Five teams from Spain will participate in next season’s Champions League, just like the English Premier League. This was confirmed after Spain secured second place in La Liga, granting them an additional spot in the competition based on European club performance.
Last year, UEFA introduced the European Performance Spot (EPS) to expand the Champions League to 36 teams. After the Premier League, La Liga became the second league to earn this spot, ensuring that five teams will compete. EPS spots are awarded based on the performance of clubs in the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League.
On April 8, Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals helped ensure England’s top-two position in UEFA’s coefficient ranking. Under the expanded 36-team format, the two countries at the top of the ranking get five clubs each in the Champions League for the following season. Spain confirmed its second-place spot in the ranking after Lazio’s exit from the Europa League and Athletic Bilbao’s win last Thursday night.
This season, Italy and Germany also received these opportunities. Italy’s Bologna, finishing fifth in Serie A, and Germany’s Borussia Dortmund, in the same position in the Bundesliga, both earned spots in the Champions League.
In La Liga this season, there’s a clear gap between the top four and the fifth-place team. Athletic Bilbao, in fourth with 57 points from 31 matches, leads Villarreal by 6 points, who are fifth with 51 points from 30 matches. The fight for fifth place will be between Villarreal and Real Betis, who have 48 points from 31 matches, and Celta Vigo, in seventh with 43 points from the same number of matches.
The fight for fifth place in the Premier League is more competitive. Newcastle United is third with 59 points from 32 matches, Nottingham Forest is fourth with 57 points, and Manchester City is fifth with 55 points. Chelsea, in sixth, has 54 points, and Aston Villa, with the same points, is in seventh based on goal difference.
Since it’s almost certain that Arsenal will finish the season in the top four with 63 points from 32 matches, the Premier League could have six teams in next season’s Champions League: four from the top four positions, one from the EPS spot, and potentially one more from the Europa League. If either Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur wins the Europa League, they will secure a Champions League spot. Both clubs have reached the semifinals of the competition.
The UEFA coefficient ranking is based on club performances in European competitions. For each win, teams earn 2 points, and for each draw, 1 point. There are also bonus points for Champions League teams. The coefficient points are calculated by adding up the points of all clubs from a country and dividing by the number of clubs in European competitions.
