UEFA has confirmed the new qualifying process for the Champions League, with Italy getting four automatic group stage places.
From next season, all of Serie A’s top four will go straight into the group stages, as opposed to the current situation where two go in automatically and one must go through a play-off match.
UEFA has confirmed the new qualifying process for the Champions League, with Italy getting four automatic group stage places.
From next season, all of Serie A’s top four will go straight into the group stages, as opposed to the current situation where two go in automatically and one must go through a play-off match.
For the 2018-19 campaign, there will be 26 teams automatically qualified for the group stages – the holders, the Europa League winners, the top four from associations ranked 1st to 4th, top two from associations ranked 5th and 6th, and the champions of associations ranked 7th to 10th.
That means Spain, England, Italy and Germany get four, France and Russia two, and Portugal, Ukraine, Belgium, Turkey one team automatically in the group stage.
If the winners of the competition have already qualified for the group stage via their domestic league, the Czech champions will get automatic group stage entry.
However, if the Europa League winners have already qualified for the group stage, the third-placed French team will qualify automatically.
No one nation can have more than five teams in the group stage.
The champions of the nations ranked 11th and below will now compete in a revamped ‘Champions Route’, and any team knocked out will get to compete in the Europa League, with staggered access according to round of elimination from the Champions League.
In the Europa League, Spain, Germany, England, Italy, France will each get two teams automatically qualified for the group stage, with one team from associations ranked 6th to 12th.
Ten teams also enter the group stage direct from the Champions League: six teams eliminated in the league path and four teams eliminated in the champions path play-offs.