Champions League: A new winner, but is competition now a Super League by default?

Next season’s Champions League will include six English Premier League teams instead of the usual four.

Newcastle United, who finished fifth in the table, will play in the competition after European football’s governing body Uefa awarded two bonus spots to the domestic leagues which performed best in Europe in 2024-25.

Meanwhile, Tottenham – who finished 17th – will also join Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea in the competition after winning the Europa League.

Twenty-two of the 36 places in the league phase will come from Europe’s top-five leagues, with Spain securing five spots, Germany and Italy four each, while France will have three teams.

In addition, the Netherlands will have two teams in the league phase, while Portugal, Greece, Czech Republic, Turkey and Belgium will have one team each.

Just 11 of those 29 clubs have qualified for the league phase as champions of their country this season.

That leaves only seven places to be decided through the qualifying rounds.

“I don’t think it’s right that England should have six teams in the Champions League,” said Ian Dennis, senior football reporter at BBC Radio 5 Live., external

“I know why. We’re gearing ourselves towards…it’s effectively a Super League in all but name.

“But if you think about it, the dominance of the Premier League teams in the various European competitions, the English coefficient unless it’s unusual, will always be in the top three, if not the top two.

“And therefore the English clubs are always going to benefit with the extra place.

“Now England have got six clubs in the Champions League, Spain have got five…I think it’s going to be very hard to try to wrestle that away from the English sides.”