What happens if the UEFA Champions League winners have also qualified for the league phase via their domestic league position?

The 2023/24 UEFA Champions League winners will automatically qualify for next season's league phase – but what happens if they have also earned a place via their domestic league position?

Last updated at 09:00 CET on Monday 29 April.

One of the main principles of the new European club competition format post-2024 is the important role of the club coefficient – namely, the club's performance in European competition over the current five-year period.

It is for this reason, from 2024/25 onwards, that should the UEFA Champions League winners have also qualified for the league phase via their domestic league position, the club with the best individual coefficient of all the domestic champions involved in qualifying (the domestic champions of associations 11 to 55*) will enter the league phase directly instead of the original round they had qualified for.

Note that the domestic title winners from associations one to ten will have already automatically qualified for the league phase.

What does this mean in practice?

The top ten coefficients for the current league leaders from associations 11–55 are as follows:

Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) – 63.000
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) – 50.000
Crvena zvezda (SRB) – 40.000
Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR) – 35.500
Ferencváros (HUN) – 35.000
Young Boys (SUI) – 34.500
Qarabağ (AZE) – 33.000
Galatasaray (TUR) – 31.500
Slovan Bratislava (SVK) – 30.500
Bodø Glimt (NOR) – 28.000

The top ten coefficients for all clubs from associations 11-55 are as follows:

Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) – 63.000 (1st in domestic league)
Slavia Praha (CZE) – 53.000 (2nd)
Basel (SUI) – 52.000 (9th)
Copenhagen (DEN) – 51.500 (3rd)
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) – 50.000 (1st)
Olympiacos (GRE) – 41.000 (4th)
Crvena Zvezda (SRB) – 40.000 (1st)
PAOK (GRE) – 37.000 (2nd)
Fenerbahçe (TUR) – 36.000 (2nd)
Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR) – 35.500 (1st)

The latest five-year club coefficients can be found here.

Shakhtar Donetsk would qualify as it stands: As current leaders of the Ukrainian Premier League, Shakhtar would, as it stands, take the UEFA Champions League winners' league phase berth should such rebalancing be required. This is because they have the highest coefficient of all the clubs currently top of their domestic leagues from associations 11–55. The access list would subsequently be rebalanced accordingly.

It is important to underline that this ongoing process will take place simultaneously within the domestic competitions that will determine the national champion of each country as well as the knockout rounds of the European competitions, since several of the eligible clubs are participating in the European club competitions and therefore still have the potential to enhance their overall coefficient.

*Note that as Liechtenstein does not have its own domestic league, its clubs play in the Swiss football league system.