Aston Villa discover next steps in Europa Conference League voyage as UEFA ‘seeding’ explained

Aston Villa are already getting set to take on their first campaign in European football for 13 years after securing Europa Conference League qualification with a 2-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.

It went right down to the final day of the Premier League season in dramatic fashion but the Villans achieved their ambitious objective, courtesy of goals from Douglas Luiz and Ollie Watkins.

The dust may now have settled on what was a remarkable recovery campaign under the new management of Unai Emery, but that hasn’t stopped the excitement building ahead of the 2023-24 term.

The Villans are yet to find out their seeded or unseeded status but there’s now more clarity over how their European voyage will unfold. Here’s everything you need to know, including the competition’s format and information regarding key dates.

Will Aston Villa be seeded or unseeded for the play-off stage?

It’s a system that can confuse a few, but some teams being seeded and others not is key to UEFA’s format for the play-off stage. Half of those in the play-off round will be seeded and the other 50% will be unseeded. Each fixture will have one seeded team playing one that’s unseeded. Typically, the higher-quality teams are those that are seeded.

In the group stage, there are four draw pots in all, with the best-seeded teams in pot one and the lowest-seeded teams in pot four. Each group is made up of one team from each pot. That means teams from the same pot cannot face each other, and as usual, nor can teams from the same country.

Those selected are decided not by club reputation but rather form over recent seasons, with a ranking by UEFA coefficiency. As it stands, Villa, at 21.799 coefficiency, are just about in the unseeded half of the draw but they could yet become seeded depending on results to come in the coming days.

If Viborg beat Midtjylland in the Danish Play-Off on June 9 and Fenerbaçhe defeat Başakşehir on June 11 in the Turkish Cup Final, then Villa will become seeded. The Villans can also acquire that status if UEFA suspends Juventus from European competitions to follow their Serie A points deduction. The draw for the play-off stage is on August 7.

What are the key dates and where will the final be played?

Even though the final of the 2022-23 instalment of the Europa Conference League is still yet to be played out by West Ham United and Fiorentina, the key dates for the 2023-24 season’s competition have already been released.

There are three qualifying rounds throughout July and August but Villa will bypass these, entering at the play-off stage. UEFA have announced that said play-offs will take place between August 24 and August 31.

The draw for the group stage will take place shortly after the play-off matches and then the fixtures will be played starting from September 21 and ending on December 14, with games roughly every two-three weeks.

The knockout round play-off first leg clashes will be on February 15, 2024, with the second leg matches on February 22, 2024. The Round of 16 will follow the same format but on March 7 and March 14, while the Quarter Finals will play out on April 11 and 18.

Villa will be hoping they get an involvement in the latter stages and the Semi Finals will be played on May 2 and May 9, whereas the Final is scheduled for May 29. If Emery and his men make it all the way, the chance to lift the trophy will be in Athens, Greece.