Heart of Midlothian will play in the Conference League for the third season running after losing to Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League play-off.

The Czechs won 1-0 at Tynecastle Park on Thursday night, earning a 2-0 win on aggregate to progress to Europe's secondary competition.

It means Hearts will drop into the newly formatted Conference League. They played in the group stage two seasons ago and lost in the qualifiers to PAOK last season.

Here is everything you need to know about the competition and draw:

 

Format

The 36 teams in the Conference League are split into six pots. Hearts are set to be in pot 4 but in reality, it doesn't matter which pot you are. They are drawn against a team from all six pots, playing each once with a three-and-three home and away split.

Of the 36 teams, 24 teams will reach the knockout stage. The eight teams with the best record in the league phase progress to the last-16 and the 12 teams with the worst record are eliminated. The other 16 teams will compete in a two-legged knockout play-off round.

Who are the teams in the Conference League?

There are teams from 29 different associations that make up the 36 teams. They are split into six pots of six. Those pots are expected to be:

Pot 1: Chelsea, Copenhagen, Gent, Fiorentina, LASK, Real Betis

Pot 2: Istanbul Basaksehir, Molde, Legia Warsaw, Heidenheim, Djurgarden, Apoel Nicosia

Pot 3: Rapid Vienna, Omonia Nicosia, HJK Helsinki, Vitoria S.C., Astana, Olimpija Ljubljana

Pot 4: Cercle Brugge, Shamrock Rovers, The New Saints, Lugano, HEARTS, Mlada Bolseslav

Pot 5: Petrocub, St Gallen, Panathinaikos, TSC Backa Topola, Borac Banja Luka, Jagiellonia

Pot 6: Celje, Larne, Dinamo Minsk, Pafos, Vikingur Reykjavik, Noah

When is the draw for the new league phase?

The Conference League draw is held on Friday, August 30 at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco. UEFA will publish the seedings, any groupings and the procedure from 07.30 on the day. The Conference League draw will begin at 1.30pm (UK time).

How to watch?

The draws will be streamed live on uefa.com.

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How does the draw work?

Hearts will be drawn against one team from each pot. The pots will be grouped as Pot 1 and 2, Pot 3 and 4, Pot 5 and 6. For example, Hearts could play a team from Pot 1 at home meaning they will play a team from Pot 2 away. If they play a team from Pot 3 away they will play a team from Pot 4 at Tynecastle Park.

UEFA states: "All 36 teams will be manually drawn using physical balls. For every team manually drawn, a designated automated software will randomly draw six opponents across the six pots, who will be revealed on screen in the draw hall and on television. The software will also decide which matches will be at home and which ones away.

"The draw will start with Pot 1, assigning six opponents to all six teams, one after the other, and will continue with the other pots in descending order until all teams have been assigned their six opponents. The software will guarantee total randomness within the framework of the draw conditions stipulated by the regulations (e.g. country protection and no more than two opponents from the same country), while guaranteeing that the draw can be completed for all teams without resulting at any point in a deadlock situation.

"Even though the teams will know all their opponents by the end of the draw, the fixture list with match dates and kick-off times will be elaborated afterwards and announced on Saturday 31 August, to ensure no calendar clashes with teams in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League playing in the same cities."

What are the finances on offer?

Starting fee - €3.17million (which is made up of a €3.05million down payment and €120,000 balance)

Europa League play-off round losing fee - €175,000

Money for a win - €400,000

Money for a draw - €133,000

League placing - €75,000 increments from 36th to 1st (for example finishing 20th = €476,000)

Qualification for knockout play-off round: Additional €200,000

When will the fixture list be decided?

The fixture dates and venues will be confirmed and announced on Saturday, August 31.

Conference League dates

Matchday 1: 3 October
Matchday 2: 24 October
Matchday 3: 7 November
Matchday 4: 28 November
Matchday 5: 12 December
Matchday 6: 19 December