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Daily Record
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Record Sport Online

The latest Champions League changes 'set' to be announced and they don't make for good reading

Teams from across Europe face being frozen out of the Champions League as UEFA look to further revamp their premier club competition.

Juventus president and head of the European Club Association, Andrea Agnelli, is understood to be ramping up the proposal.

Scottish teams already face an arduous task to reach the group stage with the Premiership winners facing four rounds of qualifying through the Champions route.

Celtic chief Peter Lawwell - a board member of the ECA - was in Amsterdam last month for a crunch two-day summit on issues effecting the competition and joined representatives from 10 other teams at the organisation's agm.

The Champions League faces becoming almost a closed shop and making it increasingly difficult for teams outside of the previous year's edition to qualify.

It would see changes implemented from 2024 - with the current structure of eight groups of four teams changing to four groups of eight teams.

That would mean 14 games in the group stage and a total of 21 fixtures played for the two sides that make it all the way to the final.

And among the ideas is allegedly a system which would see the top 24 sides from the previous year's competition automatically qualify for the following edition - leaving just eight spots for new teams.

(Getty Images)

It would essentially ring-fence the world's premier club competition and make it even more lucrative.

There are reportedly fears that UEFA will bow to the demands of their biggest clubs, including staging matches on weekends.

Premier League clubs battling for a top-four finish to reach the Champions League could become a thing of the past - if Europe's powerhouses get their way.

Tottenham, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea are fighting it out for a place at the continent's top table in a race which looks set to go to the wire.

And clubs will be told today about plans for a revamp of the Champions League, according to The Sun.

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