Man City will likely not be able to participate in the 2024/25 Champions League if Girona wins La Liga this season.
With their current strength, Man City winning tickets to the Champions League next season is unquestionable. However, Green Man’s multi-model ownership and UEFA regulations are becoming serious trouble for Pep Guardiola’s team.
According to ESPN, if Girona wins La Liga this season and Man City cannot win the Premier League, the Etihad home team will lose their ticket to the Champions League next season even if they finish in the Top 4. At this time, Man City is 5 points behind Liverpool. points, while Girona tops La Liga.
Man City and Girona are two of the 13 clubs belonging to City Football Group (CFG) – a corporation that owns football teams around the world. CFG currently owns 47% of shares in Girona.
The connection between Man City and Girona is also very special: Pere Guardiola – Pep Guardiola’s younger brother, is currently the president of Girona, and also owns 16% of the club’s shares.
According to current regulations, if two clubs under the same owner qualify to participate in the same UEFA tournament, the team with the highest performance in the domestic tournament will win a place to participate. If two clubs finish in the same position in their national championship, for example 2nd, then the team with the higher ranking on the UEFA coefficient rankings will have a ticket to the European Cup. In this case, Man City will be the team participating in the Champions League.
It should be noted that UEFA has previously found ways to solve similar problems. For example, RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg are both owned by the Red Bull group, but both have been able to compete together in the Champions League in recent years. The reason is because Salzburg has taken steps to clarify the clear separation between them and Leizpig by changing personnel in the leadership team.