CL changes: Top 4 leagues to get 4 Group Stage spots

[Infield Infidel]

LONDON -- The top four European leagues are set to automatically qualify four teams each to the group stage of the Champions League from 2018-19, according to multiple sources.

UEFA's executive committee is expected to approve the measure when it meets later this month, sources said, part of a set of changes to the European competition that will be implemented for the cycle between 2018-2021.

The additional guaranteed slots will be agreed as a compromise after UEFA was able to stand firm in denying many of those demands, as well as staving away the threat of a breakaway European Super League at least through 2021.

According to sources, the demands had included entry to European competition based on "historic merit" -- a "parachute" for popular clubs who fail to qualify on the pitch -- as well as the possibility of European ties to be played at weekends so as to increase broadcast audiences, and the creation of a new entity -- co-owned by UEFA and the clubs themselves -- to run the Champions League.

http://www.espnfc.us/uefa-champions-league/story/2930481/champions-league-set-to-add-guaranteed-slots-for-top-leagues-sources

This adds 4 Group Stage spots for teams in top 4 leagues that previously were in the playoffs, and one group stage spot for a team in the #4 league (currently Italy) that wouldn't have been in the competition. 16 of 32 group stage teams will come from 4 leagues

 

[swiftaw]

So half the group stage teams will be from the top 4 leagues, and actually probably one more than that since there is a good chance that the Europa League winner will be from one of the top four leagues.

 

[Vinho Tinto]

The big winner in the short term is Italy. Not only is their third spot guaranteed, but the fourth has been added. As long as PSG doesn't break through and win the CL, their hold on 4th should be pretty secure.

The other three no longer have to deal with the playoff, which means not having to deal with two matches they'd rather not play.

All of the other leagues got porked, but what else is new?

 

[acf69]

Another money grab undermining the future of the game. I have long switched off and now Bournemouth received 50% more revenues from domestic TV money than the total revenue of 4-time EC1/CL winner Ajax Amsterdam...

 

[Titans Bastard]

I guess this means I'll be rooting for Man City, Gladbach, Roma, and Villarreal to get stuffed in the playoff round over the next two weeks for schadenfreude reasons. (Okay, I'll give Gladbach a pass for Fabian Johnson's sake.)


I wonder what would happen if all the middle- and small-tier countries in UEFA called the bluff and dared the big clubs to break away and form a European Super League. How much money are the smaller countries even getting from the Champions League now? Does it even matter to most UEFA members if a lot of that cash migrates to an ESL? It seems like the real losers aren't Poland and Romania (or Montenegro or Slovakia or Moldova or Estonia or...), but the second-tier clubs in the biggest leagues of Western Europe -- the Evertons and Werder Bremens of the world. Are there significant cash transfers of money generated by the Champions League to smaller UEFA nations that I am missing? Even in the group stage, clubs get TV money divvied up based on market size, so the Dinamo Zagrebs of the world still get hosed.

I also wonder how popular an ESL would be among supporters of invited clubs who wind up in the lower echelon of the league. I can just see the Arsenal supporters with the club perennially near the bottom of the table. When CL is a side competition, it's one thing. If CL-level competition is constant, that might be a little more competition than supporters used to rolling through the league really want.


Lastly, as the terms of engagement squeeze the smaller countries more and more, will there ever be a push to consolidate some smaller leagues to increase their financial power and leverage? This is one of those ideas that gets bandied about by people who like the way things look on maps and is never as popular with the actual fans on the ground, but I wonder if there ever would be a tipping point. How about a Norway/Sweden/Denmark league? (pop 20m) Benelux? Austria-Switzerland? I'll hold off on suggesting a Yugoslav league for the next 150 years or so. Anyone remember this proposal?

 

[the1andonly3003]

I guess this means I'll be rooting for Man City, Gladbach, Roma, and Villarreal to get stuffed in the playoff round over the next two weeks for schadenfreude reasons. (Okay, I'll give Gladbach a pass for Fabian Johnson's sake.)


