UEFA has announced the new rules for the next Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League seasons, replacing the previous model that had been in place for decades.
Starting with the 2024/25 season, the Champions League will feature a league format with 36 teams rather than 32. Replacing the traditional four-team group phase.
The new league phase will feature eight games, with each team facing two sides from each of the four pots.
The top eight teams will automatically advance to the round of 16. Teams ranked ninth through 24th will advance to the play-off round. Teams ranked 25th-36th are eliminated.
The same regulations apply in the Europa League. However, in the Europa Conference League, teams play six games. There is one team from each of the six pots.
The best performing teams in Europe will receive two additional slots known as the European Performance slots. As it stands, England and Spain are the top two teams in this coefficient, hence Tottenham and Bilbao would qualify.
Newcastle’s greatest chance of qualifying for the Champions League is to finish fifth. But, with the Magpies 10 points behind Spurs, even this appears to be a daunting challenge.
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