The Champions League could feature up to seven Premier League teams from 2024 after a major overhaul of the competition was recently agreed

The Champions League could feature up to seven Premier League teams from 2024 after a major overhaul of the competition was recently agreed

UEFA has abandoned its controversial plan to offer Champions League qualification to teams based on their historical success via club coefficient points. The European soccer’s governing body had previously suggested that it would reserve two places in the UCL group phase from 2024 for high-ranking teams who had failed to qualify via their domestic league position.

UEFA then went on to announce that, instead of two places going to clubs based on their historical success, two extra spots will instead be given each year to the two nations whose clubs performed best in the previous campaign. This will again be based on coefficient points.

As a result, the Champions League could feature five English clubs on a regular basis from 2024 – and up to seven in exceptional circumstances – after a major overhaul of the competition was agreed upon on Tuesday.

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In theory, seven English teams could qualify in a single season in this new model – the top four in the Premier League, a fifth-placed team via the country coefficient, and the winners of the Champions League and the Europa League, if these were all different clubs. A senior UEFA official even described this scenario as being “as likely as a meteorite hitting this room” but it is nevertheless a possibility.

Last year UEFA’s executive committee approved an increase in matches from six in the current format to 10, but that has been cut to eight amid pressure from domestic leagues and fans’ groups. Teams will face eight different opponents, playing four home games and four away games on a seeded basis in the new 36-team league.

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The two additional extra places in the group stage will go to a third club from the fifth-ranked association currently France and to a further domestic league winner qualifying via the ‘champions path’.

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UEFA’s plan also includes increasing the number of Champions League matches and revenue from 2024

In all, the UEFA’s new format also means 64 extra matches, taking its current match tally from the current 125 to 189, increasing the workload on players and management to a large extent.

Revenue for the new competitions is projected to increase by almost 40%, but discussions on the financial distribution model for the 2024-27 cycle and how much goes to support clubs outside European competition will now begin in earnest.

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