For the first time, five Premier League teams could qualify for the Champions League through their league position.
West Ham’s 5-1 win over Bundesliga side Freiburg has given teams pushing to qualify for next season’s Champions League a better chance.
Traditionally, there have only been four clubs who have qualified through their league standing.
This is the final season of the existing format which involves 32 teams in the group phase before being split into eight groups of four, with the top two progressing.
However, the new competition format means 36 teams will be competing in a ‘Swiss league’ style, allowing for an additional place to be allocated to the two countries whose clubs perform best across all UEFA competitions.
Current UEFA coefficient rankings
- Italy – 17714
- Germany – 16.357
- England – 16.250
- France – 16.250
- Spain – 14.437
England has managed to gain ground on the Bundesliga after West Ham knocked Freiburg out of the Europa League, with a 5-0 win on Thursday night. Liverpool also booked their place in the quarter-finals after beating Sparta Prague 11-2 on aggregate, while Aston Villa had a result to remember after beating Ajax 4-0 in the Europa Conference League to reach the last eight.
This week’s results mean that England still have five teams left in Europe.
This West Ham result makes it a near certainty the Premier League will get five Champions League places.
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) March 14, 2024
Top five race
All this means is that United now find themselves in the race for a top-five finish in the Premier League. It will still be a tough ask to catch up with Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa, but we are not going to achieve that by feeling sorry for ourselves.
Erik ten Hag doesn’t need to be told that it would be a disaster for United to miss out on Champions League qualification. We can have no excuses this time around.
The impact of a European performance spot would ripple down the Premier League as it also opens the door to other European spots.
Subscribe to the Stretty News podcast Strettycast for weekly episodes on Manchester United. You can also sign up for the ad-free Stretty Newsletter. Get the Stretty News verdict on all matters Manchester United.
