The Main Path features 5 automatic entrants, 27 third qualifying round Main Path winners and two teams eliminated from UEFA Europa League third qualifying round (Main Path). The ten sides in the Champions Path play each other over two legs. The five winning sides advance to the group stage.

Premier League table. At the start of the season, the top four in the Premier League qualify for the Champions League, while fifth place and the FA Cup winners enter the Europa League. The winners of the Carabao Cup qualify for the Europa Conference League.

In South American and worldwide competitions, the club's highest achievements are their conquests of the 1981, 2024 and 2024 Copa Libertadores, and 1981 Intercontinental Cup against Liverpool, led by the club's most iconic player Zico.