UEFA announces a third competition for 2021

The only information currently known is what has been said by UEFA itself: "It is designed to give more clubs from more countries the opportunity to participate in European football."

It will be played by 32 teams, and will follow the format of the other two, with a group stage prior to the final knockout, which will begin in the Round of 16, after a play-off.

It will be a relief for the overloaded Europa League. Rumours of its reduction from 64 to 32 teams suggest that the weakest will move on to the Conference League, raising the level of the Europa League accordingly.

 

September 24, 2019

UEFA has revealed that this 'play off' will be played between the runners-up in the group phase of the Conference League and the third-placed Europa League.

This surely means that the second competition will be reduced to 32 teams, because UEFA has assured that it will consist of 141 matches in fifteen weeks, the same length as the Europa League. The Europa League will change the sixteenth of the final for another 'play off', between its seconds and the third of the Champions League.

And when will it be played? With the Champions League holding on Tuesday and Wednesday, it looks like the Europa League and Conference League will play be played on Thursdays, with an additional time slot expected to be added. Authentic football marathons await us all.

The only thing that remains to be seen is whether it will have previous rounds or whether, on the contrary, it will be fed by directly qualified clubs and those that are dropping out from the qualifying rounds for the Champions League and the Europa League.

It doesn't look like the resurrection of the extinct European Cup Winners' Cup (which the Cup winners were competing for), but rather like a third competition to take some pressure off the overcrowded Europa League.