All potential opponents for Almaty football club Kairat in the main stage of the UEFA Conference League have been announced. The qualification for the third-tier European competition has concluded, and now 36 teams are preparing for the draw that will determine their opponents, reports infohub.kz.
Kairat secured their spot in the Conference League main draw after being eliminated from the Champions League in the third qualifying round and then losing to Belgium's Anderlecht in the Europa League playoff round. The Almaty side will begin their European campaign in the main stage.
In the draw, scheduled for August 28, Kairat will be placed in the fourth of six pots. Each team will face one opponent from each pot, playing three matches at home and three away.
The full composition of the pots is as follows:
Pot 1: Atalanta (Italy), Ajax (Netherlands), Braga (Portugal), Freiburg (Germany), Monaco (France), Copenhagen (Denmark).
Pot 2: Midtjylland (Denmark), Red Star Belgrade (Serbia), Gent (Belgium), Panathinaikos (Greece), Pafos (Cyprus), Brighton (England).
Pot 3: Lugano (Switzerland), Getafe (Spain), KuPS (Finland), Twente (Netherlands), Lincoln Red Imps (Gibraltar), Borac (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Pot 4: Sint-Truiden (Belgium), Brann (Norway), Hearts (Scotland), Kairat (Kazakhstan), Trabzonspor (Turkey), Universitatea Craiova (Romania).
Pot 5: Riga (Latvia), Hajduk Split (Croatia), Jablonec (Czech Republic), Nordsjælland (Denmark), Aarhus (Denmark), Inter Club d'Escaldes (Andorra).
Pot 6: Thun (Switzerland), CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria), Kauno Žalgiris (Lithuania), Mjällby (Sweden), Iberia 1999 (Georgia), Egnatia (Albania).
The main stage of the Conference League begins on October 15. The top eight teams after six rounds will advance to the round of 16, while clubs finishing 9th to 24th will compete in the playoff round.