GENEVA (AP) — There could be a surprising team from each of Europe’s “big five” leagues when the new-look Champions League debuts next season.
Aston Villa, Bologna, Brest, Girona and Stuttgart are all, remarkably, on course to qualify for Europe’s elite competition going into the final few rounds of their national league.
Bologna, Stuttgart and Girona have perhaps the best chance of earning a place in the 36-team Champions League lineup when the lucrative tournament switches to a new format next season.
For Spain’s Girona and French club Brest, it would be a particularly remarkable achievement — neither has ever played in any European competition.
But this kind of challenge was not expected from any of the provincial teams, which have had little or no recent success — even if Aston Villa was the European Cup champion in 1982 — and mostly have coaches who are in their first full season.