UEFA confirms three additional Champions League clubs following Tottenham’s Premier League finish.

UEFA will increase the Champions League from the customary 32 clubs to 36, with the group stages of the competition scrapped.
UEFA has announced the clubs that will join the Champions League next season as the league undergoes a revamp.

The European football governing body has confirmed that the Champions League will no longer have a group stage for its first round of competition. Instead, a new ‘Swiss League’ system will be implemented, with teams playing eight encounters instead of six home and away.

All 36 teams will be ranked together, and the matchups will be determined by drawing two teams from each of the four seeded pots. UEFA declared that qualification for these four new clubs will be determined through a variety of means.

The two nations with the greatest co-efficient rankings on UEFA’s scoreboard received two of the extra berths. England was in contention for this berth, however due to poor European achievements last season, both Italy and Germany were handed an additional Champions League spot.

As a result, both Bologna and Borussia Dortmund will compete in the Champions League next season. Tottenham Hotspur would have qualified for the competition if England placed in the top two on the leaderboard after finishing fifth in the Premier League.

Another slot was awarded to the nation ranked fifth in UEFA’s co-efficient ranking, which would ordinarily have only two teams qualified for the Champions League. On this occasion, France received the extra berth, with Brest capitalising.