Celtic fans have a greater idea of what to expect from future years of the Champions League after proposal plans were reported. Reputable Spanish outlet Marca have published some of the finer of details of UEFA’s new plans for their premier competition. They want the new plans to be introduced by 2024 but face stiff competition from some clubs and leagues.
What do we know?
The Champions League is set to include 32 teams. It appears that qualification will be scrapped for the tournament meaning that the 32 teams competing will be known well in advance.
The 32 sides will be divided into four groups of eight teams rather than the eight groups of four system currently in place. Each team will face each other home and away meaning that there will be 14 matchdays – eight more than the current setup.
The top four teams will qualify for the last 16 of the tournament while the bottom three will be in danger of relegation. The team finishing eighth will certainly be demoted to the Europa League for the following season while the teams finishing fifth and sixth will face a playoff to keep their Champions League status.
It is not yet clear how teams would be promoted from the Europa League to the Champions League or how the secondary competition would run.
Bad news for Celtic?
Quite simply, it would take a minor miracle for Celtic to make the Champions League again. The tournament would be kept almost exclusively for teams from bigger leagues with as little as eight places available for clubs like Celtic each season.
If we ever reached the promised land then our chances of remaining there for more than a season would be small. The quality of our opponents could make for some long nights, but the club would make a large amount of money at least.
Celtic’s future looks like it will be in the Europa League alongside similar clubs from similar nations.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
