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Why Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea Were Celebrating Arsenal’s Champions League Win
Arsenal’s victory over Sporting CP on Tuesday has guaranteed that fifth place in the Premier League will qualify for next season’s Champions League, which comes as a major boost to the teams chasing down that position.
The expansion of Europe’s three club competitions in 2024 came with the promise of more qualifying spots dished out according to the performance of each nation. Every win and draw across the Conference League, Europa League and Champions League earns points which are pooled together by domestic league.
As Premier League clubs dominated the league phase of the Champions League—five of the top eight were English—while Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace are all still in Europe, England’s top flight have led the coefficient table for the entire season.
A mass exodus of clubs in the Champions League round of 16 caused a minor existential crisis among the division, sparking talk of winter breaks, scrapping the Carabao Cup and berating the weather. However, it wasn’t enough to undo all that good work from the autumn.
Heading into the quarterfinals, the Premier League needed just one draw from any of the five clubs left in European competition to guarantee that bonus spot. Arsenal delivered with a nervy 1–0 win over Sporting CP which will have been celebrated by several clubs outside of north London.
The Race for Fifth Place in the Premier League
Position | Team | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
3. | Man Utd | +13 | 55 |
4. | Aston Villa | +5 | 54 |
5. | Liverpool | +8 | 49 |
6. | Chelsea | +15 | 48 |
7. | Brentford | +4 | 46 |
8. | Everton | +2 | 46 |
9. | Fulham | -1 | 44 |
Most Premier League clubs had been working on the assumption that fifth place would, much like last season, guarantee Champions League qualification. Now those hypotheticals have been confirmed.
As it remains highly unlikely that either Arsenal or Manchester City get dragged out of the division’s top two, this leaves three remaining tickets on to the continent. Manchester United’s surge under Michael Carrick has put them in a strong position while Unai Emery appears to have arrested the wobble at Aston Villa.
Liverpool are precariously perched just one point above Chelsea with seven games of the campaign remaining, yet the race could theoretically stretch all the way down to Fulham in ninth. Even Everton’s determinedly pessimistic manager David Moyes is willing to open himself up to a European sojourn for the Toffees next term.
“I’d love to say it was [a possibility] as I’m trying to be more positive than I would normally be,” Moyes mused last month, “but for Everton to even be in the mix for Europe is unbelievable, whether it is Conference League or Champions League.”
Which Other League Will Benefit?
Rank / Country | Coefficient Average | Teams Active | Max Score |
|---|---|---|---|
1. England | 25.013 | 5/9 | 30.569 |
2. Spain | 20.281 | 6/8 | 26.593 |
3. Germany | 19.714 | 3/7 | 24.571 |
4. Portugal | 18.900 | 3/5 | 25.900 |
5. Italy | 18.714 | 2/7 | 22.000 |
6. France | 16.392 | 2/7 | 19.821 |
Correct as of April 7, 2026.
The two leagues which have the best performing clubs are granted a bonus European ticket under the new format. England’s spot is already secured because Spain are the only other nation that can possibly overtake them this term.
La Liga is naturally well placed to get that fifth-placed spot—especially as six different clubs are still in the mix—but Germany and Portugal are also in the mix. It would take an almighty turn of events for Italian clubs to avoid the failings of their national team while France have already been ruled out of the race.
How 11 Premier League Teams Can Qualify for Europe in 2026–27
As many as nine Premier League clubs qualified for some form of European competition in the 2025–26. That could very conceivably happen again this year, while there is a scenario where a swollen pot of 11 gatecrash the continent next term.
Nine clubs in Europe
- Nottingham Forest win the Europa League
- Man City or Chelsea win the FA Cup and finish in the top six
This familiar outcome is entirely possible. The top five are already in the Champions League and could be joined there by Nottingham Forest should they win the Europa League. If Manchester City or Chelsea win the FA Cup (they are on opposite sides of the semifinal draw) and finish in the top six, then seventh place in the Premier League qualifies for the Europa League.
As Carabao Cup champions City are also set to finish in the top five, their Conference League qualification spot will be transferred to eighth in the Premier League table.
- Champions League: 1st–5th, Europa League winners (Forest)
- Europa League: 6th–7th
- Conference League: 8th
Ten clubs in Europe
- Nottingham Forest win the Europa League
- Man City or Chelsea win the FA Cup and finish in the top six
- Crystal Palace win the Conference League
It’s pretty straightforward to go from nine to 10 European qualifiers. All of the above must happen and then Crystal Palace simply need to lift the Conference League, which brings the reward of qualifying for the Europa League.
- Champions League: 1st–5th, Europa League winners (Forest)
- Europa League: 6th–7th, Conference League winners (Palace)
- Conference League: 8th
Eleven clubs in Europe
- Man City or Chelsea win the FA Cup and finish in the top six
- Crystal Palace win the Conference League
- Liverpool win the Champions League and finish sixth or seventh
- Aston Villa win the Europa League and finish sixth or seventh
This is where things get unrealistic. A very specific set of scenarios have to unfold for more than half the division to qualify for some form of European competition (which is perhaps only just).
Liverpool and Aston Villa would both have to finish in sixth or seventh while winning the European competition they are already in, bumping them into the Champions League while shifting Europa League qualification down to eighth and ninth in the table. Thanks to City’s Carabao Cup triumph, 10th place would then get Conference League qualification.
- Champions League: 1st–5th, Champions League winners (Liverpool), Europa League winners (Villa)
- Europa League: 8th–9th, Conference League winners (Palace)
- Conference League: 10th
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Grey Whitebloom is a writer, reporter and editor for Sports Illustrated FC. Born and raised in London, he is an avid follower of German, Italian and Spanish top flight football.