Legia Warszawa took seventh place in the table of the regular phase of the Conference League. It won the first four matches, but then suffered defeats against Lugano and Djurgardens IF. The Swiss and Swedes were ahead of the capital in the table. Jagiellonia, in turn, took 9th place and was really close to missing out on the top eight. Cercle Brugge finished higher thanks to their goal difference.
Possible Polish clash in the Conference League
We have a ladder from the knockout stage. In the play-offs, teams ranked 9-10 play against teams ranked 23-24. In this case, these are exactly Jagiellonia (9th place), Shamrock Rovers (10th place), Molde (23rd place) and TSC Baćka Topola (24th place). The Polish champion can play against a club from Norway or Serbia, the draw will decide on Friday.
Then we will also find out who will be Jagiellonia's potential rival in the 1/8 finals. The winners of these four matches can play against the teams that took seventh and eighth place in the regular phase, i.e. Legia or Cercle Brugge. Therefore, there is a real possibility that Poland will play in the European cups in March, which would be a historic event.
Regardless of who Jagiellonia meets in the play-offs, they will be the favorites. It defeated Molde 3-0 in the fall. The Norwegians have played unevenly in recent months, they finished fifth in the league. It was not the same team as at the beginning of the year, when Legia was eliminated from the previous edition of LK. In turn, TSC did not pose any challenge to Legia, which won away against the Serbs 3-0. It should therefore be expected that Jagiellonia would have a similar advantage.
See also: It happened! This is what the final Conference League table looks like
It is also known when the knockout phase matches will take place. Jagiellonia will play its first match away on February 13. Rematch on February 20 in Białystok.
Assuming that Jagiellonia advances to the 1/8 finals and then plays Legia, the first meeting would take place on March 6 in the capital of Podlasie. Rematch on March 13 in Warsaw.
The winner of this battle in the quarterfinals can face the best of the following groups: Chelsea (1st place), Vitoria Guimaraes (2nd place), Betis (15th place), Heidenheim (16th place), Gent (17th place), FC Copenhagen (18th place). The quarter-final matches will take place on April 10 and 17.
The draw for the Conference League play-off phase is on Friday at 1:00 p.m.
Potential path of Jagiellonia and Legia in the knockout phase of the Conference League (play-offs, 1/8 finals and quarter-finals):
- play-off phase: Molde/TSC Baćka Topola – Jagiellonia
- 1/8 finals: Jagiellonia – Legion/Cercle Brugge
- 1/4 final: Jagiellonia/Legia – Chelsea/Vitoria Guimaraes/Betis/Heidenheim/Gent/FC Copenhagen