http://www.straitstimes.com/sport/f...clubs-to-get-automatic-champions-league-spots According to EPFL chief whose organization will have a seat at the table with UEFA regarding competitions in the future: http://www.insideworldfootball.com/...nd-common-stakeholder-ground-lay-foundations/ So if this is the case, the Champions League from 2021 may have less auto berths. Here's how I would format it if that were the case and return the format to something close to that seen in the mid 2000s. 1) I would get rid of the runners up from leagues 9-15 as they are neither champions or from big leagues. 2) I would merge the champions and non-champions path. 3) I would condense qualifying down to three rounds. 20 automatic group stage participants: CL title holder EL title holder Champions (1-8) Runners up (1-6) 3rd (1-4) Playoff Round (24 clubs): Champions (9-12) Runners up (7-8) 3rd (5-6) 4th (1-4) 12 winners from previous round 2nd Qualifying Round (24 clubs): Champions (13-18) 18 winners from previous round 1st Qualifying Round (36 clubs): Champions (19-55, excluding Liechtenstein) There would be between 72-74 clubs and if the CL or EL winner qualifies through league position the champion from the 9th ranked league qualifies for the group stage; if both winners qualify, the champion from the 9th AND 10th ranked leagues qualifies for the group stage.
I like that for the most part. I could see including runners up from League 9 through 12. The 2018-2019 through 2020-2021 format will make four clubs have to win a group just to get to Qualifying Round 1 (Round 1 of 4 including the Playoff Round), and too many champions will start in Qualifying Round 1. The amount of clubs starting in the Group Stage will increase from 22 to 24, which is too many. I like having fewer qualifying rounds and fewer clubs starting in the Group Stage.
The number of auto berths from 2018 to 2021 is actually 26: CL winner, EL winner, Champs (1-10), Runners up (1-6), 3rd and 4th (1-4).
Thanks for the correction. I was thinking the qualifying paths for champions and non-champions got 4 spots each. 26 automatic berths is worse than 24.