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Kieran Maguire: Newcastle set for Champions League boost amid 'wildcard' news
Newcastle United may find it easier to qualify for the Champions League in future seasons as England may be handed more qualification spots.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the chances of England being handed five – and sometimes even six – Champions League qualification spots.
The Champions League is set to undergo a radical change to its format from 2024/25 onwards, with the tournament adopting the ‘Swiss style’ structure.
The number of teams competing in the Champions League will increase from 32 to 36, with two of those spots going to the best-performing leagues in Europe for that season.
Newcastle are just weeks away from making their return to the competition after being drawn into a group with Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain.
Maguire explained that the Tyneside club may find it easier to secure more regular Champions League qualification as England may be handed more qualification spots to fill the extra four teams if they enjoy success in the competition.
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“Something to consider is that English success in Europe could result in regularly having five teams from the Premier League appear in the Champions League,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“Those two wildcard spots are given to the national association with the highest success from the previous season.
“If if one of those teams then goes on to win it and doesn’t qualify for the next season, then as holder we’d have six qualification spots.
“It’s the elephant in the room.
“People have been saying that seven big teams into four qualification spots doesn’t go particularly well as far as the big clubs are concerned.
“But for Newcastle’s rise since their takeover, I think those seven clubs competing will soon have five spots to fight over, and occasionally it could be seven teams chasing six positions.“
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