UEFA Ruling Guarantees Four Champions League Places To Top Three Associations

Last season there was "serious concern the Premier League could lose a Champions League spot due to a complicated coefficient system," according to SKY SPORTS. But a "recent UEFA ruling has changed that." The current model, which is in place until the end of the '17-18 season, "gives four Champions League places to the top three ranked associations." Currently Spain tops the ranking, followed by Germany and then England. However, UEFA has reformed its coefficient system, "extending four guaranteed places to the top four ranked national associations," effective from the '18-19 season. These 16 clubs are also now "guaranteed to reach the group stage of the Champions League," meaning the Premier League side that finishes fourth will no longer enter the competition at the playoff round. And "crucially it means the Premier League will no longer lose a spot should it fall behind Italy into fourth place in the coefficient ranking" (SKY SPORTS, 2/14).