UEFA Europa Conference League 2021–22 was the inaugural season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe’s tertiary club football tournament organized by UEFA.
The final was played at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana, Albania, with Roma defeating Feyenoord 1–0. As winners, Roma automatically qualified for the UEFA Europa League 2022–23 group stage, although they had already done so through their league position.
This season was the first since 1999–2000 (the first season after the dissolution of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup) where three major European club competitions (UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Europa Conference League) took place.
On 24 June 2021, UEFA approved the proposal to abolish the away goals rule in all UEFA club competitions, which had been used since 1965. Therefore, if in a two-legged tie, two teams scored the same number of aggregate goals, the winner was not decided by the number of away goals scored by each team, but always by 30 minutes of extra time, and if the two teams scored the same number of goals in extra time, the winner was decided by a penalty shoot-out.
Champions: AS Roma (1st title)
Runners-Up: Feyenoord
Best Player: Lorenzo Pellegrini ( AS Roma)
Best Young Player: Luis Sinisterra ( Feyenoord )
Top Goal Scorer: Cyriel Dessers ( Feyenoord), 10 goal
UEFA Europa Conference League 2021–22 Teams
The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:
- CW: Domestic cup winners
- 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position of the previous season
- LC: League cup winners
- RW: Regular season winners
- PW: End-of-season Europa Conference League play-offs winners
- UCL: Transferred from the Champions League
Q1: Losers from the first qualifying round
PR: Losers from the preliminary round (F: final; SF: semi-finals) - UEL: Transferred from the Europa League
GS: Third-placed teams from the group stage
PO: Losers from the play-off round
CH/MP Q3: Losers from the third qualifying round (Champions/Main Path) - Abd-: League positions of abandoned season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe as determined by the national association; all teams were subject to approval by UEFA as per the guidelines for entry to European competitions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The second qualifying round, third qualifying round and play-off round were divided into Champions Path (CH) and Main Path (MP).
UEFA Europa Conference League 2021–22 Group stage
Group A
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points Qualification
1 LASK 6 5 1 0 12 1 +11 16 Advance to round of 16
2 Maccabi Tel Aviv 6 3 2 1 14 4 +10 11 Advance to knockout round play-offs
3 HJK 6 2 0 4 5 15 −10 6
4 Alashkert 6 0 1 5 4 15 −11 1
Group B
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points Qualification
1 Gent 6 4 1 1 6 2 +4 13 Advance to round of 16
2 Partizan 6 2 2 2 6 4 +2 8 Advance to knockout round play-offs
3 Anorthosis Famagusta 6 1 3 2 6 9 −3 6
4 Flora 6 1 2 3 5 8 −3 5
Group C
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points Qualification
1 AS Roma 6 4 1 1 18 11 +7 13 Advance to round of 16
2 Bodø/Glimt 6 3 3 0 14 5 +9 12 Advance to knockout round play-offs
3 Zorya Luhansk 6 2 1 3 5 11 −6 7
4 CSKA Sofia 6 0 1 5 3 13 −10 1
Group D
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points Qualification
1 AZ 6 4 2 0 8 3 +5 14 Advance to round of 16
2 Randers 6 1 4 1 9 9 0 7 Advance to knockout round play-offs
3 Jablonec 6 1 3 2 6 8 −2 6
4 CFR Cluj 6 1 1 4 4 7 −3 4
Group E
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points Qualification
1 Feyenoord 6 4 2 0 11 6 +5 14 Advance to round of 16
2 Slavia Prague 6 2 2 2 8 7 +1 8 Advance to knockout round play-offs
3 Union Berlin 6 2 1 3 8 9 −1 7
4 Maccabi Haifa 6 1 1 4 2 7 −5 4
Group F
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points Qualification
1 Copenhagen 6 5 0 1 15 5 +10 15 Advance to round of 16
2 PAOK 6 3 2 1 8 4 +4 11 Advance to knockout round play-offs
3 Slovan Bratislava 6 2 2 2 8 7 +1 8
4 Lincoln Red Imps 6 0 0 6 2 17 −15 0
Group G
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points Qualification
1 Rennes 6 4 2 0 13 7 +6 14 Advance to round of 16
2 Vitesse 6 3 1 2 12 9 +3 10 Advance to knockout round play-offs
3 Tottenham Hotspur 6 2 1 3 11 11 0 7
4 Mura 6 1 0 5 5 14 −9 3
Note: The Tottenham Hotspur v Rennes match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Rennes due to numerous positive COVID-19 tests in the Tottenham Hotspur squad.
