Chelsea’s Champions League victory over Bayern Munich completed a miserable month for Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp, whose team will now be relegated to the Europa League next season.

Tottenham managed to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League to gain access to world football’s most prestigious club competition.

However, Chelsea’s win in Munich bumped Spurs out of the reckoning under UEFA rules which guarantee qualification for the defending champions.

Chelsea, who could only finish sixth in the Premier League after a disappointing domestic campaign, now take Tottenham’s place in the competition.

UEFA changed its rules after a controversy in 2005, when Liverpool won the title in Istanbul despite not qualifying for the following year’s competition after Everton finished ahead of them in the league.

UEFA eventually granted Liverpool a place in the qualifying rounds, which allowed five English teams into the tournament.

Since then however UEFA has ruled that if a side winning the Champions League has not already qualified for the following season’s competition, the club in question takes one of the berths allocated to its national association.

Chelsea’s qualification at the expense of Spurs has potentially wide-ranging ramifications for the club, with Tottenham likely to lose millions in revenue while facing a bigger challenge to retain and attract top talent.

Redknapp’s disappointment came just weeks after he was overlooked by the Football Association for the England manager’s job, with Roy Hodgson the surprise choice for the position.

Meanwhile, Chelsea’s triumph at the Allianz Arena also means that Maltese Premier League champions Valletta FC will start their European campaign from the first qualifying round which will be played in the opening week of July.

Despite an earlier start to pre-season training in summer, playing in the first qualifying round would be of great benefit to the Citizens.

In fact, they could make €130,000 in extra cash if they surpass that early round, apart from the €200,000 which they will earn as champions.

Valletta will be seeded in the opening stage of the 2012-13 Champions League along with Linfield (N. Ireland) and F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg).

Valletta could be paired with any one of the following teams: FC Lusitanos (Andorra), B36 Tor-shavn (Faroe Islands) or the champion club of San Marino.