Shakhtar Donetsk has a chance to start the 2024/2025 Champions League from the group stage: UEFA clarification

10.04.2024 14:01

Photo by uefa.com

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has issued clarifications on the case where the reigning Champions League winner also qualifies for the Champions League group by virtue of their place in the national championship.

The winner of the 2023/2024 Champions League automatically qualifies for the group stage of next season's tournament, but there is a possible case where they also deserve to go there due to their position in the national championship. Official website of UEFA explained the procedure in such a situation.

One of the main principles of the new format of European club competitions after 2024 is the more important role of the club coefficient, which is formed based on the results of the club's performances in European cups over the past five years. It is for this reason that from the 2024/2025 season onwards, if the winner of the Champions League also qualifies for the league stage due to their position in the national championship, the club with the best individual coefficient among all national champions participating in the qualification (association champions ranked 11th to 55th), will enter the group stage immediately instead of the qualifying round.

It should be noted that the winners of the national championships of the top 10 associations automatically qualify for the group stage.

The top 10 odds for the current 11-55 national championship leaders:

Shakhtar (Ukraine) - 63,000

Slavia (Czech Republic) - 53,000

Red Star (Serbia) - 40,000

PAOK (Greece) — 37,000

Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) — 35,500

«Ferencvaros" (Hungary) — 35,000 

Young Boys (Switzerland) - 34,500

"Karabakh" (Azerbaijan) — 33,000

Galatasaray (Turkey) - 31,500

«Slovan" (Slovakia) — 30,500

The first 10 odds for all clubs from associations 11-55:

"Shakhtar" (Ukraine) — 63,000 (1st place in the national championship)

Slavia (Czech Republic) — 53,000 (1st place)

Basel (Switzerland) — 52,000 (10th place)

"Copenhagen" (Denmark) — 51,500 (3rd place)

Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) — 50,000 (2nd place)

Crvena Zvezda (Serbia) — 40,000 (1st place)

Olympiakos (Greece) — 38,000 (4th place)

PAOK (Greece) — 37,000 (1st place)

Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) — 35,500 (1st place)

Ferencvaros (Hungary) — 35,000 (1st place)

So today, Shakhtar Donetsk, as the current leader of the Ukrainian Premier League, would take a place in the group stage of the Champions League, if such a rebalancing was needed. Miners have the highest ratio of any club currently leading their domestic association championships 11-55.

The list of leaders will, of course, be constantly updated. It is important to emphasize that this continuous process will take place simultaneously within the domestic competitions that will determine the champion of each country, as well as the play-offs of European competitions, as several clubs still participate in European club competitions and have the potential to increase the club coefficient.