Ceemo

We could but it's unlikely they will make it past 3 rounds of qualifying to the play-off round where we come in. The expectation was that UEFA would have announced it a couple of weeks ago, but still no confirmation as of yet. The draw for the playoff round is on August 7th, so we have to know one way or another by then.

I only know from the article I read below. Gives the financial details at the bottom. https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2023/official-aston-villa-loan-morgan-sanson-to-nice/

Nice have gave us €1m in a loan fee and have a €5 million option to buy included in the loan deal according to French media.

Always thought of him as a really nice guy. Thoughts with his family. RIP.

In the absence of anything happening with Juventus, we would therefore still need one of sides above us in the seedings to lose their ties in the next couple of weeks. The ties to keep an eye on are this week are: (Any team in bold that wins would ensure we are seeded) Viktoria Plzen (Cze) vs Drita (Kos) Maccabi Tel Aviv (Isr) vs Petrocub Hincesti (Mda) PAOK (Gre) vs Beitar Jerusalem (Isr) Midtjylland (Den) vs Progres Niederkorn (Lux) CFR Cluj (Rou) vs Adana Demirspor (Tur) Fenerbahce (Tur) vs Zimbru Chisinau (Mda) Gent (Bel) vs Zilina (Svk) Basel (Sui) vs Tobol (Kaz) Club Brugge (Bel) vs AGF (Den)

First Round was completed tonight with aggregate scores: Shkupi (Mkd) 5-0 Hegelmann (Ltu) Crusaders (Nir) 3-2 Haka (Fin) Sarajevo (Bih) 3-3 Torpedo Kutaisi (Geo) - 2-4 on penalties St Patrick's Athletic (Irl) 3-5 F91 Dudelange (Lux) Vikingur Reykjavik (Isl) 1-2 Riga (Lva) Derry City (Irl) 1-0 HB (Fro) Haverfordwest (Wal) 1-1 Shkendija (Mkd) - 3-2 on penalties Vllaznia (Alb) 2-3 Linfield (Nir) Dundalk (Irl) 3-1 Bruno's Magpies (Gib) Cosmos (Smr) 1-2 Sutjeska (Mne) Glentoran (Nir) 3-3 Gzira United (Mlt) - 13-14 on penalties Arsenal Tivat (Mne) 2-7 Alashkert (Arm) Connah's Quay (Wal) 0-4 KA (Isl) Gjilani (Kos) 2-4 Progres (Lux) Vikingur (Fro) 2-3 Inter Escaldes (And) Egnatia (Alb) 4-4 Ararat-Armenia (Arm) - 2-4 on penalties Neman Grodno (Bls) 3-2 Vaduz (Lie) Dila Gori (Geo) 2-0 DAC Dunajska Streda (Svk) Dinamo Batumi (Geo) 2-3 Tirana (Alb) Zimbru Chsinau (Mda) 2-1 La Fiorita (Smr) Dinamo Minsk (Bls) 3-4 Zeljeznicar (Bih) Levadia (Est) 2-4 Zilina (Svk) Honka (Fin) 0-0 Tobol (Kaz) Milsami Orhei (Mda) 2-3 Panevezys (Ltu) Paide (Est) 0-2 B36 (Fro) RFS (Lva) 5-1 Makedonija (Mkd) Narva Trans (Est) 0-5 Pyunik (Arm) FC Santa Coloma (And) 3-1 Penybont (Wal) Europa (Gib) 3-5 Dukagjini (Kos) Birkirkara (Mlt) 2-3 Maribor (Svn) Balzan (Mlt) 5-4 Domzale (Svn) Second Qualifying Round Fixtures: Champions Path Tre Penne (Smr) vs Valmiera (Lva) Ferencvaros (Hun) vs Shamrock Rovers (Irl) The New Saints (Wal) vs Swift Hesperange (Lux) Atletic Club d'Escaldes vs Partizani (Alb) Hamrun Spartans (Mlt) vs Dinamo Tbilisi (Geo) Farul Constanta (Rou) vs Urartu (Arm) Struga (Mkd) vs Buducnost (Mne) Ballkani (Kos) vs Larne (Nir) Main Path Rijeka (Cro) vs Dukagjini (Kos) Gzira United (Mlt) vs F91 Dudelange (Lux) Djurgardens (Swe) vs Luzern (Sui) Celje (Svn) vs Vitoria Guimaraes (Por) Sutjeska (Mne) vs FC Santa Coloma (And) Hapoel Be'er Sheva (Isr) vs Panevezys (Ltu) Vorskla Poltava (Ukr) vs Dila Gori (Geo) CFR Cluj (Rou) vs Adana Demispor (Tur) Ordabasy (Kaz) vs Legia Warsaw (Pol) RFS (Lva) vs Sabah (Aze) Besiktas (Tur) vs Tirana (Alb) Zeljeznicar (Bih) vs Neftci (Aze) APOEL (Cyp) vs Vojdovdina (Srb) CSKA 1948 (Bul) vs FCSB (Rou) Alashkert (Arm) vs Debrecen (Hun) Lech Poznan (Pol) vs Kauno Zalgiris (Ltu) Kalmar (Swe) vs Pyunik (Arm) Bodo/Glimt (Nor) vs Bohemians 1905 (Cze) Auda (Lva) vs Spartak Trnava (Svk) Osijek (Cro) vs Zalaegerszeg (Hun) Twente (Ned) vs Hammarby (Swe) KA (Isl) vs Dundalk (Irl) Club Brugge (Bel) vs AGF (Den) Crusaders (Nir) vs Rosenborg (Nor) Hibernian (Sco) vs Inter Club d'Escaldes (And) Viktoria Plzen (Cze) vs Drita (Kos) B36 (Fro) vs Haverfordwest County (Wal) Basel (Sui) vs Tobol (Kaz) Differdange (Lux) vs Maribor (Svn) Austria Vienna (Aut) vs Borac Banja Luka (Bih) CSKA Sofia (Bul) vs Sepsi OSK (Rou) Ararat-Armenia (Arm) vs Aris (Gre) Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Isr) vs Petrocub Hincesti (Mda) Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino (Bls) vs AEK Larnaca (Cyp) Torpedo Kutaisi (Geo) vs Aktobe (Kaz) Midtjylland (Den) vs Progres (Lux) Derry City (Irl) vs KuPS (Fin) Gent (Bel) vs Zilina (Svk) Kecskemet (Hun) vs Riga (Lva) Linfield (Nir) vs Pogon Szczecin (Pol) PAOK (Gre) vs Beitar Jerusalem (Isr) Balzan (Mlt) vs Neman Grodno (Bls) Fenerbahce (Tur) vs Zimbru Chisinau (Mda) Gabala (Aze) vs Omonia (Cyp) Shkupi (Mkd) vs Levski Sofia (Bul) Third Qualifying Round Draw is on Monday

