What if the Conference League Followed Next Year’s Format

The Conference League will change dramatically after the upcoming edition (and not for the better IMO). This will be the final version of the current Conference League Group Stage before they change the whole format in a never ending pursuit of money. They should have changed it a straight knockout format, which would have eliminated some of the complaints about how many fixtures there are and added increased excitement to the early stages.

There will no longer be a Group Stage, replaced by a Swiss System with six games per team and 36 teams. The top 24 teams will advance, while the top eight advance to the Round of 16. There will be fewer cup winners in the qualifying rounds (they would be in the higher ranked Europa League), but there will be many more dead rubbers.

The Normal Access List

The Effective Access List

Some changes stemming from Russia’s ban including adding byes in the Second Qualifying Round for Champions and the Third Qualifying Round for Non-Champions. The cup winners from associations 39–41 were also promoted from the First Qualifying Round to the Second Qualifying Round.

The Would Be Scenario