Shakhtar earn automatic place in 2026/27 league phase thanks to Champions League rebalancing  

Shakhtar have secured an automatic place in the league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League. Both 2025/26 finalists, Paris and Arsenal, have already qualified via their domestic league position, paving the way for the Ukrainian champions to enter directly.

Last updated: 09:00 CET on Monday 11 May

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

It is for this reason that should the Champions League winners have also qualified for the league phase via their domestic league position (as is now guaranteed to be the case this season), 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 according to the access list.

*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 (UKR) – 56.250 (champions)
Crvena Zvezda (SRB) – 46.500 (champions)
GNK Dinamo (CRO) – 46.500 (champions)
Slovan Bratislava (SVK) – 36.000 (champions)
Lech Poznań (POL) – 27.250 (1st)
AEK Athens (GRE) – 24.000 (champions)
Celje (SVN) – 23.000 (champions)
Omonoia (CYP) – 21.250 (champions)
LASK (AUT) – 21.000 (1st)
Shamrock Rovers (IRL) – 19.375 (champions)

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

Bodø/Glimt (NOR) – 64.000 (2nd in domestic league/season finished)
Olympiacos (GRE) – 62.250 (3rd) 
Rangers (SCO) – 59.250 (3rd)
Shakhtar (UKR) – 56.250 (champions)
Copenhagen (DEN) – 54.375 (7th)
Ferencváros (HUN) – 51.250 (2nd)
Midtjylland (DEN) – 48.250 (2nd)
PAOK (GRE) – 48.250 (2nd)
Crvena Zvezda (SRB) – 46.500 (champions)
GNK Dinamo (CRO) – 46.500 (champions) 

Shakhtar qualify for league phase

As Ukrainian champions, Shakhtar are therefore assured of taking the Champions League winners' league phase berth. This is because they have the highest coefficient of all the clubs currently top of their domestic leagues from associations 11–55. There is no team from another association (11–55) with a higher coefficient who can still win their domestic title.

The access list will therefore be rebalanced accordingly, with Shakhtar's qualifying berth filled by the next best team(s) by coefficient.

Note: Liechtenstein does not have its own domestic league; its clubs play in the Swiss football league system.

The 2026/27 access list remains subject to final confirmation.