Samatta joined PAOK in Greece yesterday on a free transfer after being released by Fenerbahce. PAOK are potential future opponents for us in the Conference League. Samatta's nomadic career continues.

Prior to the draw, UEFA form four groups in the Main Path, three of four seeded teams and four unseeded teams, and one of five seeded teams and five unseeded teams. Numbers are pre-assigned for each team by UEFA, with the draw held in two runs, one for Groups 1–3 with eight teams and one for Group 4 with ten teams. See the image below for last year, where each team has a number and plays another number on the corresponding side. The draw is a lot quicker by UEFA standards but also it means that the name of Aston Villa won't be coming out of one of the balls. That would happen in the group stage. The first team drawn in each tie is the home team of the first leg.

No, when the draw is made, whichever comes out first is at home in the first leg and away in the second.

Competition actually begins today with 2 matches taking place. 29 more matches tomorrow. We find out who will be playing on August 7th with the first leg taking place on the 24th.

Final fee converted to pounds then is £27.8 million with £4.3 million in potential add-ons.

This is actually a sad watch.

Villa now officially in Europe next season. Looks like the partnership with Vitoria will now be dormant for some time.

This was brought up at the time when V Sport originally took the 46%. The Vitoria president said that all UEFA regulations were carefully checked at the time and that Sawiris/Edens would be open to make whatever changes were needed if UEFA came back to them and that is what is happening now. Interesting to see what will also happen between Toulouse and AC Milan who have the same owners and are in the Europa League.

