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Starting from the 2024/2025 season, all three UEFA competitions (Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League) will feature a revamped format. Gone are the traditional eight groups, replaced by a single league format with 36 teams.
In the Conference League, each team will play six matches (in the Champions League and Europa League, there will be eight), with three home and three away. After the six matchdays, the final standings will determine the next phase. The top eight teams will advance directly to the Round of 16, while the teams finishing ninth to twenty-fourth will compete in playoffs. The teams finishing twenty-fifth to thirty-sixth will be eliminated.
The league phase will kick off on October 3, 2024, with the sixth and final matchday scheduled for December 19, 2024. The knockout phase will then begin, with the playoffs on February 13 and 20, 2025. The Round of 16 will be held on March 6 and 13, 2025, followed by the quarterfinals on April 10 and 17, 2025, and the semifinals on May 1 and 8, 2025. The 2024/25 Conference League final will take place on May 28, 2025, at Stadion Wrocław in Wrocław, Poland, which has a capacity of over 40,000.
The upcoming season will be the fourth edition of the Conference League, UEFA’s third-tier continental trophy. This tournament has had a special connection with Italian clubs over the years. The first edition was won by José Mourinho's Roma in 2022, defeating Feyenoord in Tirana thanks to a goal by Nicolò Zaniolo. Another Italian team, Fiorentina, reached the final in 2023 but lost to West Ham. The final, held at Eden Arena in Prague, saw Fiorentina equalize through Giacomo Bonaventura after an initial goal by Said Benrahma, only for Jarrod Bowen to score the decisive goal for West Ham in the 90th minute.
Fiorentina reached the final again last season, but their desire for revenge was not enough. They capitulated in the 116th minute of the second extra time to Ayoub El Kaabi's goal, which handed the trophy to Olympiacos on May 29 at OPAP Arena in Athens, Greece. Fiorentina will once again participate in the Conference League for the 2024/2025 season.
