Will There Be Five English Teams In The UEFA Champions League Next Season?

Next season's UEFA Champions League will feature a new format after the decision was made to expand the tournament from 32 teams to 36.

As a result of the expansion, there could be five English teams in next season's Champions League, rather than four.

But that will depend on how well English teams perform in Europe this season.

How many places each national association receives for Europe's club competitions each season is based on UEFA's coefficient system.

UEFA's Coefficient System Explained

Each team that competes in European club competition can earn coefficient points by winning or drawing matches and by progressing through the rounds.

Points are allocated in the Champions League (UCL), Europa League (UEL) and Europa Conference League (UECL) as follows:

• 1 point for every win in qualifying and play-off matches in the UCL, UEL and UECL.
• 0.5 points for every draw in qualifying and play-off matches in the UCL, UEL and UECL.
• 4 points for participating in the UCL group stage.
• 2 points for every win in the group stage and beyond in the UCL, UEL and UECL.
• 1 point for every draw in the group stage and beyond in the UCL, UEL and UECL.
• 4 points for finishing first in a UEL group.
• 2 points for finishing second in a UEL group.
• 2 points for finishing first in a UECL group.
• 1 point for finishing second in a UECL group.
• 1 point for every round reached from the round of 16 in the UCL and UEL.
• 1 point for every round reached from the semi-finals in the UECL.

These club coefficient points are then used for seeding purposes.

Every team that plays European soccer receives a ranking using UEFA's coefficient system

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Country Coefficient Rankings

Club coefficient points are also used to create country coefficient rankings.

This is what UEFA uses to work out which national associations deserve to have more teams in the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League at the start of each season.

The country coefficient rankings are based on each nation's average score across the past five seasons.

Each season, country coefficient scores are calculated by adding up the total number of points earned by teams from each country and then dividing that figure by the number of teams that country had involved in European tournaments.

Eight English clubs entered UEFA tournaments this season. England's country coefficient score for the 2023/24 campaign will therefore be calculated at the end of the season by adding up the points from all eight clubs and then dividing by eight.

That figure will then be added to England's score from each of the previous four seasons and divided by five to form England's updated overall tally.

In recent years, the top four nations in the country coefficient rankings have each been rewarded with four places in the Champions League group stage.

This will continue to be the case going forward but there will also be two bonus places awarded for the 2024/25 Champions League using a slightly different metric.

How Many English Teams Will There Be In Next Season's Champions League?

England is guaranteed to be in the top four in the country coefficient rankings at the start of next season whatever happens between now and June.

This is due to consistently strong performances by English teams in Europe since the 2019/20 campaign.

So there will be at least four English clubs in next season's Champions League.

However, the two bonus Champions League places for next season will not be awarded to the nations with the best scores over five years.

Instead, they will be given to the two nations whose clubs achieve the highest average score exclusively in the 2023/24 campaign.

For this reason, it would be a big blow to England's hopes of having five Champions League participants next season if Manchester United and/or Newcastle were to exit Europe completely this week.

However, it would be far from a disaster for England if those clubs finished third in their respective Champions League groups because they would then have the chance to earn a significant number of points by winning games and going deep in the Europa League.

As illustrated above, there are plenty of coefficient points to be won in the Europa League, and even the Europa Conference League.

For example, UECL winners West Ham United racked up an impressive 29 coefficient points last season - the same number as Inter Milan, who came second in the Champions League.

Real Madrid also earned 29 points last season during a strong run to the UCL semi-finals. Only European champions Manchester City earned more points, with 33.

As things stand, English clubs have earned an average of 10.625 points in Europe this season. That puts England fourth in the 2023/24 country coefficient rankings - behind Italy (10.714), Spain (11.187) and Germany (11.500).

English clubs therefore need to up their collective game in the second half of the season in order to secure that bonus UCL spot for 2024/25.

If Man United and Newcastle end their European journeys this week then Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, West Ham, Brighton and Aston Villa will have to perform very well to make up the average for England.

Aston Villa winning the UEFA Europa Conference League would significantly enhance the chances of England having five clubs in next season's Champions League

IMAGO/PA Images/Nick Potts