UEFA Conference League 2024/25: Every knockout phase Performance of the Week winner

Thrilling performances and stunning results helped emerging talents and teams come to the fore in the UEFA Conference League.

The most impressive from each matchday earned recognition through the Performance of the Week, powered by Laufenn, which celebrates the table-turning upsets, record-breaking victories and statement wins from the sides daring to dream in the knockout phase.

UEFA.com revisits every Performance of the Week winner of the knockout phase.

Knockout phase play-off first leg: Copenhagen 1-2 Heidenheim

Tim Siersleben scored one goal and set up another to complete Heidenheim's impressive comeback in Denmark. The visitors fell behind just before the break when Jordan Larsson converted from Marcos Lopez's set-up, but they rolled up their sleeves to turn a tight game around. Thomas Keller's header on the hour levelled things up before Siersleben directed a low shot into the bottom right corner on 85 minutes.

Copenhagen had more shots (15-11) and more possession (57%) but their German visitors showed composure when it counted most.

Knockout phase play-off second leg: Pafos 2-1 Omonoia

History favoured 21-time national champions Omonoia in the first-ever all-Cypriot UEFA club competition tie, but while Pafos only won their first domestic silverware in 2023/24 (the Cypriot Cup), Juan Carlos Carcedo's side were far from overawed in the decisive leg. Having drawn 1-1 away, Pafos led 1-0 at home, and recovered quickly from conceding an equaliser, Jonathan Silva hitting the winner in the 65th minute. With 19 shots to their guests' seven (and 44 attacks to Omonoia's 25) it was a dominant performance from Pafos.

Round of 16 first leg: Panathinaikos 3-2 Fiorentina

Panathanaikos stood up to Fiorentina in the first half, and took a 2-0 lead before being pegged back to 2-2 inside 23 minutes. It was fast and furious, but the key to victory for Rui Vitória's side was a half-time rethink and a resilience to rally from those setbacks against an experienced side ranked 33rd in Europe, compared to their own position of 111th.

"After calming down and talking about it in the interval, we played a very good second half," said the Portuguese coach, whose side won the game through Tetê's 55th-minute finish. "We created good chances and came close to a fourth goal."

Round of 16 second leg: Legia Warszawa 2-0 Molde (aet)

Legia lost the first leg in Norway 3-2, but could take some courage since they trailed 3-0 at half-time in that match. While they had only 40% of the possession over 120 minutes in the return fixture in Warsaw, Legia matched their guests for shots on goal (18 each) and crucially made their efforts count. Ryoya Morishita's first-half finish ultimately took the game into extra time, where Marc Gual's strike on 108 minutes proved decisive. It was a game that Molde dominated in many metrics, but not the most important one.

Quarter-final first leg: Djurgården 0-1 SK Rapid

UEFA Technical Observer Haakon Lunov highlighted how Djurgården showed bravery to force turnovers (54 pressure regains) and dominated possession (55% in the first half) only to be undone as SK Rapid got the measure of their hosts' 4-2-3-1 press, Louis Schaub's ball forcing their own-goal winner.

"Rapid could find inside wingers on the outside of the two '6s' [defensive midfielders] of Djurgården," explained Lunov. "It showed good flexibility and proved enough to deservedly win a tight battle."

Quarter-final second leg: SK Rapid 1-4 Djurgården (aet)

SK Rapid were reduced to ten men after just seven minutes, but it still took considerable class for their Swedish guests to wrest away the momentum in the tie. Keita Kosugi's goal on 77 minutes ultimately took the game to extra time, where two Tobias Gulliksen goals swung the tie decisively in Djurgården's favour. "After the 90 minutes, the coach told us to stay calm and wait for openings," Gulliksen said. With 29 shots and 3.9 expected goals (xG) compared to their opponents' 17 shots and 1.68 xG over 120 minutes, the sustained pressure ultimately paid off.

Semi-final first leg: Djurgården 1-4 Chelsea

The hosts exerted early pressure as they looked to give the home fans something to cheer in Stockholm, but the key to Chelsea's victory was making their quality count. Jadon Sancho and Noni Madueke both found the net in the first half and substitute Nicolas Jackson struck twice in quick succession after the interval to remove any lingering tension. "We had a good moment at the beginning of the second half but then Chelsea immediately showed their quality," conceded Djurgården boss Jani Honkavaara.

Semi-final second leg: Fiorentina 2-2 Real Betis (aet)

A first-ever UEFA competition final was the reward for a determined Real Betis performance in Florence, Abdessamad Ezzalzouli's extra-time finish nudging Manuel Pellegrini's side to a 4-3 aggregate victory.

Chasing a third consecutive Conference League final, hosts Fiorentina had plenty of motivation, but it was Betis who showed greater attacking intent: registering 53 attacks to Fiorentina's 38. The visitors were also clinical when it counted, Antony striking a fine free-kick to open the scoring and setting up Ezzalzouli's clincher with a well-weighted low cross in the 97th minute.