Thursday will begin the fifth season of the UEFA Conference League proper. Three dozen teams will commence their run, hoping to be the ones to lift the trophy in Leipzig next May.
Ahead of the competition’s league phase, Flashscore looks at three reasons to follow the Conference League this season.
The competition for all
One thing UEFA have emphasised that the Conference League allows clubs from all across Europe to experience European football. So far, the UECL has certainly been living up to the billing.
In what is now the fifth group stage/league phase, there have been 121 different sides to participate at this stage from 48 national associations. For perspective, there are 55 national associations that are part of UEFA.
Perhaps the most enticing part of the UECL is the nations represented in a group phase for the first time. Since the Conference League’s introduction, 12 countries have had a team in a group stage for the very first time.
Malta are the latest to join this list, as Hamrun Spartans successfully negotiated the qualifying rounds.
There are only three nations now to have never seen a team at this stage of a UEFA club competition: Andorra, Montenegro and San Marino.
The 36 teams are representing 29 different countries in the UECL. This also beats the other two UEFA club competitions, where just 16 are involved in the UCL and 23 in the UEL.