Europe’s top four domestic leagues – England, Germany, Italy and Spain – are to be guaranteed four places each in the group stages of the Champions League from the 2018/19 season.
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Manchester City – now under the guidance of manager Pep Guardiola – were that club from the Premier League as they overcame Steaua Bucuresti 6-0 on aggregate.
“The UEFA Europa League winners will automatically qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stage (currently they can potentially take part in a play-off round)”.
Some have suggested the Blues have once again been given a “Group of Death” scenario – but he says everyone at the club is pleased, even though they recognise the difficulty of the task they face.
The first matchday of the competition will take place on the 13/14 September with the final games in the four-team groups taking place on 6/7 December.
Under Manuel Pellegrini, City twice suffered elimination at the last 16 stage at the hands of Barcelona, but the return of Guardiola to face his former club will add lustre to an already stellar fixture. The games will also mean a quick reunion for goalkeeper Claudio Bravo with his old club, following his move to City on Thursday.
“It’s not a nightmare draw at all because we are in a wonderful competition and we are really happy to be here, but in Barcelona, Borussia Monchengladbach and Celtic we know it won’t be easy”.
Sources had told ESPN FC earlier this month that the measures were set to be approved after tough negotiations, with a number of clubs from top leagues having threatened to boycott the Champions League if their demands were not met.
Several big clubs, such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Inter Milan and AC Milan, have missed out on this season’s group stage after performing poorly in their respective leagues last season.
Now there are automatic spots for three English clubs, with a fourth having to qualify through a play-off, as Manchester City did this week after finishing fourth in the Premier League last term.
“The Champions League is the top competition in the world”.
“We are underdogs”, Ranieri said.
“For this reason we must fight for everything”, he said. “Also it is great for our supporters to watch their team all around Europe against teams like Porto, Bruges and Copenhagen”.
For this season’s tournament, the twelve groups of four were drawn from four pots.
Paris St Germain and Arsenal, who are attempting to reach the round of 16 for the 17th time in a row, are the favourites in Group A.
Group B: Benfica (Portugal), Napoli (Italy), Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine), Besiktas (Turkey).
The Danes were pulled out with Premier League champions Leicester City, Portuguese champs Porto and Belgian nemesis Club Brugge to make up Group G.
Bayern Munich (Germany), Atletico Madrid (Spain), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), Rostov (Russia).
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They are in Group E with CSKA Moscow, Bayer Leverkusen and Monaco. They go from two group stage slots, plus one in the final qualifying round, to four in the group stage.
