The top-three ranked leagues also win as their fourth-placed teams no longer have to take part in a playoff, but go straight into the group stage.
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Under the format, the top four leagues (based on coefficient) will each have four teams automatically qualify for the group stages, totaling 16, which is half of the 32 group stage spots.
The changes affect the top four domestic leagues in UEFA’s ranking, which are now Spain’s Primera Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga, England’s Premier League and Italy’s Serie A, and will initially run until 2021.
Delegates from UEFA and their European Club Association (ECA) counterparts spent Thursday locked in negotiations in Monaco before hammering out an agreement.
The move could hurt leagues outside the big four including the Turkish Super Lig which is now 10th in the coefficient rankings.
The big clubs claim that too many places in the group stage to clubs from smaller countries who are not competitive.
A top four finish is certainly the aim for Klopp this season, however, Liverpool would still need to finish third to guarantee their place in the Champions League with the changes not kicking in until 2018.
The East Midlands stands to benefit from Leicester City’s European adventure after the club found out its Champions League opponents, says the region’s airport.
“It will be a very hard group, we have to be careful”, said Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti, in his first season in Germany after replacing Guardiola.
For a while, Germany only sent three teams to the Champions League, but they surpassed Italy and, in recent years, Serie A has been the fourth league without a fourth representative team. They are conscious of a growing financial gap between themselves and English clubs following the Premier League’s bumper £9bn television deal.
UEFA has insisted though that the Champions route – which was the path Celtic this week took to reach the money-spinning group stages for this season’s tournament – will be protected.
Our friends at Football Manager have simulated this season’s Champions League.
Now there are guaranteed places in the group stage for the top 12 associations based on coefficient.
The club coefficient system will also undergo changes.
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A subsidiary company, the UEFA Club Competitions SA, is to be created to manage UEFA’s club competitions.
