Conference League Key for Leicester City This Season
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UEFA has introduced the Europa Conference League this season. We have returned to the days of the European Cup Winners’ Cup, where we have three European club competitions in progress, including the Champions League and the Europa League.
The Conference League was looked upon by many clubs and fans as being a tinpot cup but for Leicester City, it is quickly becoming an important competition this season.
Leicester City started the 2021/22 campaign in the Europa League and were regarded by many as being one of the favourites to go all the way.
The Foxes were handed a group containing Napoli, Spartak Moscow, and Legia Warsaw. Napoli aside, this seemed like a fantastic opportunity to progress to the knockout stages of the competition but having been held at home by the Italians in the first fixture, Leicester City lost 1-0 at Legia Warsaw.
A draw at home against Spartak Moscow in the fourth round of games saw Leicester City travelling to Naples in need of a result to progress. They lost the game 3-2 and finished third in the group, dropping into the Europa Conference League.
This week, Leicester City produced their financial results for the year ending May 31, 2021, and it showed a £33 million loss.
The pandemic was to blame for much of the loss and there were some positive aspects, such as the FA Cup win last season. However, winning the FA Cup generated only £3.5 million in revenue due to the pandemic.
In contrast, going out at the round of 32 stage of the Europa League netted Leicester City £13.7 million in revenue.
So, reaching the knockout stages of the Europa League comes with a huge financial benefit. There is also the prestige of being involved in a major European competition and you only must look at the future of key midfielder, Youri Tielemans, to understand why it is vital Leicester City continue to compete with the top clubs.
As things stand, it is unlikely Leicester City are going to qualify for the Europa League via their Premier League position.
Talking about the possibility of qualifying for Europe, manager, Brendan Rodgers said, “I think that the challenge is we can finish in the top seven,” he said. “We have the opportunity and can still do it… whichever one of those two (Premier League and Conference League) brings us European football, that has always been our aim at the beginning of each season, to be in Europe.”
With the winners of the Europa Conference League qualifying for the Europa League next season, the tournament has taken on extra significance for Leicester City.
Rodgers selected a strong team for the first leg of the knockout round playoffs against Randers and Leicester City won the game 4-1. This has been a difficult season for Leicester City and winning the Europa Conference League would give the club a massive boost ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
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