There will be no change to the format itself. The annual prize money to the 32 group-stage teams is also expected to be increased significantly.
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After that, the Champions League becomes a knockout competition from February to May, with a round-of-16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, played over two legs, and final, played in a single match.
Still, the deal to give 16 guaranteed group-stage places instead of 11 now to clubs from the big-four leagues will inevitable squeeze teams from lower-ranked leagues.
The fifth and sixth-placed ranked leagues will get two places each, going to the champions and runners-up, and the seventh-to-10th ranked leagues one place each.
The champions and runners-up of the fifth and sixth-ranked leagues, at present France and Russian Federation, will continue to have two places while the champions of the seventh to 10th ranked leagues, now Portugal, Ukraine, Belgium and Turkey, will also qualify automatically.
UEFA uses a complicated coefficient to determine the rankings of the national leagues.
‘Brendan has started well in the Scottish league and he made the first step to qualify for the Champions League’. The other teams to qualify will be the Champions League and Europa League titleholders respectively.
Under the present system, the top three leagues – now Spain, Germany and England – have three places each while their fourth-placed teams must play off over two legs for a place in the group stage.
The fourth-ranked league, now Italy, are the biggest winners. The change won’t have any repercussions for Barcelona, who will continue to be part of a top-ranked association and are always likely to qualify for the group stages automatically.
Before now, only La Liga, the Bundesliga and the Premier League were guaranteed three places in the group stage, with a fourth possible through play-offs.
UEFA has yet to resolve how the changes will have a knock-on effect on smaller clubs’ access to the Champions League groups.
“Historical success in the competition will also be acknowledged in coefficient calculation (points for previous European titles)”, UEFA said.
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Currently, 40 per cent of revenue is distributed according to the so-called market pool, which is calculated according to the size of the television market in the clubs’ respective countries. That will change to the Top10 two seasons from now, with associations 11-15 getting places in the final playoff round.
