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.
Italy has two guaranteed berths while a third team enters the play-offs.
The
move will be seen as a manner of appeasing the continent's biggest
clubs, especially as UEFA have also revealed that financial distribution
to clubs will be “increased significantly” for the Champions League and
Europa League and that “historical success in the competition will also
be acknowledged in coefficient calculation.”
Regarding
the latter, UEFA say points will be awarded for previous European titles
and weighted towards more recent success in the Champions League and
Europa League.
UEFA have called the changes “an
evolution not a revolution”, and the Champions League group stage will
continue to feature 32 clubs, but the changes mean there will be fewer
opportunities for sides from lesser leagues around the continent.
Nevertheless,
UEFA confirmed that the current qualifying format, separating domestic
champions and teams who qualify via a lower league placing, will be
retained.
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