How Man Utd and Newcastle's failures will hurt England in next Champions League

The next Champions League will have a different format to the last few. The final phase of the tournament will not be made up of 32 clubs, as was the case until this season, but of 36. This will change the match system, as all the teams will be ranked in a league table and the best eight will advance directly to the round of 16.

Of the four extra places that will be added from next season, two will be for clubs from Europe's top leagues. The determination of those two leagues will depend on the results of this season's Champions League, UEFA Europa League and Conference League.

The points earned by clubs from each country in those three tournaments will be added together and then divided by the number of participating teams from each country. This will give a result for each league and then all will be compared with each other. The two countries with the highest result will win an extra place in the Champions League 2024/25.

This means that every match of every team is key to the future of the European leagues. It benefits all teams if clubs from the same country have good performances this season in international tournaments, as that will give them a better chance of qualifying next year. And vice versa. The failures of one club hurt the others. That's why the quick eliminations of Manchester United and Newcastle were bad news for the Premier League.

Where do the rankings stand right now?

While there is still a long way to go and the most important will come next semester, based on the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League results so far, the two leagues leading the ranking are Germany (12,214 points) and Italy (12,142). Further behind are Spain (11,812) and England (11,000).