UEFA confirms 4 Champions League berths for Europe's best leagues
UEFA has confirmed that the top four teams of the English Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A will all be guaranteed spots in the Champions League group stages starting in the 2018-19 season.
The rule change will stand for three seasons before it's potentially tweaked, and is just one of a few new procedures implemented by European football's governing body.
Other changes coming into effect at the beginning of the 2018-19 campaign include:
- Europa League winners will automatically qualify for the Champions League group stages. Previously, there were instances when the winner participated in the play-off round to advance into the Champions League proper.
- Clubs judged solely on their own records - with no consideration of other outfit's records from the same country - and historical success in Europe when judging club coefficients.
- Significant increase in financial distribution for both the Champions League and Europa League.
UEFA revised the formats of its two continental club competitions following tough negotiations with Europe's leading clubs, ESPN FC's Gabrielle Marcotti reported on Aug. 15. Several outfits were threatening to forge a breakaway super league, a tournament which could've seen matches take place on weekends and, most tellingly, would see a greater financial benefit to clubs competing. Another possibility was allowing teams to partake in the super league on "historical merit," rather than how they perform on domestic duty in the previous term.
The winner of UEFA's compromise would appear to be Italy's Serie A, which wins back a Champions League berth after losing one to Germany's Bundesliga in 2012. France's Ligue 1, meanwhile, retains two automatic spots and a play-off place, as it's perceived as Europe's fifth-biggest division.
From 2018-19 on, half of the Champions League group stages will be comprised of teams from either England, Spain, Germany, or Italy. Currently, there are 14 teams representing those nations out of the 32 drawn in the 2016-17 group stages.