We made a mistake - Johansson

Lennart Johansson has admitted UEFA made a mistake by not allowing the holders the automatic right to defend the Champions League title.

Europe’s governing body amended the competition’s rules today to allow Liverpool to be included in the draw for 2005-06.

Liverpool famously beat AC Milan to win the Champions League a fortnight ago but, after finishing outside the top four in the Barclays Premiership, had not qualified for next season’s competition.

UEFA president Johansson admitted such a scenario had been unforeseen, as when the rules where drawn up it was assumed the holders would probably finish in a qualifying position.

Johansson told BBC Radio Five Live: “We, as most people, do certain mistakes. This is a mistake.

“When we formulated the new regulations we did not think of the possibility that somebody outside the four best in one of the big countries could still win the Champions League.

“Now we have tried to correct it for the future and take a decision which may be criticised but I think will be appreciated in most places.

“If you make an error or mistake you have to try your best not to repeat it in the future and take a decision that could be accepted by the absolute majority.”

In future the holders will automatically qualify, taking the place of the lowest-ranked team to have qualified via the domestic route if necessary.

Liverpool will be inserted into the first qualifying round of the competition, meaning they will have to play six matches to reach the group stage.

Johansson believes this was the only practical stage to include the champions to avoid disruption to other clubs.

He said: “We thought in a situation like this we should not make too many changes. We had to find a possibility to let them in without hurting somebody else.”