The group stage draw for the second edition of the European Conference League, the third most important in Europe, which was held today, Friday, has resulted in an acceptable showdown between candidates Villarreal and West Ham.
Villarreal, the 2021 Europa League champions who reached the semi-finals of the Champions League last season, are in the third group, which includes Israel’s Hapoel Beersheba, Austrian Vienna and Poland’s Lech Poznan.
Group stage draw ✅
???? The best group? #UKL | #UECLdrawpic.twitter.com/wzBA4ok52G
— UEFA Conference League (@europacnfleague) August 26, 2022
As for West Ham, holders of the old 1965 European Cup Winners’ Cup, they were placed in Group B along with Romanian FCSB (formerly Steaua Bucharest), Belgian Anderlecht and Danish Silkeborg.
Here is the result of the European Conference League group stage draw:
Group A: Basaksehir (Turkey), Fiorentina (Italy), Hearts (Scotland), RFS (Latvia)
Group B: West Ham (England), FSB (Romania), Anderlecht (Belgium), Silkeborg (Denmark).
Group C: Villarreal (Spain), Hapoel Beer Sheva (Israel), Austria Wien (Austria), Lech Poznan (Poland).
Group D: Partizan (Serbia), Cologne (Germany), Nice (France), Slovakia (Czech Republic).
Group E: Alkmaar (Netherlands), Apollon Limassol (Cyprus), Vaduz (Liechtenstein), Dnipro-1 (Ukraine)
Group F: Gent (Belgium), Molde (Norway), Shamrock Rovers (Ireland), Djurgården (Sweden).
Group G: Slavia Prague (Czech Republic), Cluj (Romania), Sevaspor (Turkey), Balkans
Kosovo)
Group H: Basel (Switzerland), Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia), Galgiris Vilnius (Lithuania), Bionic (Armenia).
The group stage matches will be held from September 8 to November 3, the playoffs of the 1/8 finals – on February 16 and 23, the 1/8 finals – on March 9 and 16, the quarter-finals – on April 13 and 20, the matches of the 1/8 finals – on 16 and 23 February. semi-finals on May 11 and 18 and the final on June 7 in Prague.
Source: AFP.