Champions League revamp could harm teams from Europe's top leagues 😳 | OneFootball

Yet another Champions League revamp is being suggested but, for once, the very top teams in Europe aren’t behind it.

Recent months and years have seen talk about the competition being expanded and more places being guaranteed for Europe’s richest clubs.

But not this time.

According to the Athletic, momentum is gathering behind a proposal put together by Danish champions FC Copenhagen.

The idea would be to see every club that has qualified for the competition, at any phase, ranked from 1-79 based on their results in Europe across the previous decade.

From there, the top 20 sides would head straight into the group stage but everyone else would have to enter the qualifying rounds.

The first qualifying round would start with the 22 lowest ranked sides, 13 would be added in round two, 12 in round three, and a further 12 in the play-off round.

The winners? Well, the likes of Ajax and Porto would have gone straight into this season’s group stage, while the likes of Galatasary and RB Leipzig would have been forced to enter the qualifying rounds.

Under the current system, teams are ranked in accordance to their nation’s coefficient. All four of Europe’s top leagues (Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga, Serie A) have four guaranteed group stage slots. This would no longer be the case.

The proposal would see double the amount of slots won through the qualifying stages.

While it’s positive for European regulars from ‘lesser’ leagues, the likes of Leicester would be victims of their own lack of European pedigree. Simply finishing in the top four in the Premier League wouldn’t be enough to qualify for the group stage. The suggested system would also hit clubs like Wolves and Sheffield United, who are in contention for a top four spot this season.

Serie A club Atalanta are on the way to this season’s quarter-finals but would have had to come through the qualifying rounds to get there.

But Ajax, PSV, Porto, Dinamo Kiev and Olympiacos would’ve flown straight into the group stages. Celtic, who entered the first qualifying round this season, would’ve entered at the third round.

With big clubs in the biggest leagues likely to oppose the prospect of guaranteed slots being taken a way, one source told the Athletic that a compromise could be reached, suggesting the top two from those leagues could still be promised passage into the group stage.

Copenhagen’s proposal recognises and protects the stature of the very richest clubs but opens more slots for other sides, and more opportunities to go far in the competition as Ajax did last season.

The source insisted it isn’t fair that strong teams from weaker leagues are held back by their domestic rivals.

“In any other business you are rewarded for having a long-term relationship with someone but in European football you just start over every season,” he stated.

“Roger Federer is not seeded at Wimbledon according to how other Swiss players have played. He is seeded on his performances alone. Only in football do we do this.”

One way or another, it’s a matter of time until we see a change in the Champions League format.