Group H
Position Team Played Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points Qualification
1 Basel 6 4 2 0 14 6 +8 14 Advance to round of 16
2 Qarabağ 6 3 2 1 10 8 +2 11 Advance to knockout round play-offs
3 Omonia 6 0 4 2 5 10 −5 4
4 Kairat 6 0 2 4 6 11 −5 2
UEFA Europa Conference League 2021–22 Round of 16 matches
The draw for the round of 16 was held on 25 February 2022, 13:00 CET. The first legs were played on 10 March, and the second legs were played on 17 March 2022.
Team 1 Aggregate Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Marseille 4–2 Basel 2–1 2–1
Leicester City 3–2 Rennes 2–0 1–2
PAOK 3–1 Gent 1–0 2–1
Vitesse 1–2 AS Roma 0–1 1–1
PSV Eindhoven 8–4 Copenhagen 4–4 4–0
Slavia Prague 7–5 LASK 4–1 3–4
Bodø/Glimt 4–3 AZ 2–1 2–2 (a.e.t.)
Partizan 3–8 Feyenoord 2–5 1–3
UEFA Europa Conference League 2021–22 Quarter Final matches
The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 18 March 2022, 15:00 CET. The first legs were played on 7 April, and the second legs were played on 14 April 2022.
Team 1 Aggregate Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Bodø/Glimt 2–5 AS Roma 2–1 0–4
Feyenoord 6–4 Slavia Prague 3–3 3–1
Marseille 3–1 PAOK 2–1 1–0
Leicester City 2–1 PSV Eindhoven 0–0 2–1
UEFA Europa Conference League 2021–22 Semi Final matches
The draw for the semi-finals was held on 18 March 2022, 15:00 CET, after the quarter-final draw. The first legs were played on 28 April, and the second legs were played on 5 May 2022.
Team 1 Aggregate Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Leicester City 1–2 AS Roma 1–1 0–1
Feyenoord 3–2 Marseille 3–2 0–0
UEFA Europa Conference League 2021–22 Final match
25 May 2022 21:00 CEST, Arena Kombëtare, Tirana
AS Roma | 1 – 0 | Feyenoord |
Nicolo Zaniolo 32′ |
UEFA Conference League 2021–22 Top Goal scorers
Rank Player Team Goals
1 Cyriel Dessers Feyenoord 10
2 Tammy Abraham AS Roma 9
3 Yira Sor Slavia Prague 6
4 Ola Solbakken Bodø/Glimt 6
5 Luis Sinisterra Feyenoord 6
6 Gaëtan Laborde Rennes 5
7 Arthur Cabral Basel 5
8 Nicolò Zaniolo AS Roma 5
9 Amahl Pellegrino Bodø/Glimt 5
UEFA Conference League 2021–22 Most Assist provider list
Rank Player Team Assists
1 Eli Dasa Vitesse 4
2 Erik Botheim Bodo / Glimt 4
3 Luis Sinisterra Feyenoord 4
4 Nicolò Zaniolo AS Roma 4
5 Pep Biel Kobenhavn 4
6 Rick Karsdorp AS Roma 4
UEFA Conference League 2021–22 Team of the season
The UEFA technical study group selected the following players as the team of the tournament.
Position Player Team
Goalkeeper Rui Patrício AS Roma
Defender Lutsharel Geertruida Feyenoord
Defender Chris Smalling AS Roma
Defender Gernot Trauner Feyenoord
Defender Tyrell Malacia Feyenoord
Midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini AS Roma
Midfielder Dimitri Payet Marseille
Midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall Leicester City
Midfielder Luis Sinisterra Feyenoord
Forward Cyriel Dessers Feyenoord
Forward Tammy Abraham AS Roma