The Premier League has missed the opportunity to secure a fifth spot in the Champions League next season. This development comes after Borussia Dortmund's victory over PSG and Bayern Munich's draw with Real Madrid, which elevated Germany's standing in the European Performance Spots table to 18.356.
Despite potential victories for Aston Villa in their Europa Conference League semi-final against Olympiakos, England can only reach a maximum of 18.25 points. Consequently, Germany will join Italy in obtaining a fifth automatic spot in next season’s tournament.
Interestingly, both countries could potentially have six representatives if Dortmund wins the Champions League and finishes outside the top four in the Bundesliga or if either Atalanta or Roma clinches victory in the Europa League.
It is worth noting that winners of both tournaments automatically qualify for the following season’s Champions League. These additional places are added regardless of how many clubs enter via conventional methods.
In an ironic twist, even without winning this year’s tournament, Dortmund stands to benefit as they are almost certain to finish fifth in the Bundesliga and therefore take up that fifth spot which they have contributed to earning.
From 2024-25 onwards, under an expanded format in the UEFA Champions League, two extra places will be awarded every season to the best-performing leagues across Europe.
If England had secured one such place it would have meant that the team finishing fifth in the Premier League, currently Tottenham Hotspur, would have automatically qualified for next season's Champions League.
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UEFA's coefficient rankings are determined by results from all European clubs across their three European competitions - the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League.
Points are awarded as follows:
- Two points for every win by a club from a nation
- One point for a draw
- Bonus points accrued by progressing through various stages of each competition
All points earned by clubs from each country are added up before being divided by the number of teams from that nation in Europe at the start of the campaign. In this case, eight teams represented the Premier League.
In six out of the seven past seasons, England would have qualified for an extra 'most successful' spot. However, early exits from Newcastle United and Manchester United during this season’s Champions League group stage left the Premier League trailing behind Germany and Italy.
The situation was not helped by Arsenal and Manchester City's UCL quarter-final exits, or Brighton & Hove Albion's disappointing run in the UEFA Europa League. West Ham United fell at the quarter-final stage in the UEL at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen.
The good news for the Premier League and fans of English football is that the system resets each season, so next year their clubs will once again have the chance to earn that fifth Champions League spot.
