Mohamed Salah’s Trabzonspor handed Freiburg test in Conference League draw

Trabzonspor, featuring Mohamed Salah, will face SC Freiburg, Crvena zvezda, Hearts, KuPS, FK Jablonec and CSKA Sofia in the 2026-27 UEFA Conference League league phase, while FC Nordsjælland have been drawn against AS Monaco and other notable opponents.

The draw also produced a meeting between Atalanta and Ajax, while SC Freiburg will face AS Monaco. FC Nordsjælland, who have Ibrahim Adel in their squad, were handed a challenging schedule that includes Panathinaikos and AS Monaco.

Lincoln Red Imps FC of Gibraltar, who have Egyptian player Ayman El-Gabashy among their ranks, will also take part in the six-match league phase.

A total of 36 teams will compete in the opening stage of the competition. They have been divided into six pots of six clubs, with each side due to play one opponent from every pot.

Each team will play six matches, split equally between three home fixtures and three away games.

The eight highest-ranked teams at the end of the league phase will qualify directly for the last 16. Teams finishing from ninth to 16th will enter a play-off round against clubs placed between 17th and 24th, with the winners claiming the eight remaining places in the round of 16.

Trabzonspor’s fixtures

Trabzonspor will begin their campaign at home to SC Freiburg. Their remaining opponents and venues are:

– SC Freiburg home – Crvena zvezda away – Hearts home – KuPS away – FK Jablonec home – CSKA Sofia away

The Turkish club’s schedule includes visits to Serbia, Finland and Bulgaria, while Hearts, SC Freiburg and FK Jablonec will travel to face them.

FC Nordsjælland’s schedule

FC Nordsjælland will host Panathinaikos and KuPS, but must travel to AS Monaco, Hearts and Hajduk Split. Their six matches are:

– Panathinaikos home – AS Monaco away – KuPS home – Hearts away – Hajduk Split away – CSKA Sofia home

The Danish side’s away match against AS Monaco is one of the headline fixtures from their draw.

Lincoln Red Imps FC fixtures

Lincoln Red Imps FC will face AS Monaco away from home and have also been paired with FC Midtjylland, FC Twente, SK Brann, Hajduk Split and KF Egnatia.

Their fixtures are:

– AS Monaco away – FC Midtjylland home – FC Twente home – SK Brann away – Hajduk Split home – KF Egnatia away

The league-phase fixtures will be played on six dates during the autumn and winter of 2026.

The opening round is scheduled for 15 October, followed by the second round on 22 October. The third round will take place on 5 November, with the fourth round set for 26 November.

The final two rounds will be played on 10 December and 17 December respectively.