1. FC Köln meets Fehérvár FC from Hungary or Petrocub Hincesti from Moldova in the play-offs for the soccer conference league.
That was the result of the draw in Geneva. The play-offs will be played on August 18th and 25th, with FC initially having home advantage. The possible opponent for Cologne's first international appearance in five years will be determined in two duels on August 4th and 11th.
The winner advances to the group stage, which begins on September 8th and consists of a total of eight groups, each made up of four teams. In the premiere of the Conference League last year, Union Berlin prevailed in the playoffs against Kuopion PS from Finland, but then failed in the group phase.
Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart explained in advance that he found the Conference League "good in itself. There are other competitions that I think are superfluous." In an interview with "t-online.de" he also criticized the way that relegated players from the Europa League group stage were added. "That doesn't match my idea of competition," he said: "If I'm kicked out of the DFB Cup, I won't continue in the state cup either."
For the Cologne team, who are dependent on additional income and have already been eliminated from the DFB Cup, it would be worthwhile to make it into the group phase. Last season, UEFA distributed €2.8 million to each participant in the group stage. There were also prizes, TV income and proceeds from ticket sales.
