The UEFA Conference League round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final draw took place on Friday in Nyon, Switzerland, completing the road map to the final in Leipzig on May 27. The headline story sees Crystal Palace drawn against AEK Larnaca in a rematch of their league phase encounter, while Italian giants Fiorentina face Polish side Rakow Czestochowa. The bracket pathway means Palace and Fiorentina could meet in a blockbuster quarter-final if both advance, setting up one of the most anticipated potential clashes in Conference League history.
The eight seeded teams, who qualified directly through the league phase top eight, are Strasbourg, Rakow, AEK Athens, Sparta Praha, Rayo Vallecano, Shakhtar Donetsk, Mainz and AEK Larnaca. They will host the second leg of their respective ties. The eight unseeded teams, who progressed through the knockout playoffs, are Crystal Palace, Lech Poznan, Samsunspor, Celje, AZ Alkmaar, Fiorentina, Rijeka and Sigma Olomouc. The full round of 16 lineup sees Lech Poznan face Shakhtar Donetsk, AZ Alkmaar take on Sparta Praha, Crystal Palace meet AEK Larnaca, Fiorentina play Rakow, Samsunspor challenge Rayo Vallecano, Celje face AEK Athens, Sigma Olomouc play Mainz and Rijeka meet Strasbourg.
The draw also mapped out the complete bracket to the semi-finals. In the quarter-finals, the winners of Lech Poznan versus Shakhtar Donetsk will face the winners of AZ Alkmaar versus Sparta Praha, while the winners of Crystal Palace versus AEK Larnaca will meet the winners of Fiorentina versus Rakow. On the other side, the winners of Samsunspor versus Rayo Vallecano will take on the winners of Celje versus AEK Athens, and the winners of Sigma Olomouc versus Mainz will play the winners of Rijeka versus Strasbourg.
The semi-finals pair the two halves of the bracket. The first semi-final will see the winners of the Lech-Shakhtar/AZ-Sparta quarter-final face the winners of the Palace-AEK Larnaca/Fiorentina-Rakow quarter-final. The second semi-final brings together the winners of the Samsunspor-Rayo/Celje-AEK Athens quarter-final and the winners of the Olomouc-Mainz/Rijeka-Strasbourg quarter-final. The two semi-final winners will then contest the final at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig.
Crystal Palace will view their draw against AEK Larnaca as a chance for revenge after the Cypriot side handed them a 1-0 defeat at Selhurst Park during the league phase. Palace remain the only English club left in the competition and will be eager to make a deep run. A potential quarter-final against Fiorentina, the 2023 and 2024 Conference League finalists, adds significant intrigue to that side of the bracket. The left half also features Shakhtar Donetsk, AZ Alkmaar and Sparta Praha, all clubs with strong European pedigree.
The right side of the bracket presents a more open pathway to the final, with Turkish debutants Samsunspor facing Rayo Vallecano, Slovenian underdogs Celje taking on AEK Athens, and Bundesliga side Mainz favoured against Czech club Sigma Olomouc. Strasbourg, who topped the league phase standings, face Croatian side Rijeka in their last-16 tie. The round of 16 first legs take place on March 12, with the return fixtures on March 19. The quarter-finals are scheduled for April 9 and 16, the semi-finals for April 30 and May 7, and the final at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig on May 27.
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