4th place now

Of those saying that 2nd, 3rd or 4th doesn't really matter. 3rd or above you are in the group stage proper, 4th means we have to go through the qualifying route.

4th is not acceptable to me, on current form we should be aiming for 3rd at least. Saturday just gone could prove to be very costly. Those qualifying games early doors are games we could do without.

Of those saying that 2nd, 3rd or 4th doesn't really matter. 3rd or above you are in the group stage proper, 4th means we have to go through the qualifying route.

4th is not acceptable to me, on current form we should be aiming for 3rd at least. Saturday just gone could prove to be very costly. Those qualifying games early doors are games we could do without.

There is no qualifying rounds next year for the Top 4 ranked countries in Europe, so makes no difference 2nd or 4th.

There is no qualifying rounds next year for the Top 4 ranked countries in Europe, so makes no difference 2nd or 4th.

Oh good. Thanks for that HScRed. Wasn't aware of this rule change.

Just found it -

Champions League and Europa League changes next season

Tuesday 27 February 2018

Qualifying for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League from 2018/19 is evolving. We explain the new system, which includes an extra round.

Qualifying for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League is evolving from 2018/19. We explain the new system.

Q&A: How the changes were made

KEY CHANGES
Twenty-six teams now gain direct entry to the UEFA Champions League group stage – including the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League winners – with six qualifying places available
Every team eliminated in UEFA Champions League qualifying will get a second chance in the UEFA Europa League
Seventeen teams now gain direct entry to the UEFA Europa League group stage, with ten teams directly transferring from the UEFA Champions League play-offs and third qualifying round plus 21 qualifying places in two different paths (UEFA Europa League champions and league paths)
There will be a preliminary round in qualifying for the UEFA Champions League (played as a knockout mini-tournament) and UEFA Europa League (played as two-legged ties)
There is no change to the formats from the group stage onwards but there will be staggered kick-offs – 18.55CET and 21.00CET – in the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League
Useful links: 2018/19 access list, 2016/17 UEFA association coefficient rankings
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Group stage
There will now be 26 teams automatically qualified as per the access list drawn up from the UEFA association coefficients at the end of 2016/17.
For 2018/19 they will be ...
UEFA Champions League holders (1)
UEFA Europa League holders (1)
Top four from associations ranked 1st to 4th: Spain, Germany, England, Italy (16)
Top two from associations ranked 5th and 6th: France, Russia (4)
Champions of associations ranked 7th to 10th: Portugal, Ukraine, Belgium, Turkey (4)

If the UEFA Champions League holders have qualified for the group stage via their domestic championship, the vacancy will be filled by the champions of the association ranked 11th (Czech Republic), who otherwise compete in the champions path
If the UEFA Europa League holders have qualified for the group stage via their domestic championship, the vacancy will be filled by the third-placed club from the association ranked fifth (France), who otherwise compete in the league path
An association may have a maximum of five teams in the group stage
Qualifying
As now there are two paths: the champions path and the league path. Teams enter as per the access list draw up from the UEFA association coefficients at the end of 2016/17.
Champions route (four group places)
This route consists of the champions of the associations ranked 11th and below, and now includes a preliminary round as well as three qualifying rounds and a play-off round:

Preliminary round (played as knockout mini-tournament): four teams enter
First qualifying round: 33 teams enter plus winner of preliminary round
Second qualifying round: three teams enter plus 17 first qualifying round winners
Third qualifying round: two teams enter plus ten second qualifying round winners
Play-offs: two teams enter plus six third qualifying round winners
All teams eliminated in the champions path between the preliminary round and the third qualifying round will be given a second chance to compete at European level by entering a new dedicated champions path of UEFA Europa League qualifying with staggered access according to round of elimination from the UEFA Champions League. Teams eliminated in champions path play-offs enter the UEFA Europa League group stage directly.

League route (two group places)
This route consists of the third-placed teams of the associations ranked fifth and sixth, and the runners-up of the associations ranked seventh to 15th. There are three rounds in all:

Second qualifying round: six teams enter
Third qualifying round: five teams enter plus three second qualifying round winners
Play-offs: four third qualifying round winners
All teams eliminated in the second qualifying round of the league path will be given a second chance to compete at European level by entering the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League league path. Teams eliminated in the league path third qualifying round and play-offs enter the UEFA Europa League group stage directly.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE
Group stage
There will now be 17 teams automatically qualified as per the access list drawn up from the UEFA association coefficients at the end of 2016/17.
For 2018/19 they will be ...
Two teams from associations ranked 1st to 5th: Spain, Germany, England, Italy, France (10)
One team from associations ranked 6th to 12th: Russia, Portugal, Ukraine, Belgium, Turkey, Czech Republic, Switzerland (7)

Ten teams also enter the group stage direct from the UEFA Champions League: six teams eliminated in the league path (third qualifying round and play-offs) and four teams eliminated in the champions path play-offs.
Qualifying
From 2018/19 there will be two paths: the champions path and the league path. Teams enter as per the access list drawn up from the UEFA association coefficients at the end of 2016/17.
Champions route (eight group places)
This route consists of teams eliminated in the UEFA Champions League champions path between the preliminary round and the third qualifying round. There are three teams in all:

Second qualifying round: 20 teams eliminated in UEFA Champions League preliminary round and first qualifying round
Third qualifying round: ten teams eliminated in UEFA Champions League second qualifying round plus ten winners from UEFA Europa League champions path second qualifying round
Play-offs: six teams eliminated in UEFA Champions League third  qualifying round plus ten winners from UEFA Europa League champions path third qualifying round
League route (13 group places)
This route consists of the remaining UEFA Europa League entrants from all 55 associations plus teams eliminated from the UEFA Champions League league path second qualifying round

Preliminary round: 16 teams enter
First qualifying round: 86 teams enter plus eight preliminary round winners
Second qualifying round: 27 teams enter plus 47 first qualifying round winners
Third qualifying round: 15 teams enter (including the three teams eliminated from the UEFA Champions League league path second qualifying round) plus 37 second qualifying round winners
Play-offs: 26 third qualifying round winners
MATCH CALENDARS
2018/19 UEFA Champions League
26 June: Preliminary round semi-finals
29 June: Preliminary round final
10/11 July: First qualifying round, first leg
17/18 July: First qualifying round, second leg
24/25 July: Second qualifying round, first leg
31 July/1 August: Second qualifying round, second leg
7/8 August: Third qualifying round, first leg
14 August: Third qualifying round, second leg
21/22 August: Play-off round, first leg
28/29 August: Play-off round, second leg

18/19 September: Group stage, matchday one
2/3 October: Group stage, matchday two
23/24 October: Group stage, matchday three
6/7 November: Group stage, matchday four
27/28 November: Group stage, matchday five
11/12 December: Group stage, matchday six

12/13/19/20 February: Round of 16, first leg
5/6/12/13 March: Round of 16, second leg
9/10 April: Quarter-finals, first leg
16/17 April: Quarter-finals, second leg
30 April/1 May: Semi-finals, first leg
7/8 May: Semi-finals, second leg

Saturday 1 June: Final – Estadio Metropolitano,Madrid

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The above article, plenty to take in there !