Last match of the “championship phase” for Fiorentina who will take to the pitch at 9pm on Thursday at Vitoria SC (live on Sky Sport Uno, Sky Sport 252 and streaming on NOW). Viola are already certain of moving on to the next phase of the tournament at least through the playoffs, but there is very little left to skip the latter and qualify directly for the round of 16.
GUIMARAES-FIORENTINA LIVE
Last match of the “championship phase” of Conference League for the Fiorentina by Raffaele Palladino, who will take the field against the Vitoria SC. High ranking clash between the two teams, with the Portuguese occupying the 2nd place with 13 points while Viola is one position back with one point less. Both teams are already arithmetically certain of having qualified for the next round, but in Guimaraes they will take to the field to avoid the playoffs and qualify directly for the round of 16.
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The standings of the new Conference League
How many teams advance to the knockout stage?
The regulation of Conference League is similar to that of the Champions League and the Europa League: the first 8 classified of the “championship phase” will enter directly to the round of 16. The 16 teams that will be classified between 9th and 24th place will play the playoffs: from 9th to 16th as seeded, the remaining from 17th to 24th as unseeded. Those ranked from 25th place onwards will be eliminated.
How many points do Fiorentina need to qualify for the round of 16?
Fiorentina is third in the standings with 12 points after 5 days and already like this, according to the statistics of Football Meets Data, has a 55% chance to qualify directly for the round of 16. Percentage that would become of 99% with a draw to Guimaraes and 100% with a win in Portugal.
When will it be held and how does the draw work?
The play-off draw will be held Friday 20 December at the House of European Football in Nyon. First, they will come divided seeded teams (from 9th to 16th place) from those not seeded (from 17th to 24th place). The clubs will come paired based on their ranking (the 9th ranked with the 10th, the 11th with the 12th and so on) and will end up on opposite sides of the board. Same criterion also for the first 8 teams that will qualify directly to the round of 16: the first classified will be paired with the second and they will end up on opposite sides of the board. Below is an explanatory image of how the scoreboard will be structured (photo UEFA.com).
The criteria in case of finishing with equal points
If two or more teams finish the championship phase on equal pointsthen, as provided for in article 18 of the competition regulations, the following criteria apply, in the following order, to determine their ranking:
- Greater goal difference in the championship phase
- Highest number of goals scored in the championship phase
- Highest number of away goals scored in the league phase
- Most wins in the championship phase
- Highest number of away wins in the championship phase
- Greater number of points obtained collectively by opponents in the championship phase
- Collective goal difference higher than opponents in the championship phase
- Highest number of goals scored collectively by opponents in the championship phase
- Lowest disciplinary score based on only yellow and red cards received by players and team staff in all matches in the championship phase (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, sending off for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points)
- Higher ranking
