UEFA to change Champions League seeding system to help domestic title winners

League champions will benefit from the new UEFA Champions League group stage seeding system

According to Sky Sports, UEFA is considering changing the seeding system for clubs entering the group stage of the Champions League.

If the new proposals take effect, the top eight seeds would include only the defending Champions League winners and seven domestic league winners from the highest-tanked UEFA nations.

The move was discussed early this year and the club competitions committee approved these plans in May.

New rules to prevent league champions being drawn in the same group

The new rule is to help the defending leaguce champions form being drawn in the same group as another country’s league champion. For example, Premier League champions Manchester City were drawn with Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich while Serie A champions Juventus were drawn with La Liga champions Atletico Madrid.

Premier League’s third and fourth placed teams Chelsea and Arsenal were in Pot 1 and seeded higher than Manchester City who were in Pot 2.

When will the new rules take effect?

The UEFA Executive Committee should first approve the rule change before it can be implemented. And they hope it can take effect as early as next season.

The committee will meet in Nyon on 18 September.

When questioned whether the new rules will be brought in due to complaints from various clubs, UEFA responded and said that they did not receive any complaints from any club.