Under Uefa-approved changes, the number of teams in the Champions League group stage will increase from 32 to 36 in 2024-25.
Each side will play eight games over ten match weeks under the new format.
However, a plan to award two Champions League spots to individual teams based on on their previous European achievement has been scrapped.
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said “the dream to participate will remain for all clubs”.
Instead, two of the four extra places will be determined by a country’s clubs’ performance in Europe during the previous season.
If the regulations set to be implemented in 2024-25 were in effect now, the Premier League and the Dutch Eredivisie would each gain an additional spot for next season.
Uefa said that a third qualifying round spot will be given to the country’s third-placed league team, which is currently in the third qualifying round.
By raising the number of teams qualifying via the ‘Champions Path’ from four to five, the European governing body announced a fourth berth will go to one country’s domestic champions. This is the term given by Uefa to the qualifying procedure for domestic champions who do not qualify for the group stage automatically.
Uefa, on the other hand, rejected a plan that would have allowed teams to enter the competition simply based on prior performance, which opponents claimed would have favored ‘larger’ brands and provided them with a safety net if they had a bad season.
It has also changed its early proposal to expand the number of games each side in the group phase from six to ten, instead increasing the number to eight.
“Uefa has clearly shown today that we are fully committed to respecting the fundamental values of sport and to defending the key principle of open competitions, with qualification based on sporting merit, fully in line with the values and solidarity-based European sports model,” said Ceferin.
“We are convinced that the format chosen strikes the right balance and that it will improve the competitive balance and generate solid revenues that can be distributed to clubs, leagues and into grassroots football across our continent while increasing the appeal and popularity of our club competitions.”
Ceferin said the new model had been unanimously accepted by Uefa’s executive committee, with league bodies and national associations throughout Europe agreeing.
He added: “Qualification will thus remain purely based on sporting performance and the dream to participate will remain for all clubs.”
