The Premier League remains on course to have up to seven clubs in next season’s Champions League after Arsenal and Aston Villa reached the quarter-finals of the competition.
It is also possible – albeit highly unlikely – that 11 English teams could qualify for Europe were sides from the world’s richest league to complete a clean sweep of continental triumphs come the summer.
Here, Telegraph Sport takes a look at how more than a third of Premier League clubs could end up playing in the Champions League and more than half in Europe.
The four tops
England, like Spain, Italy and Germany, have four guaranteed spots in the Champions League proper, which are currently awarded to the teams who finish in the top four in their respective domestic leagues. France also has four spots, albeit the fourth only grants entry to the qualifying rounds. In the Premier League, runaway leaders Liverpool are all but certain of being in the Champions League next season, with Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Chelsea currently occupying the other three slots.
The fifth element
The expansion of the Champions League has seen Uefa award an extra place in the competition to the country whose clubs boast the best overall record across all European competitions that season. Premier League teams flopped last term, allowing Italy and Germany to secure a fifth spot. But it has all turned around this season, with England leading the way from Spain. That could allow Manchester City, who are currently fifth in the Premier League, to snatch a Champions League place despite their first major slump since Pep Guardiola took charge.
Seventh heaven
Uefa has long awarded a guaranteed Champions League spot to the winners of the previous season’s competition, as well as the winners of the Europa League. But for that to translate to an additional place, the clubs in question cannot already have qualified via their domestic leagues. That would mean one of Arsenal (currently second) or Villa (currently eighth) would need to win the Champions League and finish outside the top four or five of the Premier League. The last time that happened was in 2012, when Chelsea won the Champions League and finished sixth domestically. Under rules that were later changed, that saw them take the place of Tottenham Hotspur, who had finished fourth.
This season’s Europa League, meanwhile, includes Manchester United and Spurs, both of whom are enduring dreadful domestic campaigns but could still qualify for the Champions League if they triumph in Europe.
Starting 11
England has a guaranteed two Europa League and one Conference League play-off round spots. One Europa League place goes to the club who finish just outside the Champions League qualifying spots in the Premier League. The other goes to the FA Cup winners – or if they have already qualified for the Champions League or Europa League, the next highest-placed side in the Premier League not already in those competitions. The Conference League play-off place goes to the Carabao Cup winners – or if they have already qualified for Europe, the highest-placed team in the Premier League not already in that competition.
An 11th European place – in the Europa League – would only be awarded if an English club were to win the Conference League and also finish outside the Europa League places in the Premier League. England’s only Conference League representatives are Chelsea, who are among the favourites for the competition.
