UEFA's Champions League changes could see Portugal have as many as FIVE teams in a Champions League group stage from 2024

UEFA have confirmed that the proposed changes to the structure of their European club competitions will go ahead, with each tournament to be expanded from 32 to 36 teams from the 2024-25 season onwards.

The new format will see each club play a total of 8 group stage matches - up from 6 in the current format - and rather than being placed in multiple different groups of four, all the sides will instead be in the same league table, with the top 8 advancing to the first knockout round and the sides positioned 9th to 24th then playing knockout playoffs to join the top 8 in the round of 16.

The new format also ensures that each team play 8 different opponents in the league phase, rather than three different opponents both home and away, as is currently the case.

A similar format will be applied to the Europa League and the Europa Conference League. However, while the Europa League 'league' phase will follow the same pattern as the Champions League and see each team play 8 matches in total, the Europa Conference League competitors will play just 6.

The new format also ensures that there will no longer be any mid-season 'dropping down' from one competition to another lower tier one should a team perform well, but not well enough to advance in their starting competition. With so many winners of the current Europa League ending up being Champions League dropouts, this is good news for the sides that qualify for the Europa League from the beginning.

Who will be allocated the four additional Champions League places?

With four new places up for grabs in the Champions League proper, there was much debate as to which nations should be allocated additional qualifying spots.

One of the additional berths has been given to the league ranked 5th in the UEFA Coefficient rankings (currently France, who would see their Champions League allocation increased from 3 to 4), and another is reserved for an additional league champion from a lower-ranked league. Currently four league champions from nations ranked 11th to 55th are able to qualify for the Champions League proper through knockout qualifiers, but this will be increased to five.

The other two places were controversially initially going to be reserved for high performing clubs that had otherwise failed to qualify for the competition, but this is no longer the case. Instead UEFA have indicated that the two additional spots will go to the two national divisions that perform best in the UEFA Coefficient rankings in the year immediately prior, meaning that any country could potentially earn an additional qualifying place should their countries collectively perform well enough.

What does this mean for Portugal?

It does mean that Portugal, should they retain their place in at least 6th in the UEFA Coefficient rankings, could potentially secure as many as five Champions League places in a given season - and here’s how.

Assuming they were to retain their place as the 6th most reputable league in Europe based on the UEFA Coefficient rankings, from the 2024-25 season onwards Portugal would be guaranteed two teams in the Champions League group stage and another one would enter the third qualifying round. In this regard, nothing would change, as that is the exact allocation Portugal get today. So based on this season, Porto and Sporting go directly to the Champions League group stage, with Benfica going into the qualifying rounds. Should Benfica progress, they would take the number of Portuguese teams in the competition proper to 3.

Additionally, as is the case today, should a Portuguese club that fails to finish in the top 3 of the Portuguese Primeira Liga go on to win either the Champions League or the Europa League, they would then qualify automatically for the Champions League group phase, taking Portugal’s Champions League representation up to 4. It is not impossible to envisage Braga managing to do this; if they, like this season, finish 4th, but actually then go on to win the Europa League, which is not entirely inconceivable, they would be added to Europe’s primary club competition, taking Portugal’s Champions League representation up to 4.

The new rule - that the two highest perfoming countries get an additional Champions League berth - could then open the door for a 5th Portuguese club to be brought into the Champions League group stage, should Portuguese clubs collectively outcompete at least all but one other national association. Braga winning the Europa League would certainly see Portugal’s coefficient improve considerably, and if the Big Three were to also perform strongly in European competition, it is not an impossibility that such a situation could arise. That would then see the team that finishes 5th in Portugal going to the Champions League; based on this season, that would have seen Benfica promoted directly to the Champions League group phase and Gil Vicente, rather unthinkably, given the chance to qualify for the Champions League through the play-offs.

Theoretically, it would even be possible for Portugal to have SIX teams in the Champions League group phase! But this is exceedingly unlikely, as it would not only require a Portuguese team to win the Champions League and another Portuguese team to win the Europa League in the same season, but it would also require both of these sides to then finish outside of the top three of the Primeira Liga too, making it a virtually impossible scenario.

Also technically possible is Portugal having as many as nine teams competing across all three European competitions in any given season from 2024-25 onwards, with UEFA seemingly removing rules that capped the number of clubs allowed to compete in European competition in a given season from a single nation. This, again, is essentially an impossibility, but it is quite interesting that it is, technically, feasible.

While some of this article is somewhat far-fetched and fanciful, the fact is that the prospect of having five Portuguese teams in the Champions League in a one-off season is far from impossible.

Zouhair Feddal. License link. From Wikipedia.