Gerard Izuora
UEFA have announced a number of changes to the Champions League and Europa League starting from next season.
The top four teams from England, Spain, Germany and Italy will now qualify automatically for the Champions League.
This means that the team which finishes fourth in the Premier League this season will not have to go through the qualifying stage as was the case previously.
The reigning champions of both European competitions, the top two from Russia and France, and the Portuguese, Ukrainian, Belgian and Turkish champions complete the set of those who qualify automatically.
In addition, the teams that finish fifth and sixth in the English top flight will earn direct passage into the Europa League proper, along with two teams from Germany, England, Italy, France and Russia.
All teams eliminated from Champions League qualifying, meanwhile, will now get a second chance to qualify for the Europa League.
UEFA have also announced that kickoffs in Europe’s premier club competition will now be staggered in similar fashion to the Europa League.
The Champions League usually kicks off at 7:45pm, but from the 2018-19 season, games will start at either 5:55pm or 8pm.
Next season’s Champions League gets underway with the preliminary rounds on June 26, while the Europa League starts on June 28.