England has again secured a fifth spot in the UEFA Champions League for the second straight season, as Premier League clubs continue to pace the field in European competitions.
The deciding moment, if you’re looking to be thankful? Arsenal’s first leg win over Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal.
MORE — What we learned from the Champions League knockout draw
After completing the league phase of the Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League, English clubs were miles ahead of every other league and the Premier League has the second-most teams left in the competitions despite four teams bowing out early in the knockout phases.
The two nations which finish with the highest average coefficient scores (points are won with each positive result in the three European competitions) will earn an extra place for the 2026-27 season.
Italy and Germany each secured the extra spots for the 2024-25 season (the first one for the new format), while England and Spain did so ahead of the current campaign. England has now sealed one of the two spots for next season.
There were six Premier League clubs in the Champions League this season thanks to Tottenham Hotspur winning the Europa League, and that could well be the case again this season with Aston Villa finishing 2nd in the league phase and looking like one of the favorites to lift the trophy in Istanbul this spring.
Current UEFA association coefficient scores
- England — 25.013 points — 5/9 teams remaining
- Spain — 20.281 — 6/8
- Germany — 19.714 — 3/7
- Portugal — 18.900 — 3/5
- Italy — 18.714 — 2/7
- France — 16.392 — 2/7
- Poland — 15.750 — 0/4
- Greece — 13.800 — 1/5
- Denmark — 12.250— 0/4
- Cyprus — 12.156 — 0/4
Now that England’s dominance of European competitions has been clearly established, which Premier League clubs might benefit come the end of the season? As it turns out, quite a few of them…
Latest Premier League standings — The race for Champions League qualification
- Arsenal — 21-7-3, +39 GD, 70 points
- Manchester City — 18-7-5, +32 GD, 61 points
- Manchester United — 15-10-6, +13 GD, 55 points
- Aston Villa — 16-6-9, +5 GD, 54 points
- Liverpool — 14-7-10, +8 GD, 49 points
- Chelsea — 13-9-9, +15 GD, 48 points
- Brentford — 13-7-11, +4 GD, 46 points
- Everton — 13-7-11, +2 GD, 46 points
- Fulham — 13-5-13, -1 GD, 44 points
- Brighton & Hove Albion — 11-10-10, +4 GD, 43 points
- Sunderland — 11-10-10, -4 GD, 43 points
- Newcastle United — 12-6-13, -1 GD, 42 points
- Bournemouth — 9-15-7, -2 GD, 42 points
