Does fifth place in the Premier League get Champions League football this season?

A place in the Champions League is still a realistic target for a lot of Premier League teams this season.

The race to finish in a spot that will seal a place in UEFA’s premier competition is wide open.

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What is helping these teams is that because Aston Villa, Arsenal and Liverpool have performed so well in the current edition, we could have five teams in the Champions League next year.

Does fifth place in the Premier League get Champions League football?

England will have an additional Champions League place because they are top of the UEFA coefficient table, and those behind them can’t catch up.

And as UEFA rules stipulate, the top two countries at the end of the campaign get an extra Champions League spot.

All that was needed for England to get the extra place was for one of the Premier League teams in their respective European quarter-finals to win, and Arsenal’s incredible 3-0 victory over Real Madrid ensured at least five top-flight sides will be in UEFA’s elite campaign next year.

England was in a very good position, but that win for Arsenal has now confirmed what we all thought would happen, so the race for the top five is going to be heated.

How does the coefficient table work?

UEFA’s coefficient system is based on each country’s overall European performances, so the fact Villa, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Man United reached the knockout rounds was great news for those wanting an extra place.

A win is worth two points, a draw is one, and you get zero for a loss.

Penalty shootouts are not considered, meaning if it goes all the way, each team gets a point.

The points are then added together and divided by the number of clubs competing in Europe that season.

You don’t get extra points for winning in the Champions League, so Villa beating Bayern Munich was worth the same amount of points as Chelsea’s home win over Gent.

However, there is a bonus system in place, which makes Champions League progress more valuable.

Each team that competes in the Champions League gets a minimum of six bonus points.

By comparison, only the top Europa League team gets six, while there is a maximum of 18 up for grabs for the Champions League teams.

Then, as the knockout rounds progress, there are more bonus points available.

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Under the new system, it is even possible for there to be seven teams in the Champions League from one country.

This would be if a team fails to finish in their country’s Champions League spots but win the UCL or Europa League.

That is extremely unlikely, but it could happen with Villa struggling to finish in one of the Champions League spots, while Tottenham and Man United’s chances are all but gone.

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In terms of the coefficient table, England now can’t be caught by any of the countries outside of the top two.

Italy could still finish in the top two and pip Spain, but none of the chasing pack can finish ahead of England.

This means the race for the Champions League is going to be wide open.