from tsn.ca
LONDON (AP) - Liverpool is back in the Champions League - but not exactly where the defending champions wanted.
UEFA, European soccer's governing body, ruled Friday that Liverpool will be allowed to defend its Champions League crown after all next season.
But the Reds won't go straight into the group stage; they'll have to play three qualifying rounds just to get there.
The decision was met with a mixture of relief and contempt.
"To be told they have to start in the first qualifier is wrong and a real kick in the teeth," said Les Lawson, spokesman for the Liverpool International Supporters Club.
"It is a disgrace. Liverpool are the top team in Europe because they are the holders and have beaten Europe's best. They are being treated like ... a very small club."
Despite beating AC Milan on penalties in the final in Istanbul last month, the five-time European champions didn't gain an automatic spot in next season's competition.
Under UEFA's rules, the champion didn't automatically qualify. The top four in the English Premier League qualify, and Liverpool finished fifth. Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Everton qualified automatically.
But UEFA decided Friday to give a special exception for Liverpool this time and that, from now on, the tournament's reigning champion will automatically have the right to defend the crown.
UEFA chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson said the unanimous decision would be supported by "all fans" and was "a good reward ... for the fantastic final we had in Istanbul."
"We welcome the decision to allow us in the competition next season," Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry said. "We wish to express our thanks to all those who supported us and campaigned on our behalf."
"We've had the right things in our hearts, and they've had the right things in their minds," added Phil Thompson, former Liverpool captain and manager.
If the situation happens again, the fourth-place team will have to drop out to make room for the Champions League winner. Had the rule been in force this season, Liverpool's archrival Everton would have been out.
"In the upcoming season, England will be the only national association ever, and for the last time, that will be allowed to have five clubs," UEFA spokesman William Gaillard said.
Gaillard indicated that revenue from the competition would be split five ways, not four ways, by the English clubs.
"There will be some financial burden on the other four clubs," he said.
Liverpool will enter the first qualifying rounds, which begin on July 12-13 and July 19-20. The draw for the round is June 24.
Last season, Liverpool played one qualifying round - two games - to reach the main stage.
Liverpool will have to play six matches to reach the group stage this time. Parry said the club's lucrative tour to Japan in late July could be in doubt.
Under the UEFA decision, Liverpool could face any of its English rivals at any stage in the competition. UEFA normally keep teams from the same country apart until the quarter-final stage.
But since Liverpool wasn't given "country protection," it could play Manchester United or Everton in the third qualifying round. In the group stage, Chelsea or Arsenal could loom as opponents.
"I wouldn't say the majority of Liverpool fans are overjoyed as we have been put in at the very lowest level in the first round rather than as the highest seed," said Rich Peddar, chairman of the Liverpool FC Supporters Club. "We are in it and that is the main thing."
British bookmaker William Hill installed Liverpool as a 25-1 underdog to repeat as champion. Chelsea is the title favourite at 6-1.
Liverpool was one of three English teams that had qualified for the UEFA Cup, the continent's second-tier competition. England may now have only two teams in the competition - Bolton and Middlesbrough. UEFA said Manchester City would not be given Liverpool's berth, as some expected.
In a statement, the Premier League said it would lobby to have Man City included in the UEFA Cup.
"We will be asking the FA to formally re-nominate Bolton, Middlesbrough and Manchester City in the three UEFA Cup places allocated to the English game," the statement said.
