It's time for the way-too-early Conference League 2025-26 preview! Except it really isn't too early - the 1st qualifying rounds start THIS WEEK if you can believe it.

But we're starting off with the 5 "big league" clubs who start their journey in the playoff qualifying round (aka the final step before the League Phase): Nottingham Forest, Rayo Vallecano, Mainz, Strasbourg, and of course, the Conference League house band - Fiorentina.

We take a look at what each club has to offer on and off the pitch, why we're so excited to watch them, and what order they should be ranked as tournament contenders.

Then, we move on to some lesser known participants from all over the continent - and some off of it. We take pitstops in Liechtenstein, Gibraltar, Kosovo, the Faroe Islands, and the Azores, as we introduce (or reintroduce) some of our favorite stories from the upcoming qualifying rounds and debate which minnows could make a Cinderella run at the League Phase!

Cheers Marc Schneider!

With the 2024-25 season in the books and Spurs crowned Europa League champions, we're back to do a way-too-early preview of next season's competition!

The upcoming campaign is much anticipated by us at Any Given Thursday thanks to a treasure trove of interesting contestants.

There's a group of obvious contenders, including clubs with appearances in last year's Champions League - Aston Villa, Bologna, and Stuttgart (the latter two also lifted surprise trophies in the Coppa Italia and DFB Pokal, respectively) - and those intimately familiar with Europa - Roma, Betis, Freiburg, and Lyon.

And there's a delightful accoutrement of underdog participants, including those qualified via the league - Celta Vigo, Rayo Vallecano, Utrecht, Samsunspor - and those who went on charming upset runs to win their domestic cups - Crystal Palace, Go Ahead Eagles, Aberdeen, Wolfsberger, Fredrikstad, and Sigma Olomouc.

On the pod, we briefly touch on each of these clubs (and more!), offering just a taste of what we can expect on their Europa League journey, plus the significances of their achievements to date. Then we look ahead to the early qualifying rounds, predict who will advance, and debate who the leading contenders are to hoist the trophy next May.

And yes, we do also address the crisis at Lyon.

Cheers to us!

On the pod today, we take a look back at the joyous 2024-25 Conference League season, which ended in a Chelsea triumph, but featured many raucous, riveting, and memorable moments.

It was a campaign for the UNDERDOG, and we revisit many of our favorites, including the incomparable NK Celje, the delicious Djurgårdens IF, and the fearless Jagiellonia Białystok, all of whom made deep tournament runs.

We laud the newbies, too – FC Noah, The New Saints (TNS), and Larne FC – for their very competitive debuts in group-stage European football, as well as Shamrock Rovers for highlighting the quickly-ascending Irish league (and their 16-year old striker).

We also tackle some of the biggest disappointments, including İstanbul Başakşehir and Heart of Midlothian (Hearts), and debate whether it's fair to include Fiorentina in this category.

Finally, we pay tribute to the best games and goals of the campaign, before waxing poetic about the virtues of our precious Conference League.

Cheers Enzo Maresca and all favorite underdogs!

Timecodes:

3:45 - Chelsea's run to the title 11:05 - Best storylines and underdogs 24:30 - Biggest disappointments and underachievers 39:00 - UECL game of the season 49:05 - UECL goal of the season 54:50 - What makes the Conference League so special?