UEFA announce major changes to Champions League format

UEFA ring the changes ahead of 2018-19 Champions League campaign as four sides from England, Spain and Germany will secure automatic spot. At the moment, the Premier League and La Liga are awarded with four places each in the Champions League, whilst Italy and Germany are allowed three. However, the latter two divisions only get two guaranteed teams qualifying, with the third side having to go into the group stages via a play-off. That has now changed with the top four teams from the four highest-ranked leagues will entering the Champions League group stage from 2018. As a result of the changes, Italy, England, Spain and Germany will have half of all Champions League group places (16/32). Following are some of the other change announced by UEFA yesterday.

• The Europa League winners will also head straight into the group stages, whereas currently they have to go through a play-off.
• Furthermore, a new system for the club coefficients has been arranged, with clubs now being judged on their own records. Deletion of the country share for individual club coefficient unless that coefficient is lower than 20% of the association’s coefficient.
• Historical success in the competition will also be acknowledged in coefficient calculation (points for previous European titles with a weighted system for UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League titles)
• Financial distribution to clubs will be increased significantly for both competitions.
• A new four-pillar financial distribution system (starting fee, performance in the competition, individual club coefficient and market pool) will see sporting performances better rewarded, while market pool share will decrease.