The format of the UEFA Champions League for the 2026-2027 season has once again been updated.
Medianews.az reports that 5 teams from England and Spain, 4 from Italy and Germany, 3 from France, 2 from the Netherlands, and 1 team each from Portugal, Belgium, Czechia, Turkey, and Ukraine qualify directly for the league stage.
The winner of the 2025-2026 UEFA Europa League also starts in the league stage, but if that team qualifies through its national championship results, the format will change.
There are four qualifying rounds in the tournament.
Champions from Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Ireland, Moldova, Iceland, Bosnia, Armenia, Latvia, Kosovo, Finland, Kazakhstan, Faroe Islands, Malta, Northern Ireland, Lithuania, Estonia, Albania, Montenegro, Luxembourg, Wales, Georgia, North Macedonia, Belarus, Andorra, Gibraltar, and San Marino start from the first round.
In the second round's champions route, champions of Poland, Denmark, Switzerland, Israel, Cyprus, Sweden, Croatia, Serbia, and Slovakia participate, while in the league route, silver medalists from Turkey, Norway, Greece, Austria, Scotland, and Poland enter.
In the league route of the third round, the fourth place of the French championship, the bronze medalist of the Netherlands, and the silver medalists of Portugal, Belgium, and Czechia are invited.
Champions from Norway, Greece, Austria, and Scotland participate in the champions route of the fourth round.
Teams eliminated in the first round move to the Conference League, and those eliminated in the remaining rounds move to the Europa League.
In the 36-team league stage, the top 8 teams qualify for the round of 16, and those ranking 9th-24th qualify for the round of 32.
Since 1955, in the Champions League (called the European Champion Clubs' Cup until 1992), "Real" has 15 titles, "Milan" 7, "Bayern" and "Liverpool" 6 each, "Barcelona" 5, "Ajax" 4, "Inter" (Italy) and "Manchester United" 3, "Benfica," "Nottingham Forest," "Juventus," "Porto," and "Chelsea" 2 each, and "Celtic," "Feyenoord," "Aston Villa," "Hamburg," "Steaua," PSV, "Red Star Belgrade," "Marseille," "Borussia" (Dortmund), "Manchester City," and PSG each have 1 title.
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