Nottingham Forest experienced disappointment on Sunday as they missed out on Champions League qualification after a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea.
Levi Colwill's goal early in the second half left Nuno Espirito Santo's side having to settle for a place in the third-tier European competition, the frustration compounded when results elsewhere went their way.
Nevertheless, a seventh-placed finish in the Premier League table and a return to continental football nearly three decades after their last appearance represents a hugely-successful campaign after recent near misses with relegation.
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Although Forest miss out on mixing it with the world's elite and the riches that come through that competition, they will enter the Conference League as one of the favourites to lift the trophy in Leipzig.
Here, Sports Mole takes a look at the teams that Forest may face, providing that they are able to qualify for the League Phase.
What round will Forest enter?
Unlike in the Champions League and Europa League where they would have secured automatic qualification for the League Phase with a top-six finish in the Premier League, Forest must come through a playoff round to make the final 36 teams.
The draw for the playoff round will take place on August 4, Forest supporters having to wait until just before that date to learn their possible opponents.
Whether they are seeded or not will be dependent on who prevails from the third qualifying round or loses at the same stage in the Europa League and drops into the Conference League.
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Given Forest's long absence from European competition, it remains up in the air whether they will be seeded, but that may not necessarily be to their detriment because there are several other guaranteed participants from major European leagues that find themselves in the same position.
What teams have qualified from other European leagues?
As it stands, Fiorentina - the 2022-23 and 2023-24 finalists and 2024-25 semi-finalists - are the only team guaranteed to be seeded in the playoff draw courtesy of their regular appearances in European competition.
However, the likes of Mainz 05, Rayo Vallecano and Strasbourg - along with Forest - have all not played in Europe over the past five years and have subsequently not racked up any significant coefficient points.
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Therefore, they could theoretically all be kept apart from each other in the unseeded section of the draw, depending on who joins them in the Playoff stage.
AZ Alkmaar, Sparta Prague, Istanbul Basaksehir, Santa Clara, Viking FK, Rosenborg, AEK Athens, Austria Wien, Brondby and Dundee United are among the teams who will enter in the second qualifying round and are potential opponents for Forest in the playoff or League Phase.
Forest fans will also have eyes on who may drop down from the Europa League with defeats in the third qualifying round.
PAOK enter at the stage, while Forest will be hoping that teams such as Braga, Anderlecht and Young Boys reach at least the Europa League playoff round to avoid any two-legged ties with those clubs.
Meanwhile, the likes of Shakhtar Donetsk, Legia Warsaw and Partizan Belgrade are entering in the first qualifying round and fit the same criteria as potential opponents who Forest will not want to face, even if any of them do suffer a surprise exit from the Europa League.
Darren Plant
