UEFA announce Champions League and UEFA Cup changes
The format of Champions League qualification will be altered from 2010, with entry for England's fourth-best team now much more difficult than it has been in previous years, UEFA have announced. The UEFA Cup will also be dramatically overhauled, European football's governing body confirmed after an executive committee meeting in Lucerne.
The top three Premier League sides will qualify for the Champions League automatically, but the team that finishes in fourth must play-off against 14 other sides from the leading five nations - England, Italy, Spain, Germany and France -for only five Group Stage spots.
The Scottish champions will now qualify automatically, while the Final of Europe's premier club competition will be switched from a Wednesday to a Saturday.
The UEFA Cup will see 12 groups of four teams in its' initial stage, with the top two qualifying for the second round, rather than the current system of five-team leagues where the sides only play each other once, with the top three progressing.
The Intertoto Cup will also be abolished, while UEFA have also announced that Wembley is one of the contenders to host the 2010 Final.
The other stadiums in contention are the Allianz Arena in Munich, Valencia's Mestalla, Real Madrid's Berabeau and Berlin's Olympiastadion.
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