#uefa-competitions

#uefa-competitions

With what seemed like an interminable January almost done and dusted, the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League are also at a close. Once again, we've seen stadiums across the continent transformed into cacophonous cauldrons of noise and motion as legions of fans organized and performed enormous tifos to help ramp up the prematch atmosphere.

Four of Scotland's five European representatives remain in contention for UEFA competitions, with Celtic, Rangers, and Aberdeen seeking places in the Champions League and Europa League. Hibernian faces a tough Conference League qualifier against Legia Warsaw without a safety net, as UEFA's nation ranking depends on points collected over five years. Scotland ranks 17th and aims for 15th to improve future qualification routes, needing to close a 2.8 points gap from Austria, which is equivalent to winning seven league matches.

Probably the most complicated thing this season about the Conference [League] has been to convince the players that, for us, it was the best competition in the world.