Does Erik ten Hag need to finish at least fourth with the revived Manchester United to secure a Champions League ticket? It might also suffice to finish fifth. This has everything to do with the new Champions League format.
The impending overhaul of the Champions League is poised to bring significant changes to European football's premier club competition from next season.
UEFA plans to eliminate the traditional group stage format, opting instead for a unified ranking system that will feature all participating clubs. In what is proposed to be called the main phase, the competition will expand to include 36 teams, up from the current 32.
The allocation of the additional slots in this revamped format is of particular interest. One slot will be awarded to the team finishing fifth in the league of the country ranked fifth in UEFA's coefficient rankings. Another slot will go to a champion from one of the smaller leagues, effectively increasing the diversity and representation in the competition. Moreover, two places will be reserved for clubs from the top two leagues based on the previous season's coefficients, benefiting those leagues that have performed strongly in European competitions.
As it stands, Italy and Germany are the top two leagues according to UEFA's coefficient list. This would see the fifth-placed teams from Serie A (currently Bologna) and the Bundesliga (currently RB Leipzig) automatically qualifying for the main phase of the Champions League under the new system.
There's a buzz around the English Premier League as well, with predictions suggesting England could overtake Germany in the coefficient rankings. Tottenham Hotspur currently sits in fifth place, but Manchester United is only three points behind in sixth, showing significant improvement under Ten Hag. This gap makes the race for the fifth position and direct qualification to the Champions League's main phase especially crucial for United.
Meanwhile, leagues from France and Spain appear to be falling behind in the race for an additional Champions League spot. This is even more pronounced for the Netherlands, which would have benefited from an extra slot had these rules been in effect following their impressive second-place finish in the 2021/22 season.
This restructuring aims to make the Champions League more inclusive and competitive, potentially offering clubs like Manchester United a golden opportunity to participate directly in the main phase, bypassing the highly competitive and uncertain group stage battles of the past.
