Big change is on the horizon in the Champions League and Europa League, with UEFA announcing on Tuesday that qualifying is "evolving" for the 2018/19 season.Focusing on the Champions League, 26 teams will now gain direct entry into the group stages, as opposed to 22 this season.Spain, Germany, England and Italy will each be represented by four teams, France and Russia will have two, while Portugal, Ukraine, Belgium and Turkey have one.And as with every year, the winners of the Champions League and Europa League also gain entry into the group stages.That means whoever finishes fourth in the Premier League this season won't have to go through qualifying, unlike previous years.As for the remaining six group stage places, they will be fought for between the champions of leagues ranked 11th and below and the teams who finish third in France and Russia.It's been 25 years since UEFA revamped and renamed the European Cup to the Champions League and, in truth, change was inevitable.However, they've made one other alteration for 2018/19 that's gone down like a led balloon amongst football fans: scrapping the famous 7.45pm kick-off time.In a drastic and seemingly unpopular change, Champions League fixtures will now be staggered on match days at 5.55pm GMT and 8pm GMT.It's bad news for football fans who work standard 9-5.30pm jobs and will now have to rush home to watch their team play in the Champions League.

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The outrage is understandable and there are suggestions UEFA have abolished 7.45pm kick-offs for 5.55pm and 8pm simply to make more money.

Whether that's actually the case is unknown, but regardless, the Champions League will now use the same system as the Europa League, which already has early and late kick-offs in place.