Apoel to travel to Ireland, Omonia to Scotland, in Conference League

Cyprus champions Apoel will face Irish champions Shamrock Rovers away from home in this season’s Europa Conference League’s league phase, while their Nicosia rivals Omonia will travel to Scotland to face Heart of Midlothian.

Friday’s draw was the first under the Europa Conference League’s new format, in which, instead of a group phase, all 36 qualified teams will compete in one ‘league’, playing one game against a team from each of the six ranked ‘pots’, three at home, and three away.

The top eight teams will automatically advance to the last 16, while those ranked between ninth place and 24th place will take part in playoffs to determine whether or not they will progress.

Three of those 36 teams are from Cyprus, with Apoel and Omonia being joined in the competition by Pafos FC, who qualified on Thursday night with a 3-0 victory over Romanian outfit CFR Cluj.

Apoel will face Italian side Fiorentina, Kazakhstan’s Astana, and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s champions Borac Banja Luka at home, while travelling away to Norwegian cup winners Molde, Shamrock Rovers, and Armenian runners up Noah.

Noah were something of a surprise package in qualifying this season, having beaten Greek side Aek Athens earlier in the competition.

Omonia will play at home against Polish outfit Legia Warsaw, Austria’s Rapid Vienna, and Icelandic champions Vikingur Reykjavik, while travelling away to Belgian side Gent, Heart of Midlothian, and Borac Banja Luka.

Pafos FC will host German side FC Heidenheim, Astana, and Slovenian champions Celje, while travelling away to Fiorentina, Swiss outfit Lugano, and Moldovan champions Petroclub Hincesti.

Outside of the Cypriot teams, two-time Champions League winners Chelsea will feature in the Europa Conference League for the first time, playing against Shamrock Rovers, Noah, and Greek side Panathinaikos, among others.

Meanwhile, Welsh outfit The New Saints’ appearance in the league phase represents the farthest progress of any side from the country in European football. They will also face Panathinaikos and Shamrock Rovers, while being rewarded with an away trip to Fiorentina as well.

Northern Irish champions Larne are also the first from their country to progress this far in European football and have both Shamrock Rovers and Belarusian champions Dinamo Minsk among their opponents.

The exact dates of the league phase fixtures will be announced on Saturday, with games set to take place between October 3 and December 19.

This season’s Europa Conference League final will take place on May 28 next year at the Wroclaw Stadium in the Polish city of Wroclaw.