Thursday will begin the fifth season of the UEFA Conference League proper. Three dozen teams will commence their run, hoping to be the ones to lift the trophy in Leipzig next May.
Ahead of the competition's league phase, Flashscore looks at three reasons to follow the Conference League this season.
The competition for all
One thing UEFA have emphasised that the Conference League allows clubs from all across Europe to experience European football. So far, the UECL has certainly been living up to the billing.
In what is now the fifth group stage/league phase, there have been 121 different sides to partake at this stage from 48 national associations. For perspective, there are 55 national associations that are part of UEFA.
Perhaps the most enticing part of the UECL is the nations represented in a group phase for the first time. Since the Conference League's introduction, 12 countries have had a team in a group stage for the very first time. Malta are the latest to join this list, as Hamrun Spartans successfully negotiated the qualifying rounds.
There are only three nations now to have never seen a team at this stage of a UEFA club competition: Andorra, Montenegro, and San Marino.
The 36 teams are representing 29 different countries in the UECL. This also beats the other two UEFA club competitions, where just 16 are involved in the UCL and 23 in the UEL.
So, for those who love seeing teams from all over Europe feature in a pan-continental club competition - rather than just the elite - then the UECL is the right place to be.
New teams aplenty
Ahead of Thursday's opening games, 15 sides will be participating in the UECL group stage/league phase for the first time. In fact, two thirds of those sides have never been at this stage of a UEFA club competition, making the occasion all the more special for them.
The turnover from last season's competition is even more fascinating. Just eight clubs were involved in the main rounds of the Conference League, less than 25%!
For reference, both the Champions League and Europa League have more than 50% of sides from last year's edition return for the league phase this fall.
The first round of play will see new matchups as well - only one tie pits together teams who have faced each other in Europe before. This will be a common theme throughout this season, particularly in the league phase.
New champion assured
Unlike the UCL and UEL, we are guaranteed a new champion in the Conference League. Fiorentina are the only team to have reached the tournament's final in the past, doing so twice. AZ are the only other club to make it to the semi-finals.
The prospect of a new European champion - something that has already happened twice in the UECL's short existence - is also something to look forward to.
Fiorentina, Shakhtar Donetsk, Dynamo Kyiv, Slovan Bratislava, and Aberdeen have all won European trophies, all of them except for Shakhtar doing so in the now-defunct UEFA Cup Winners Cup (the Pitmen won the UEFA Cup - the present-day Europa League). Two other teams - AZ and Rapid Wien - have gone as far as a final.
Currently, continental debutants Crystal Palace are the overwhelming favourites to go all the way, which would make them the third different English club to lift the trophy.
Speaking of which, five different countries have supplied finalists in the UECL so far: England, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, and Greece. All of those nations have one team each in the competition, meaning the chances of having at least one new country added to that list are reasonably high.
We are in for another wonderful season of Conference League football. If this campaign lives up to the previous four in the tournament's short history, then it could be one not to forget.