Will the Champions League lose its elite title?

Between 2018 and 2021, there will be more teams who aren't league champions than those who are in the Champions League, with some considering it a step back for a competition that was founded to pit the heavyweights of Europe against one another. But it seems little will be left of that.

From next season, there will be a change in the setup whereby the big leagues will be allowed more automatic qualifying places, thus guaranteeing their presence directly in the group stages, diminishing the dreams of champions of other minor leagues who will be forced to through the earlier rounds.

There will be 26 teams who directly obtain their ticket for the upcoming Champions League in 2018-19:

- The 10 champions of the following leagues: England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Russia, Portugal, Ukraine, Belgium and Turkey.

- The six runners-up in the English, Spanish, German, Italian, French and Russian leagues.

- The four third-placed finishers in England, Spain, Germany and Italy.

- The four fourth-placed finishers in England, Spain, Germany and Italy.

- If the winner of the Champions League has already achieved their qualification to the European competition through their respective league, the place will go to the champion of the Czech Republic.

- If the winner of the Europa League has already achieved their qualification to the European competition via their respective league, the place will go to the third-placed team in France's Ligue 1.

The presence of the four major European leagues (Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga) is remarkable. They will have half (16 of 32) of the possible places in the competition. In contrast, the other 44 European league champions, nine runners-up and two third-placed teams will have to face each other in the qualification process to fill the remaining six positions - an almost impossible dream for some.

It will depends on who lifts the Champions League this year as to whether there will be 14 or 15 champions in next year's competition. However, there will be a minimum of 17 non-champions who already have their tickets secured for the future editions in what will be a 'Champions League' with less 'Champions' than ever.