European competitions in 2021/22: where will RPL teams be?

Before the Russian Cup and Russian Premier Liga resume, we explain how Russian club places will be distributed in European club tournaments in the 2021/22 season.

Champions League

How it was: RPL champion and runners up - group stage, third place - 3rd qualifying round
How it will be: RPL champions - group stage, runners up - 3rd qualifying round
How it stands: Zenit (1st place), CSKA (2nd)

Russia dropped from sixth to seventh place in the UEFA coefficient table at the end of the 2019/20 season, when none of the teams played in the European play-offs. Dropping out of the top six, Russia lost its third Champions League berth from the 2021/22 season.

The last season with three spots in the Champions League was the first when all three teams represented Russia in the group stage. Zenit St. Petersburg and Lokomotiv Moscow qualified directly, while Krasnodar made it through the playoff rounds. In the previous two seasons, when three RPL participants entered, the teams that went through the qualifiers didn’t reach the group stage. In 2018 Spartak lost in the third round to PAOK, and a year later Krasnodar lost in the playoff round to Olympiacos.

The formula with two teams in the Champions League brought success to Russia for six consecutive seasons between 2012/13 and 2017/18. The RPL runners up always passed the qualifying rounds and joined the champions in the group stage; Spartak in 2012, Zenit in 2013 and 2014, CSKA Moscow in 2015 and 2017, and FC Rostov in 2016. Next season, in the event of a defeat either in the third round or in the playoff round, the RPL runners up will go directly to the Europa League group stage.

The Champions League qualification is divided into the Champions’ Path and League Path, and the Russian participant will play in the League Path.

Preliminary dates for Russian teams: 3-4 and 10 August - 3rd qualifying round; 17-18 and 24-25 August - playoff round; 14-15 September - start of the group stage

Europa League

As it was: Russian Cup winner - group stage; RPL 4th place - playoff round; 5th place - 3rd qualifying round
How it will be: Russian Cup winner - playoff round
Who’s in the running: the 16 participants of Russian Cup knockout stage

The reduction of Europa League places is due not only to the position in the coefficient table, but also to the reform of the tournament. From the 2021/22 season, the number of participants in the group stage will be reduced from 48 to 32, guaranteed participation will be given to the first 15 associations in the same table, and the maximum quota will be two clubs. Only the top five associations (Spain, England, Germany, Italy and France) will have places directly to the group stage. The other associations have one spot each, which will go to the winner of the national Cup. Representatives of the countries ranked 7-12 in the coefficient table will start in the playoff round, and 13-15 from the third round.

Most teams in the qualifiers will be the eliminators from the Champions League qualifying rounds. The first stage - the third qualifying round - will be divided into the Champions’ Path and the Main Path, made up of those eliminated from the second round of the Champions' Path and the League Path.

In the play-off round, where the Russian Cup winners will enter, both parts will be combined, with the losers from the Champions League Champions' Path third round also joining. The teams eliminated from the third round of the League Path will go directly to the Europa League group stage.

In addition to the updated selection system and the group stage - which will have 32 teams divided into eight groups of four sides - the play-offs will also change. The group winners will directly advance to the round of 16, and the runners up will meet the third-place teams from the Champions League groups in the play-off round, which will replace the last 32.

Preliminary dates of the stages for Russian teams: 19 and 26 August - play-off round; 16 September - start of the group stage

UEFA Conference League

Participants from Russia: RPL third place - 3rd qualifying round, 4th place - 2nd qualifying round
As things stand: Spartak (3rd), Sochi (4th)

Representatives of all European associations will participate in the new tournament. In the Conference League qualification from the second round, the division into the Champions' Path and the Main Path will begin. RPL teams will compete for group-stage entry via the Main Path.

The third European competition will also be replenished with participants of two other tournaments. To start with, 20 teams eliminated from the preliminary and first rounds of the Champions League will enter the Champions' Path second round. Entrants from the Europa League will occur in several streams. The five losing participants from the third round of the Champions’ Path will advance to the Champions' Path playoff round, and the three teams eliminated from the third round of the Main Path will advance to the same stage of the Main Path. In addition, the 10 teams that lose in the play-off round will receive places in the group stage.

The format of the groups will be the same as in other tournaments, with eight groups of four participants each. The structure of the playoffs will copy the Europa League: the winners will go directly to the last 16, while the second-place winners will contest play-offs against third-place opponents from the Europa League groups. Like the second European competition, the Conference League will be held on Thursdays, and the first final, scheduled for 22 May, will be hosted by the National Arena in Tirana.

Preliminary dates of the stages for Russian teams: 22 and 29 July - 2nd qualifying round; 5 and 12 August - 3rd qualifying round; 19 and 26 August - play-off round; 16 September - start of the group stage

Note: the list of participants must be approved by UEFA 

Association quotas in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League for 2021-2024

Photo: Andrey Shramko/FC Krasnodar; Lokomotiv Moscow; Sergey Kulakov/FC Sochi