UEFA has confirmed a number of changes to the competition with the Europa League winners automatically qualifying for the Champions League group stage (currently they can potentially take part in a play-off round), while historical success in the competition will also be acknowledged in coefficient calculation.
Advertisement
Former Manchester City player Scott Sinclair has been talking to the Celtic website about the Champions League draw which placed the Bhoys in the same group as the Premier League giants, as well as Barcelona and Borussia Monchengladbach. “They have a lot of experience in Europe”.
UEFA have taken the rather baffling decision of amending the qualification process for the Champions League from next season.
“From the very beginning, the feeling was the ideal solution for everybody would be a solution in the family”, he told reporters.
Serie A is now represented in the Champions League by a maximum of three teams, one of which has to dispute a play-off round.
At the moment, only the three leading leagues – Spain, Germany and England – are guaranteed three places in the group phase, with a fourth team entering in the play-off round.
UEFA also stopped short of guaranteeing captive places for certain big clubs, another possibility which sources said had been discussed privately in meetings over the past few months.
UEFA uses a complicated coefficient to determine the rankings of the national leagues.
Nevertheless, UEFA confirmed that the current qualifying format, separating domestic champions and teams who qualify via a lower league placing, will be retained.
The biggest losers were the 11th and 12th ranked leagues, now Switzerland and the Czech Republic, who will lose their guaranteed places in the group stage.
Europa League, just like its “sibling” the Champions League, is a truly global event that certainly every football fan around the world is waiting for.
Advertisement
UEFA will hold an election to find a replacement for Platini in Athens on September 16.
