Distribution

Default distribution (from 2015–16)

Starting with the 2015–16 edition, the winners of the UEFA Europa League will be entered into the Champions League, initially at the level of the playoff round, ensuring group stage participation in either competition. The maximum number of teams that an association can field in the tournament has also been increased from four to five.^[1]

		Teams entering in this round	Teams advancing from previous round
First qualifying round (8 teams)		8 champions from associations 47–54
Second qualifying round (34 teams)		30 champions from associations 16–46 (except Liechtenstein)	4 winners from the first qualifying round
Third qualifying round	Champions (20 teams)	3 champions from associations 13–15	17 winners from the second qualifying round
	Non-champions (10 teams)	9 runners-up from associations 7–15 1 third-placed team from association 6
Play-off round	Champions (10 teams)		10 winners from the third qualifying round for champions
	Non-champions (10 teams)	2 third-placed teams from associations 4–5 3 fourth-placed teams from associations 1–3 UEFA Europa League champion	5 winners from the third qualifying round for non-champions
Group stage (32 teams)		12 champions from associations 1–12 6 runners-up from associations 1–6 3 third-placed teams from associations 1–3 UEFA Champions League champion	5 winners from the play-off round for champions 5 winners from the play-off round for non-champions
Knockout phase (16 teams)			8 group winners from the group stage 8 group runners-up from the group stage

^UEL : The Europa League champion may be promoted into the group stage if the Champions League champion qualifies for the group stage through their domestic competition. If the Champions League champion comes from an association ranked thirteenth or lower and they did not qualify for the non-champions route based on their domestic performance, the Europa League champion will enter the play-off round for champions instead. The access list will be adjusted accordingly to ensure a maximum of ten teams in each stream’s play-off round.

^UCL : If the Champions League and Europa League champions are from the same association ranked 1st–3rd and neither qualify for the Champions League through their domestic competition, the fourth-placed team will qualify for the Europa League instead.