How West Ham’s Europa League win could secure five Champions League spots for Premier League clubs?

Champions League format will change from next season

As UEFA gets ready to reorganise its top competition, West Ham’s 5-0 victory over Freiberg in the Europa League may provide Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United with an unexpected path to the Champions League the next season.

The Champions League is set to grow from 32 to 36 participants in the 2024-2025 season. A new ‘Swiss’ structure will replace the traditional four-team grouping. Rather, teams will compete in a 36-team league structure, playing eight games—four at home and four away—against eight distinct rivals.

Therefore, the top-ranking leagues in European competitions at the conclusion of the current campaign—likely England, Italy, France, or Germany—will receive two of the four additional spots provided by UEFA. That would be excellent news for Tottenham and United, who are now ranked fifth and sixth in the Premier League. Tottenham hopes to qualify for the Champions League once more.The third-place team in the local league, currently placed fifth, will receive the two remaining spots, and the qualifying path for winners, who will now have five spots instead of four, will receive the final spot.

At the end of the season, the UEFA coefficient—a system that rewards teams for winning or drawing games and advancing into the latter stages of the competition—will determine which two European leagues have performed most effectively.

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Clubs accumulate points, which are then split by the number of participants in that nation. For example, England’s overall rating will be reduced by eight, with participants from the Conference League, Europa League, and Champions League.

Italy and Germany led the coefficient standings going into Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday’s European action, with England coming in third. Since then, Arsenal have advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals by defeating FC Porto in a thrilling second-leg penalty shootout.

Nonetheless, Borussia Dortmund‘s 2-0 victory over PSV Eindhoven at Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday increased Germany’s point total. In the meantime, AC Milan advanced to the Europa League’s round of eight in Italy after thumping Slavia Prague on Thursday.

However, the Hammers’ victory over Bundesliga team Freiberg at the Olympic Stadium on West Ham puts England in a solid position to close the 0.875 difference that separated the two countries at the beginning of the week.

Race for an extra Champions League spot:

Italy – 94.6%

England – 88.1%

Germany – 16.1%

France – 1.2%

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