Massive blow for Tottenham – Two extra Champions League places confirmed

​

Premier League struggles 

The race for the two extra Champions League places based on European performance has been a hot topic over the last few months. The three European club competitions have now reached the semi-final stages but the English Premier League’s hopes of securing an extra place were extinguished on Wednesday night after Borussia Dortmund beat PSG. English sides were knocked out in the last eight with Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and West Ham United’s European campaigns over. Conversely, all three German sides progressed into the semi-finals and the Bundesliga secured an extra Champions League place with Dortmund’s victory in the first leg of their semi-final with PSG. Italy had already essentially secured pole position in the coefficient race with fifth place in Serie A  and Bundesliga now  guaranteed Champions League football next season. 

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.

Italy still have Roma and Atalanta in the semi-finals of the Europa League, while Fiorentina remain in the Conference League. Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund performed impressively in the first legs of their semi-finals in the Champions League with Bayer Leverkusen favourites to win the Europa League. Dortmund boss Edin Terzic acknowledged that his side could potentially directly benefit from Bundesliga clubs’ performances in Europe this season, stating: “We wanted to qualify for the Champions League But the fact that it will be enough to qualify as fifth is also partly down to our success, our contribution. Our minimum goal was to qualify for the Champions League. Now it does not improve our Bundesliga season, but it does offer a softer landing.”

Aston Villa are England’s last hope for European glory this season but they can no longer secure the extra Champions League place for the Premier League. An interesting subplot is that the Midlands club remain in a battle with Tottenham for a top four place in the league.