2024 Conference Final is confirmed for Athens in the new AEK Athens stadium which has an official capacity of 31,100. Ireland played Greece there a couple of weeks ago and there were issues where a number of gates wouldn't open for the Irish fans and a lot of them were stranded outside for a long time with the game going on. Can totally understand why therefore, UEFA would pick this stadium knowing their reputation.

So coefficients are worked out over a 5 year basis. Fiorentina hadn't been in Europe for the previous 5 years until last season. Therefore they used Italy's average national coefficient last year, i.e. all Italian clubs points from the last 5 years and then divided by 5 to get their coefficient. Fiorentina's own club coefficient was zero, heading into last season. Their accomplishments last season then earned them 20.000 coefficients points and that is what they start with this season as it is higher than Italy's average national coefficient for this season. Any points they earn over the next 4 years in Europe will increase this total. The same thing would apply to us, Newcastle and Brighton for example as we as a club are starting with 0 points due to not qualifying for Europe for the past 5 years.

2 seeded teams didn't make it out of the second round last year, but it was different as West Ham for instance had a lower coefficient than we do currently and yet were comfortably in the middle of the seeded section last season. So you had a few weaker seeded teams. This year, the competition is a good deal tougher.

Two legs which reduces the margin for an upset. The gap in quality in the resources between these sides can be vast and upsets are definitely not the norm.

Second Qualifying Round Draw Main Path HNK Rijeka (CRO) V KF Dukagjini (KOS)/Europa FC (GIB) Gzira United FC (MLT)/Glentoran FC (NIR) V F91 Diddeleng (LUX)/Saint Patrick's Athletic FC (IRL) Djurgårdens IF (SWE) V FC Luzern (SUI) NK Celje (SVN) V Vitória SC (POR) FK Sutjeska (MNE)/SS Cosmos (SMR) V Penybont FC (WAL)/FC Santa Coloma (AND) Hapoel Beer-Sheva FC (ISR) V Panevezys (LTU)/FC Milsami Orhei (MDA) FC Vorskla Poltava (UKR) V FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda (SVK)/FC Dila Gori (GEO) CFR 1907 Cluj (ROU) V Adana Demirspor (TUR) FC Ordabasy Shymkent (KAZ) V Legia Warszawa (POL) FK Makedonija GP Skopje (MKD)/FC RFS (LVA) V Sabah (AZE) Beşiktaş JK (TUR) V KF Tirana (ALB)/FC Dinamo Batumi (GEO) FK Željezničar (BIH)/FC Dinamo Minsk (BLR) V Neftçi PFK (AZE) APOEL FC (CYP) V FK Vojvodina (SRB) FC CSKA 1948 (BUL) V Fotbal Club FCSB (ROU) Alashkert FC (ARM)/FK Arsenal Tivat (MNE) V Debreceni VSC (HUN) KKS Lech Poznań (POL) V FK Kauno Žalgiris (LTU) Kalmar FF (SWE) V FC Pyunik (ARM)/JK Narva Trans (EST) FK Bodø/Glimt (NOR) V Bohemians 1905 (CZE) FK Auda (LVA) V FC Spartak Trnava (SVK) NK Osijek (CRO) V ZTE FC (HUN) FC Twente (NED) V Hammarby Fotboll (SWE) KA Akureyri (ISL)/Connah's Quay Nomads FC (WAL) V Dundalk FC (IRL)/FCB Magpies (GIB) Club Brugge (BEL) V AGF Aarhus (DEN) FC Haka Valkeakoski (FIN)/Crusaders FC (NIR) V Rosenborg BK (NOR) Hibernian FC (SCO) V Víkingur (FRO)/Inter Club d'Escaldes (AND) FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE) V FC Drita (KOS) B36 Tórshavn (FRO)/Paide Linnameeskond (EST) V KF Shkëndija (MKD)/Haverfordwest County AFC (WAL) FC Basel 1893 (SUI) V FC Tobol Kostanay (KAZ)/FC Honka Espoo (FIN) FC Differdange 03 (LUX) V NK Maribor (SVN)/Birkirkara FC (MLT) FK Austria Wien (AUT) V FK Borac Banja Luka (BIH) PFC CSKA-Sofia (BUL) V Sepsi OSK Sfantu Gheorghe (ROU) Ararat-Armenia FC (ARM)/KF Egnatia (ALB) V Aris Thessaloniki FC (GRE) Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC (ISR) V FC Petrocub-Hincesti (MDA) FC Torpedo-Belaz Zhodino (BLR) V AEK Larnaca FC (CYP) FC Torpedo Kutaisi (GEO)/FK Sarajevo (BIH) V FC Aktobe (KAZ) FC Midtjylland (DEN) V FC Progrès Niederkorn (LUX)/SC Gjilani (KOS) HB Tórshavn (FRO)/Derry City FC (IRL) V KuPS Kuopio (FIN) KAA Gent (BEL) V MŠK Žilina (SVK)/FC Levadia Tallinn (EST) Kecskeméti TE (HUN) V Riga FC (LVA)/Víkingur Reykjavík (ISL) Linfield FC (NIR)/KF Vllaznia (ALB) V MKS Pogoń Szczecin (POL) PAOK FC (GRE) V Beitar Jerusalem FC (ISR) Balzan FC (MLT)/NK Domžale (SVN) V FC Vaduz (LIE)/FC Neman Grodno (BLR) Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) V La Fiorita 1967 (SMR)/FC Zimbru Chisinau (MDA) Gabala SC (AZE) V Omonoia FC (CYP) FC Hegelmann (LTU)/FC Shkupi 1927 (MKD) V PFC Levski Sofia (BUL) Draw has been made. The ties in bold involve the 9 teams that are seeded above us. We need one of them to lose for us to be guaranteed a seeding. Looking at it, it is fairly straight forward for most of them. The one that I would have some confidence in is that Cluj vs Adana Demispor. That is a 50/50 tie.

