The present standard four as appeared by European addressing body Uefa’s rankings are Spain, Germany, England and Italy.
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32 teams are drawn into 8 groups of 4 for the group stages of the 2016/17 season of the UEFA Champions League.
The threat of a breakaway European Super League had appeared significant earlier this year, and Press Association Sport reports that the biggest push for change has come from Spain and Italy, the nation that looks set to benefit the most from the adjustment.
This is due to Italy’s global coefficient rankings being lower than those of the Premier League, the Spanish Liga or the German Bundesliga, all of which get four teams. Currently, the Europa winners can be made to qualify through the play-offs.
The Premier League will have four guaranteed places in the Champions League group stage from 2018/19. They will avoid the risk of losing in the playoff qualifying round and miss tens of millions of euros (dollars) in UEFA prize money.
Real Madrid’s Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo kisses his trophy of Best Men’s player in Europe at the end of the UEFA Champions League Group stage draw ceremony, on August 25, 2016 in Monaco. Roma was eliminated this week by Porto, giving fifth-ranked Portugal three teams in the groups draw on Thursday.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says it will be special to return to Barcelona in the Champions League but more “normal” than it was going back with Bayern Munich in April 2015.
Juventus will also be tested by Europa League champions Sevilla, Lyon and Dinamo Zagreb in Group H, while Benfica, Napoli, Dynamo Kiev and Besiktas are in Group B. Currently, the Europa victor can be made to qualify through the playoffs.
Last season, for example, Real Madrid earned less from winning an 11th European Cup than the top 11 English teams from their involvement in the Premier League. But this move has pre-empted that and tilted the axis of Uefa’s club competitions a little further in favour of the big beasts.
Uefa have also announced changes to the co-efficient calculation.
Spanish coach Guardiola, who won the Champions League twice with Barca, faced the Catalans when he was in charge of Bayern Munich two seasons ago and suffered a 5-3 defeat in the semifinals.
But it has stopped short of guaranteeing places for named clubs, such as AC Milan, Liverpool, Inter Milan and Manchester United.
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There will be no changes to the tournaments system, only for the entries into the group stage.
