Is Premier League still on for fifth Champions League spot?
The two nations which perform best across the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League will be handed European Performance Spots (EPS) by Uefa. That could mean an extra spot for the Premier League, with fifth promoted from the Europa League to a ticket to the Champions League. Newcastle benefited this way last season.
After a run of poor results, will an English club get that reward again? Even though four teams have been knocked out this week, it is all but certain that the Premier League will get an extra place. England (23.
847) already have a coefficient score pretty much the same as last season's second-placed country (Spain, 23. 892). Nothing should be completely taken for granted, as England seemed destined to get an EPS slot in 2023-24 only to suffer a terrible set of results in the quarter-finals.
But it is going to take another very bad night on Thursday for there to be any real jeopardy. It also helps that Bayern Munich will face Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, meaning one of England's closest rivals will lose a team. And Barcelona must play Atletico Madrid, too.
As a picture of how far England are ahead, German and Spanish sides are effectively 18 victories behind. And Serie A can no longer catch the Premier League. The Spanish league is in second place and now has more teams left in Europe (six) than any other league.