Conference League : ce qu'il faut savoir

The Spanish side have enjoyed a brilliant run in the Conference League, and take on BlueCo-owned Strasbourg next. Conference League s'impose comme l'un des sujets qui mobilisent l'attention en Peru ce jeudi.

Les faits

• The Spanish side have enjoyed a brilliant run in the Conference League, and take on BlueCo-owned Strasbourg next.
• After the final whistle of Rayo Vallecano’s 3-0 Conference League quarter-final first leg win over AEK Athens on April 9, almost the entire crowd of 14,000 stayed behind in the stands for over 15 minutes to sing and celebrate together.
• Madrid's working-class rebels have defied every metric of modern football logic to reach the Conference League semifinals.
• “All the fans have been swept up by the Conference League, the tickets are sold out, even with them being much more expensive than normal,” Sanchez Blas says.
• For Rayo’s Conference League play-off second leg against Belarusian side Neman Grodno in August, neither the desks for the media (a triviality) nor the toilets for disabled supporters (a disgrace) had been finished in time.

L'essentiel

Dans le détail, after the final whistle of Rayo Vallecano’s 3-0 Conference League quarter-final first leg win over AEK Athens on April 9, almost the entire crowd of 14,000 stayed behind in the stands for over 15 minutes to sing and celebrate together.

Sur le fond, Madrid's working-class rebels have defied every metric of modern football logic to reach the Conference League semifinals.

Concrètement, For Rayo’s Conference League play-off second leg against Belarusian side Neman Grodno in August, neither the desks for the media (a triviality) nor the toilets for disabled supporters (a disgrace) had been finished in time.

Au-delà de ce constat, Rayo were set to compete in the 2013-14 Europa League, but were unable to secure a UEFA licence due to unpaid debts.

Reste à préciser que If Rayo Vallecano manages to overcome Strasbourg and lift the Conference League trophy in Leipzig, it will fundamentally challenge the narrative that money is the sole determinant of success in European football.

Les chiffres

À noter par ailleurs : the Chaos Scenario: 14 Teams Dream of Champions League Football.

“I was in the stands in Athens when Rayo went 3-0 down,” says Rayo fan and journalist Carlos Sanchez Blas. “The fans had fear in their bodies, it was all slipping away.

“Fix the f****** scoreboard, Presa,” shouted one happy fan to laughter from fans around the press area after Isi’s penalty put Rayo 3-0 ahead late on.

“We could say no, but that would be fooling ourselves,” the 38-year-old replied. “La Liga is our daily lives, our survival, the stress of keeping ourselves above water.

Ce qui se dit

“All the fans have been swept up by the Conference League, the tickets are sold out, even with them being much more expensive than normal,” Sanchez Blas says.

“Many of those people, without having slept, had to go to work the next day,” he tells The Athletic. “Families or groups of friends who took turns during the night to make sure they got their ticket, for what it meant, to be able to attend that game.

“When you sign for Rayo Vallecano, the fans make you understand that you are one of them,” says Garcia, now a DAZN pundit.

Le contexte

Reste à préciser que Rayo are one of the smallest clubs in La Liga, and probably one of the strangest (Angel Martinez/Getty Images).

À noter par ailleurs : AEK dominated the second leg on April 16 and had levelled the tie 3-3 on aggregate by the 51st minute.

Plus précisément, Then in one moment, 1,500 supporters started to all sing together ‘In Vallecas, we never give in’.

“Rayo had not got out of their half for about 30 minutes.

À ce stade, Isi’s goal changed the momentum of the game completely, and Rayo defended stoutly to see out a 4-3 aggregate victory and set up their semi-final against Ligue 1 side Strasbourg, the first leg of which is tonight in Vallecas.

Recherches associées

Plusieurs requêtes connexes accompagnent ce sujet : DIRECT. Rayo Vallecano-Strasbourg: les Strasbourgeois tiennent le choc en terre madrilène • Live Vallecano - Strasbourg Demi-finales de UEFA Europa Conference League 2025/2026 30/04 • Arrivée de Strasbourg à Madrid • Conférence League. Face au Rayo Vallecano, Strasbourg a rendez-vous avec son histoire européenne • Crystal Palace make Conference League history against Shakhtar Donetsk ⏱️ • Direct vidéo - Rayo Vallecano – Strasbourg : Penders se détend pour éviter le 2-0.

À retenir

• After the final whistle of Rayo Vallecano’s 3-0 Conference League quarter-final first leg win over AEK Athens on April 9, almost the entire crowd of 14,000 stayed behind in the stands for over 15 minutes to sing and celebrate together.
• The Chaos Scenario: 14 Teams Dream of Champions League Football.
• This is only Rayo’s second ever campaign of European football, and their first for 25 years.
• Recherches qui explosent : DIRECT. Rayo Vallecano-Strasbourg: les Strasbourgeois tiennent le choc en terre madrilène, Live Vallecano - Strasbourg Demi-finales de UEFA Europa Conference League 2025/2026 30/04, Arrivée de Strasbourg à Madrid, Conférence League. Face au Rayo Vallecano, Strasbourg a rendez-vous avec son histoire européenne.