I wonder what would happen if all the middle- and small-tier countries in UEFA called the bluff and dared the big clubs to break away and form a European Super League. How much money are the smaller countries even getting from the Champions League now? Does it even matter to most UEFA members if a lot of that cash migrates to an ESL? It seems like the real losers aren't Poland and Romania (or Montenegro or Slovakia or Moldova or Estonia or...), but the second-tier clubs in the biggest leagues of Western Europe -- the Evertons and Werder Bremens of the world. Are there significant cash transfers of money generated by the Champions League to smaller UEFA nations that I am missing? Even in the group stage, clubs get TV money divvied up based on market size, so the Dinamo Zagrebs of the world still get hosed.

I also wonder how popular an ESL would be among supporters of invited clubs who wind up in the lower echelon of the league. I can just see the Arsenal supporters with the club perennially near the bottom of the table. When CL is a side competition, it's one thing. If CL-level competition is constant, that might be a little more competition than supporters used to rolling through the league really want.


Lastly, as the terms of engagement squeeze the smaller countries more and more, will there ever be a push to consolidate some smaller leagues to increase their financial power and leverage? This is one of those ideas that gets bandied about by people who like the way things look on maps and is never as popular with the actual fans on the ground, but I wonder if there ever would be a tipping point. How about a Norway/Sweden/Denmark league? (pop 20m) Benelux? Austria-Switzerland? I'll hold off on suggesting a Yugoslav league for the next 150 years or so. Anyone remember this proposal?

http://www.espnfc.us/blog/marcotti-musings/62/post/2930404/uefa-champions-league-structural-changes-as-explained-by-gab-marcotti

Gab Marcotti provided some background on the politics leading up to this point

 

[Infield Infidel]

I guess this means I'll be rooting for Man City, Gladbach, Roma, and Villarreal to get stuffed in the playoff round over the next two weeks for schadenfreude reasons. (Okay, I'll give Gladbach a pass for Fabian Johnson's sake.)


I wonder what would happen if all the middle- and small-tier countries in UEFA called the bluff and dared the big clubs to break away and form a European Super League. How much money are the smaller countries even getting from the Champions League now? Does it even matter to most UEFA members if a lot of that cash migrates to an ESL? It seems like the real losers aren't Poland and Romania (or Montenegro or Slovakia or Moldova or Estonia or...), but the second-tier clubs in the biggest leagues of Western Europe -- the Evertons and Werder Bremens of the world. Are there significant cash transfers of money generated by the Champions League to smaller UEFA nations that I am missing? Even in the group stage, clubs get TV money divvied up based on market size, so the Dinamo Zagrebs of the world still get hosed.

I also wonder how popular an ESL would be among supporters of invited clubs who wind up in the lower echelon of the league. I can just see the Arsenal supporters with the club perennially near the bottom of the table. When CL is a side competition, it's one thing. If CL-level competition is constant, that might be a little more competition than supporters used to rolling through the league really want.


Lastly, as the terms of engagement squeeze the smaller countries more and more, will there ever be a push to consolidate some smaller leagues to increase their financial power and leverage? This is one of those ideas that gets bandied about by people who like the way things look on maps and is never as popular with the actual fans on the ground, but I wonder if there ever would be a tipping point. How about a Norway/Sweden/Denmark league? (pop 20m) Benelux? Austria-Switzerland? I'll hold off on suggesting a Yugoslav league for the next 150 years or so. Anyone remember this proposal?

I think the Europe Super League would just be an alternative to CL, cutting out the mid-size and smaller countries entirely, with something like 16 or 32 teams from England, Spain, Germany, Italy, and probably France and maybe Portugal. If there are up to 7 or 8 teams per country the Evertons would probably benefit by getting in. Actually they probably do something weak like making it 24 teams in 6 groups and a round of 16 so a higher percentage of teams get knockout stage money.