Thursday, March 6, with the return legs scheduled for a week later on Thursday, March 13.
The quarter-finals are on April 10 and April 17, with the semis on May 1 and 8.
The final takes place at the Wroclaw Stadium in Poland on May 28.
Conference League last-16 teams
11:32Here are the 16 teams involved in today’s Conference League knockout draw:
Chelsea
Vitoria
Fiorentina
Rapid Wien
Djurgarden
Lugano
Legia Warsaw
Cercle Brugge
Real Betis
Panathinaikos
Jagiellonia Bialystok
Celje
Copenhagen
Pafos
Molde
Borac
Who could Chelsea face in last 16?
11:23With the new format of the Conference League this season and pairing system in place, league phase winners Chelsea knew at the start of the knockout play-off round (that they easily avoided) that they would be facing one of Gent, FC Copenhagen, Real Betis or Heidenheim in the last 16.
This week that has been whittled down to just Betis or Copenhagen, with the former going through 3-1 on aggregate despite losing the second leg at home to Gent 1-0 last night.
Copenhagen, meanwhile, edged Heidenheim 4-3 on aggregate after a 3-1 win in Germany on Thursday that went to extra time, with young Mexican winger Rodrigo Huescas popping up with the crucial goal.
Chelsea played Heidenheim in the league phase, winning 2-0 away in December.
How to watch the Conference League draw
11:15 , George FloodTV channel and live stream: Today’s Conference League draw will be streamed live and for free on UEFA’s official website and YouTube channel, with live television coverage available from 1pm GMT on TNT Sports 1.
TNT Sports subscribers can also watch it unfold online via the Discovery+ website and app.
Conference League draw live
11:13 , George FloodHello and welcome to Standard Sport’s live coverage of the third of today’s European club football knockout draws, with our focus here on events in the Conference League.
Chelsea will learn their last-16 opponents this afternoon as well as a potential route through to the final in Wroclaw on May 28.
Proceedings are due to get underway from 1pm GMT at Uefa headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, so stay tuned for live build-up and updates.