Kazakhstan side, Tobol Kostanay play Honka of Finland. Two more Kazakh sides enter tomorrow's second round draw, as do the 3 Israeli teams in the competition.

First Qualifying Round Draw FK Sutjeska (MNE) V SS Cosmos (SMR) Balzan FC (MLT) V NK Domžale (SVN) FC Vaduz (LIE) V FC Neman Grodno (BLR) Ararat-Armenia FC (ARM) V KF Egnatia (ALB) FC Torpedo Kutaisi (GEO) V FK Sarajevo (BIH) Alashkert FC (ARM) V FK Arsenal Tivat (MNE) FK Željezničar (BIH) V FC Dinamo Minsk (BLR) La Fiorita 1967 (SMR) V FC Zimbru Chisinau (MDA) NK Maribor (SVN) V Birkirkara FC (MLT) KF Tirana (ALB) V FC Dinamo Batumi (GEO) Dundalk FC (IRL) V FCB Magpies (GIB) Víkingur (FRO) V Inter Club d'Escaldes (AND) FC Progrès Niederkorn (LUX) V SC Gjilani (KOS) Linfield FC (NIR) V KF Vllaznia (ALB) KA Akureyri (ISL) V Connah's Quay Nomads FC (WAL) KF Shkëndija (MKD) V Haverfordwest County AFC (WAL) FC Haka Valkeakoski (FIN) V Crusaders FC (NIR) HB Tórshavn (FRO) V Derry City FC (IRL) Riga FC (LVA) V Víkingur Reykjavík (ISL) MŠK Žilina (SVK) V FC Levadia Tallinn (EST) FC Pyunik (ARM) V JK Narva Trans (EST) Panevezys (LTU) V FC Milsami Orhei (MDA) FC Tobol Kostanay (KAZ) V FC Honka Espoo (FIN) FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda (SVK) V FC Dila Gori (GEO) FK Makedonija GP Skopje (MKD) V FC RFS (LVA) KF Dukagjini (KOS) V Europa FC (GIB) Penybont FC (WAL) V FC Santa Coloma (AND) FC Hegelmann Litauen (LTU) V FC Shkupi 1927 (MKD) F91 Diddeleng (LUX) V Saint Patrick's Athletic FC (IRL) B36 Tórshavn (FRO) V Paide Linnameeskond (EST) Gżira United FC (MLT) V Glentoran FC (NIR) Second Qualifying Round draw takes place tomorrow. This is interesting for us as we will see who the 9 sides above us in the seedings get.

Ukranian sides have tended to play their home games in European competitions in Poland.

The advantage that we get is that we go automatically to the Play-off round whilst those 9 sides have to play two extra rounds just to get to the same stage.