Xabi Alonso could exclude Barcelona from the first pot of the Champions League

If Bayer Leverkusen wins the Europa League, Barcelona will remain outside the first pot of the Champions League.

Great Season Bayer Leverkusen from Xabi Alonso This could directly affect Barcelona. Currently, the Catalan club will be among the seeds for the next edition of the Champions League in 2024-2025, but the situation could change if the German team becomes champion of the Europa League. If this happens, the Bundesliga champions will surpass Barca’s UEFA coefficient and therefore relegate them to pot two of the draw.

It is worth remembering that the next course Champions will change the format and have 36 teams divided into four reels. Until now, Pot 1 has included the champions of the major European leagues, the Champions League champion and the Europa League champion. But it won’t be the same. This year everything will change, and from now on The first basket will be formed based on the UEFA coefficient. which each team has accumulated over the past five seasons.

Currently the top nine in the UEFA rankings, who will therefore be guaranteed a place in Pot 1 if they qualify, are: Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, PSG, Liverpool, Inter, Roma, RB Leipzig and Chelsea, but the Londoners no longer have a chance to qualify. Therefore, right now ninth place would go to Borussia Dortmund. What’s happening is that Roma are unsure of their presence in the next edition of Europe’s premier competition as they are fifth in Serie A, two points ahead of Atalanta and four points ahead of Lazio.

If Rome do not classify Barcelona will end up in the first basket. To do this, the Blaugrana, who occupy twelfth position in the UEFA rankings, need Atalanta or Lazio to beat Roma in Serie A and for the Italians not to win the Europa League. But precisely because of the UEFA coefficient Bayer Leverkusen may leave Xavi’s team aside, although at the moment they are behind them in the rankings.

Leverkusen can beat Barca

At this moment, after the victory Bayer Leverkusen against Roma (0-2) in the first match of the Europa League semi-finals, Xabi Alonso’s team 88,000 pointswhile Barcelona It has 91,000. UEFA awards two points for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. This means that if the German team beats Roma in the second leg, they will equal the Catalan team’s score (91,000) based on what happens in the final.

In this case, Bayer Xabi Alonso They would only need to equalize in the 90th minute of the final to surpass Barcelona, regardless of whether they win the Europa League or not. In the event of a draw in the second leg, Leverkusen will have to win the final to surpass the Blaugranas; while a defeat would force them to win the final unless they lost by more than two goals (if this happened they would be eliminated) and qualify for the final.

That is, to Barcelona to be seeded right now, they need Roma to knock out Leverkusen, but will lose the final and finish sixth or worse in Serie A. Another option is that both teams tie the score in the second leg and the aspirin team loses the final. In this case, Xabi Alonso’s team would have one point less than Xavi’s team. In the event of a tie, UEFA will a priori give priority to the German national team, since it is the champion of the Bundesliga.

Top 20 UEFA rankings

1. Manchester City: 148,000
2. Bavaria: 144,000
3. Real Madrid: 131,000
4. PSG: 116,000
5. Liverpool: 114,000
6. Inter Milan: 101,000
7. Rome: 100,000
8. RB Leipzig: 97,000
9. Chelsea: 96,000
10. Borussia Dortmund: 94,000
11. Manchester United: 92,000
12. Barcelona: 91,000
13. Atlético Madrid: 89,000
14. Bayer Leverkusen: 88,000
15. Seville: 84,000
16. Villarreal: 82,000
17. Naples: 80,000
18. Juventus: 80,000
19. Benfica: 79,000
20. Porto: 77,000