Image of the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League trophies and ball.
The Dutch sides in the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League found out their opponents in the league phase of the competitions on Thursday. Ajax will face Italian side Atalanta in the Conference League while AZ and NEC face Juventus and Benfica in the Europa League. Twente will face Freiburg among their opponents.
AZ and NEC will play eight games in the Europa League phase, while Ajax and Twente play six games in the Conference League. Ajax and Twente confirmed their qualification on Thursday evening, beating FC Sion and Qarabag, respectively. NEC dropped to the Europa League after losing to Bodø/Glimt on Tuesday, while AZ qualified for the main phase as the winners of the KNVB Cup last season.
In addition to Champions League regulars Atalanta, Ajax will also face Getafe, who they played against in the Europa League in 2020. The Spanish side knocked Ajax out of the competition while drawing ire from the Amsterdammers and the Dutch press for their antics on the pitch. The remaining four games will be against FC Thun from Switzerland, FC Midtjylland from Denmark, Sint-Truiden from Belgium and Hajduk Split from Croatia.
AZ are back in the Europa League after playing in the Conference League last season. Lee-Roy Echtold’s side will face Juventus, Dinamo Zagreb from Croatia, Austrian side Sturm Graz, and Hapoel Beer-Sheva from Israel at home. They will travel to Benfica, Sparta Prague, Sunderland, and Ararat Armenia.
NEC are in Europe for the first time since 2009, when they also played in the Europa League, then called the UEFA Cup. This time around they will face Benfica, French side Stade Rennes, Omonia Nicosia from Cyprus, and Levski Sofia in Nijmegen at the Goffert Stadium. They will travel to Italian giants Juventus, Dinamo Zagreb, Aramat Armenia, and NK Celje from Slovenia.
Out of all the Dutch sides in the competition, Twente, who completed an impressive comeback in Azerbaijan to defeat Qarabag on Thursday, likely have the easiest draw. John van den Brom’s side will host FC Pafos from Cyprus, Kairat Alamaty from Kazakhstan, and FC Thun. They travel to Freiburg, Lincoln Red Imps from Gibraltar, and Aarhus GF Denmark.
Both competitions have 36 teams. The top eight advance to the last 16, the positions of ninth to 24th face each other in a play off round and the teams that finish between 24th and 36 are eliminated.