Dortmund successfully defeated Lille in the Round of 16 of the Champions League this season, winning 3-2 on aggregate over two legs.
There were no English clubs at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy for the second leg of the Champions League round of 16.
It was Lille hosting Borussia Dortmund, with the result showing that the home side were knocked out after losing 2-1 after Jonathan David’s goal was cancelled out by Emre Can’s penalty and Maximilian Beier’s goal, making it 3-2 on aggregate.
However, Lille’s defeat means that the French league is officially out of the running for the extra Champions League spot next season, which means that the Premier League will benefit.
Why does the Premier League have an advantage?
From the round of sixteen itself, two English sides are through to the quarter-finals: Aston Villa and Arsenal.
UEFA’s new rule for this season allocates two extra Champions League places to the leagues with the best overall performance in Europe. These extra places are based on a coefficient ranking that measures success in all three UEFA club competitions.
With France out of the running, only England, Spain, Italy and Germany remain in contention for these valuable extra places.
England are now the best placed in the current UEFA coefficient rankings, with five of their seven Premier League teams still competing in Europe.
They are Arsenal and Aston Villa in the Champions League, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United in the Europa League and Chelsea in the Conference League.
What are the current UEFA Coefficient standings?
England tops the table with 23.035 points, followed by Spain, who also have five clubs in European competition, with 20.892 points.
Italy, who still have four of their eight clubs in the competition, are third with 19.375 points. Last but not least is Germany in fourth place, with only three of its eight clubs still in European competition.
The coefficient rankings itself have addition bonus points, which are allocated for reaching the round of 16, the quarter-finals, the semi-finals and the finals.
For each stage in the Champions League, the bonus is 1.5 points, for each stage in the Europa League the bonus is one point, and for each stage in Conference League, the bonus is 0.5 points.
If the coefficient rankings remain as it is, the five Premier League clubs who finish in the top five will qualify for next season’s Champions League.
The sixth-placed team will join the FA Cup winners in the Europa League. Meanwhile, the Carabao Cup winners or the club that finishes seventh will qualify for the Conference League.
Premier League can secure extra place earlier than usual
With English clubs still in the running across all three European tournaments, England’s position is stronger than ever and they have a chance to secure the extra place before the end of March.
As the knockout rounds continue, the spotlight is on the remaining Premier League teams, whose results will decide when England secures their extra Champions League spot for the 2025/26 season.
In the current Premier League standings as per gameweek 28, the Champions League tickets belong to Liverpool, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Manchester City. Newcastle United will join the FA Cup winners in the Europa League.
Therefore, with the Carabao Cup trophy going to Liverpool or Newcastle, the Conference League ticket will go to Brighton. Aston Villa will not be playing in Europe after a solid campaign this season.
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