Despite the introduction of a second European Cup competition, the women’s Bundesliga will not receive any further starting places for the international competitions.
“None of the top six ranked countries will receive additional qualification places after 2025, instead the lower ranked countries will receive additional places”said Nadine Keßler (35) on Thursday (December 7th, 2023) to the British newspaper “The Telegraph“. The former German international works at the European Football Union UEFA as managing director for women’s football. The Bundesliga is currently in second place in the UEFA five-year ranking.
From the 2025/26 season onwards Champions League from 18 instead of the previous 16 teams, and instead of the previous four preliminary round groups, a league system is planned. The new second European Cup competition, which is still unnamed, will be played over six rounds in a pure knockout system.
Only the master directly qualifies
Currently only the champion from the Bundesliga qualifies directly for the Champions League, the runner-up and third place in the table have to go through the qualification route. This season, runners-up VfL Wolfsburg failed after the first and second leg against Paris FC. If a Bundesliga team fails to qualify for the Champions League from the 2025/26 season onwards, they should start in the newly created second European Cup.
This fate may then only threaten the third place in the Bundesliga table. By expanding the Champions League, the champions and runners-up from the German elite class could qualify directly in the future, provided that the league takes at least second place in the UEFA five-year ranking – as is currently the case.