All the teams in Europe dream of playing in the Champions League, as it is the most recognized competition at the club level in the world, but not all of them can achieve their classification and, on many occasions, they have to settle for playing in the UEFA Europa League. , which is, so to speak, one step below the Champions League. Today we show you how its classification works:
Method 1: by the position of the teams in their League
In general, in the four major leagues, the first four teams qualify for the Champions League. In the case of the Europa League, it is usually due to being in fifth and sixth positions depending on the model used by each League.
Germany, Spain, France, Italy and England have been allocated two places, while Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Scotland, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Switzerland and Ukraine have been allocated one place. The rest of the federations are classified by another method.
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Method 2: Winning the National Cup
In some countries, the winner of the National Cup qualifies directly for the group stage of the Europa League. In others, the Cup winner must go through qualifying rounds to reach the group stage.
Method 3: for falling in the Champions League
Teams that are eliminated in the Champions League qualifying rounds may be “relegated” to the Europa League and may join the competition in the playoff rounds or the group stage, depending on the stage at which they have been eliminated. .
The loser of the Play-Off Round, the loser of the Third qualifying round and the loser of the Second qualifying round would contest the qualifying phase for the Europa League. Once the group stage is over, the third-placed teams in the Champions League fall to the Europa League where they will have to play an access play-off against the second-placed teams in this competition.
Method 4: by preliminary rounds
In the preliminary rounds, the qualifying phase is divided into two, the champions route and the main route. The Champions Path is for the winners of domestic titles knocked out in various UEFA Champions League qualifying stages. The main route will be made up of some clubs that enter the competition and others that arrive from the league route of the UEFA Champions League.
Method 5: Champion of the Conference League
Just as the Europa League champion has a guaranteed place to play in the Champions League, the Conference champion plays directly in the second continental competition.
West Ham, AZ, Fiorentina or Basel, these four teams play the Conference and one of them will qualify for the Europa League this way.
At the moment there is only one team classified to play the group stage of the Europa League, since the Leagues at the moment have not put an end to it. He Toulousechampion of the French Cup, has already secured his participation in the group stage of the Europa League 2023/24.
In Spain and England the Cup has also been played, Real Madrid and Manchester United were the champions but in their case it seems that both will play in the Champions League.
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