UEFA confirm Champions League rule change with major impact on Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham

UEFA have confirmed that there will be a crucial rule change for next season's Champions League that will affect Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

The Gunners reached the semi-final of the competition last term, beating PSV Eindhoven and Real Madrid in the knockout stages.

Arsenal were eventually knocked out by eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain in the last-four stage.

The Gunners will be joined by Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur in this season's Champions League. The Blues finished fourth in the Premier League to book their spot, while Spurs qualified thanks to their triumph in the Europa League final.

Arsenal finished third in the table in the previous campaign, which led to them drawing 14th-placed PSV in the round of 16.

UEFA have now confirmed that the seeding regulations for the Champions League will be changed for this season's tournament.

ESPN have reported that rules will change for the competition that will affect the draws for second legs of knockout ties. It has now been changed so that teams that finish in the top four of the league phase are guaranteed to get a home draw for the second leg of the last-16 and quarter-finals, should they progress.

In the event that a team that finishes first, second, third or fourth gets knocked out in the last-16, then there second-leg advantage would then be handed to the club that eliminates them.

The new rule change means that Arsenal would also need to finish either first or second to be guaranteed a home tie for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, should they get there. As with the previous rule, should a top-two team be knocked out, then the club that beats them would then get their home-leg advantages up to and including the semi-final.

However, the report also points out that there is now an "imbalance" with the new rule change by UEFA. The changes mean that teams that finish third and fourth are not able to be at home for the second leg of the semi-final should they reach that stage, due to either the top two getting those honours or the clubs that beat them across the knockout stages.

It has been pointed out that in order to get a home tie for the second leg of the semi-final, a club must finish either first, second, seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 23rd or 24th.

Teams that finish fifth and sixth would also be unable to get a home second leg in the semi-final, as well as the quarter-final. As a result, the changes will give Arsenal the incentive to finish in the top two next term, but the seedings and draws get much more complicated if the Gunners were to finish between third and eighth to avoid the play-off round.

Story Saved

You can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.