Manchester United aiming to benefit
©TM/IMAGO
The race for the two extra Champions League places based on European performance is heating up. The three European club competitions have now reached the quarter-final stages after some thrilling encounters in midweek and the the race has become clearer. Italy are in pole position to secure one of the extra spots but although Germany currently hold the second place, England are strong favourites to claim it as they have more clubs remaining in the competition.
The Champions League is undergoing major reconstruction ahead of next season’s competition with the group stages replaced by a 36-team league – with four additional places. Two of those slots will be handed to clubs with the highest UEFA coefficient, who miss out on qualification and the other two will be awarded to the best performing leagues in this season’s European competitions – Champions League, Europa League and Conference League. Those leagues will be decided by the average coefficient points; calculated by accumulating the total coefficient points collected per nation then divided by the number of competing clubs. Coefficient points are awarded based on results – two for a win, one for a draw and zero for a defeat – and they remain the same across all three competitions. Bonus points, however, are also assigned based on progression to each stage and that’s ranked by competition.
State of play in race for extra Champions League places
Given the nature of the coefficient system, it’s incredibly likely that the two extra places based on UEFA performance will be secured by two of the top five European leagues. Across the last five seasons, only the Netherlands would’ve picked up one of the extra places after their clubs performed well in 2021-22. Historically major leagues dominate and it’s the same this season with the top five leagues occupying the top five spots but La Liga and Ligue One 1 are highly unlikely to earn one of the extra places.
Italy and Germany lead the race with England trailing
Italy are in a strong position to claim one of the places, despite Inter Milan dropping out of the Champions League. Serie A still have three clubs left in the quarter-finals stages but the draw wasn’t great in respect to sealing that extra Champions League place. Roma and AC Milan were drawn against each other in the Europa League, while Atalanta drew tournament favourites Liverpool. It’s essentially a two horse race for the second place between Germany and England with France and Spain too far behind. The competition for the final place became even more fascinating after English and German teams were drawn against each other in the quarter-finals. Arsenal will face Bayern Munich in the Champions League, while West Ham were drawn against Bayer Leverkusen. Dortmund are the only other Bundesliga side left in the quarter-finals, while England have three more teams in Liverpool, Aston Villa and Manchester City.
Homepage