NYON, Switzerland — Crystal Palace and Fiorentina face trips to eastern Europe in the Conference League after both preseason favourites found the opening phase tough and landed in the knockout playoffs round draw Friday.
Palace is away in the first leg against Bosnian champion Zrinjski Mostar while Fiorentina — a two-time beaten finalist — will go to Poland to face Jagiellonia Bialystok.
Teams in the knockout playoffs placed ninth to 24th in the 36-team league standings that finished in December. The top eight, led by Strasbourg, advanced directly to the round of 16, which is drawn Feb. 28.
Palace and Fiorentina might have expected trips east with nine teams from former Iron Curtain countries in Friday's draw, and 10 in total in the 24-team knockout phase.
That’s the most yet in the fifth season of UEFA’s third-tier competition that was created to give lower-ranked clubs more chances to play — and win prize money — into the second half of the season. The total Conference League prize fund is about 285 million euros ($331 million).
Kosovo is represented in a knockout phase for the first time in its nine seasons playing in UEFA club competitions: Drita is at home first against Celje of Slovenia.
North Macedonia’s Shkendija was paired with Samsunspor of Turkey, and Armenian champion Noah will first host AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands.
First-leg games are played Feb. 19 and the returns are one week later.
The Conference League final is in Leipzig, Germany on May 27.
UEFA Conference League knockout playoffs round full draw:
First leg
Feb. 19
Zrinjski Mostar (Bosnia-Herzegovina) vs. Crystal Palace (England)
KuPS Kuopio (Finland) vs. Lech Poznan (Poland)
Noah (Armenia) vs. AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands)
Jagiellonia Bialystok (Poland) vs. Fiorentina (Italy)
Sigma Olomouc (Czech Republic) vs. Lausanne (Switzerland)
Shkendija (North Macedonia) vs. Samsunspor (Turkey)
Drita (Kosovo) vs. Celje (Slovenia)
Omonoia (Cyprus) vs. Rijeka (Croatia)
Second leg
Feb. 26
Crystal Palace (England) vs. Zrinjski Mostar (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Lech Poznan (Poland) vs. KuPS Kuopio (Finland)
AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) vs. Noah (Armenia)
Fiorentina (Italy) vs. Jagiellonia Bialystok (Poland)
Lausanne (Switzerland) vs. Sigma Olomouc (Czech Republic)
Samsunspor (Turkey) vs. Shkendija (North Macedonia)
Celje (Slovenia) vs. Drita (Kosovo)
Rijeka (Croatia) vs. Omonoia (Cyprus)
Advanced direct to round of 16
Strasbourg (France), Rakow (Poland), AEK Athens (Greece), Sparta Prague (Czech Republic), Rayo Vallecano (Spain), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Mainz (Germany), AEK Larnaca (Cyprus).
