AS many as SEVEN Premier League sides could compete in next season’s Champions League after new rule changes were set out by Uefa.
That’s because next season the Champions League format is changing from its current 32 team system to one that will include 36 teams.
If you were in need of a reminder of the current system, the competition begins with a group stage consisting of four teams split into eight groups.
The top two teams from each group qualify for a round of 16 with the number of teams halved with each round until a winner is found in the final.
But next year will see the Champions League move to a ‘Swiss model’ which will see 36 teams play in one league – attempting to then qualify for the knockout rounds.
Each team will play four additional games for a total of five home ties and five away ties – although unlike a traditional league system, not everyone will play each other.
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The top eight teams will advance to the round of 16, with teams placed between ninth and 24th entering a play-off round to meet them.
The new model will allow four additional teams to enter the tournament – which will be decided by how well each country’s teams compete in the previous year’s tournament.
How will the additional four places be awarded?
- One place will go to the club ranked third in the championship of the association in fifth position in the UEFA national association ranking
- One place will be awarded to a domestic champion by extending from four to five the number of clubs qualifying via the so-called ‘Champions Path’
- The final two places will go to the associations with the best collective performance by their clubs in the previous season (total number of points obtained divided by the number of participating clubs)
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The bullet point Premier League clubs will be most interested in is the final one – as it rewards a league for how far its clubs got in the previous year of the competition.
So for example with last year’s tournaments being dominated by sides from England and Italy, both leagues would have had an additional spot in the Champions League – meaning Liverpool and Atalanta – both fifth in their respective leagues – would have entered the competition.
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Manchester City won the Champions League against Inter Milan, while West Ham beat Fiorentina to claim the Europa Conference League.
For this to happen in the 2024/25 campaign, this year’s English clubs would have to provide one of the top two performances across the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League.
Given English performances in Europe in recent years it is likely that this season will see fifth place finish in the Champions League next season.
But seven participants entering the tournament next season is highly unlikely.
An English club would have to place in the top two of the Champions League, Conference League and Europa League.
And the English clubs would also have to win the Champions League and Europa League to therefore qualify for next year’s competition.
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But, they would also both have to finish outside of the Premier League’s top five – which given the quality of team needed to win both competitions seems unlikely to happen.
But there is at least, in theory, a chance that as many as seven Premier League teams will compete in a revamped ‘Swiss model’ Champions League – if a particularly weird season was to unfold.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
