Even if Aston Villa finishes in fifth place, they may still be welcomed into the Champions League for the first time since its 1992 rebranding. The competition changes format next season with another four places up for grabs, two of which will be offered to countries whose clubs perform well in this season’s UEFA competitions. The Villains are on course for a top four finish but are very wary of those chasing them over their shoulder in the Premier League table. The Villains sit fourth, just two points ahead of Tottenham and with a five-point buffer to Manchester United in sixth.
The performance of each nation’s teams in the three tournaments determines the coefficient for that country. Even though they are no longer in the top two slots in UEFA’s rankings, the Premier League is anticipated to take one of the additional spots.
In UEFA’s coefficient rating, Italy is presently dominating the chase for the fifth Champions League spot, but Germany has already surpassed England to claim the top two spots. By season’s end, though, it’s unlikely that the Bundesliga will remain ahead of the Premier League.
Coefficient points are awarded according to each club’s performance in UEFA competitions. The average is then calculated by dividing the total number of teams from each nation competing in the Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League.
Round-by-round advancement is worth more points in the Champions League than in the other two competitions. However, in all three competitions, the winning point total of two is the same.
In the Europa League and Europa Conference League knockout play-off stages, no English teams participated. As a result, Germany has surpassed Premier League teams in the coefficient rankings following the first round of play-off matches, at least temporarily.
England dropped in the standings after two Italian, two German, and one Spanish team participated in a play-off round last week. This will probably alter when the six English teams play in the Round of 16, but for now, English clubs—including Villa—have suffered a setback in their quest for qualifying.
Arsenal and Manchester City are now competing in the Champions League round of sixteen. Manchester City played the first leg against Copenhagen last week. In the meantime, Aston Villa and the teams from Liverpool, Brighton, and West Ham will be drawn for the Europa League Round of 16.
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