Who could Palace face in the next round of the UEFA Conference League?

First-team

2 hours ago

Crystal Palace will contest a two-legged play-off next month, with a place in the last 16 of the UEFA Conference League the prize.

After a 10th place finish in the league phase, the Eagles will be seeded for the play-off round which means the second leg will take place at Selhurst Park.

We also know that Palace will be paired against one of two sides at Friday’s draw in Nyon, Switzerland.

Let’s find out a little more about the clubs we could potentially face…

SIGMA OLOMOUC

Czech side SK Sigma Olomouc are a potential opponent after they snuck through with a 24th place finish in the league last month. This was despite losing 2-1 at home against Lech Poznań on the final matchday.

Sigma actually lost their last two league phase games, having been beaten by Lincoln Red Imps the previous week.

But wins over Armenian side Noah and Slovenian outfit Celje ensured they gathered enough points together to reach the next round.

Sigma qualified for European competition after winning the Czech Cup last season, with a 3-1 win over Sparta Prague in the final.

They initially qualified for the Europa League qualifying stage, but were defeated over two legs by Swedish Cup winners Malmo.

That meant a drop into the Conference League for the league phase.

Forward Jan Kliment was the top goalscorer last season and is the club’s main talisman. Kliment has eight caps for Czech Republic and scored his first senior international goal against Gibraltar last year.

Located on the Morava River on the eastern side of the country, Olomouc is a three-hour drive from the nation’s capital Prague. Served by trains from the rest of the country, the city also has a tram network.

Sigma play home fixtures at the 12,400 capacity Andrův Stadion, which was last renovated in 1998.

It occasionally hosts the Czech Republic national team for international fixtures, last doing so in a World Cup qualifier against Gibraltar in November.

ZRINJSKI MOSTAR

Nine-times Bosnian champions Zrinjski Mostar qualified for the knock-out stage thanks to a dramatic late equaliser in the final minutes of the league stage.

Staring at elimination, they were bumped up into 23rd place when a 93rd-minute own goal earned them a 1-1 draw against SK Rapid, and with it a precious point.

A 5-0 win over Lincoln Red Imps on matchday one had them top of the league following the first round of games.

Despite suffering a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Dynamo Kyiv, a surprise win over BK Hacken on matchday four helped them to a final total of seven points – finishing above Sigma and Romanian club Universitatea Craiova thanks to overall goals scored.

Zrinjski won the Bosnian league last season, losing just three league games all season, which earned qualification for the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round.

After aggregate defeats to Slovan Bratislava and Utrecht in the Europa League qualifiers, Zrinjski entered the Conference League at the league phase stage.

Among the Zrinjski ranks is forward Nemanja Bilbija, who remains the Bosnian Premier League’s record goalscorer, who has scored 188 league goals across two spells for the club.

The city of Mostar is the historical capital of Herezegovina and a two-hour drive from the largest city, and capital, in the country – Sarajevo. In terms of population, it is Bosnia and Herzegovina’s fifth-largest city.

Zrinjski play at the Bijeli Brijeg Stadium, which holds three stars on UEFA’s stadium rating system. Although first opened in 1958, it was renovated in 2024 and has a current capacity of 9,000.

What happens after the play-off?

Should the Eagles make it through the play-off round we could face one of two sides in the Round of 16.

Coincidentally, both are teams we have already faced in 2025/26 – German side Mainz 05 and Cypriot outfit AEK Larnaca.

Mainz, the former home of forward Jean-Phillipe Mateta, finished seventh in the league phase, losing just once.

They played two pre-season friendlies on the same day against Palace when both clubs were in Austria for pre-season.

The first game ended in a 1-1 draw before the German side claimed a 3-2 win in the rematch.

AEK Larnaca were the first visitors for Selhurst Park for a European ‘proper’ tie and came away with all three points on matchday two with a 1-0 victory.

That helped the Cypriot Cup holders to an eighth-place finish in the league table.

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