UEFA have announced the clubs who will be added to the Champions League next season as the competition receives a makeover.
The European football body has announced that the Champions League will no longer include a group stage for its first round of the competition. Instead, a new ‘Swiss League’ format shall be introduced which sees teams play eight fixtures instead of six home and away.
All 36 teams will be ranked together and the fixtures will be decided by the drawing of two teams from each of the four seeded pots. To select these four new clubs, UEFA announced that qualification will be decided through different routes.
Two of the extra spots were given to the two highest-ranking nations on UEFA’s co-efficient leaderboard. England was in the running for this spot however poor European performances last season meant both Italy and Germany were awarded the extra Champions League place.
Therefore Bologna and Borussia Dortmund will be in the Champions League next season. Tottenham Hotspur would have qualified for the competition if England had finished in the top two of the leaderboard after finishing fifth in the Premier League.
Another spot was handed to the nation fifth in UEFA’s co-efficient leaderboard who would normally have just two teams qualifying for the Champions League. On this occasion, the extra spot was handed to France with Brest capitalising.
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The final spot shall be awarded through the champions’ qualifying path which will be extended from four to five teams next season. This club has not been decided yet but will be chosen after four qualifying rounds.
Spurs’ fifth-place finish means they will enter the Europa League next season which has also adopted the new ‘league phase’ system. They shall be joined by Manchester United in the second-tier European competition after they won the FA Cup.
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