The Prem could still have 11 teams in Europe next season – although the Aston Villa needs to get the mother of all Champions League comebacks to still go on.
Arsenal's quarter-final First-Leging of Real Madrid last week confirmed that England will have a fifth Champions League place next time, for the first time.
But if Villa would find a way to revise their 3-1 deficiency in the first leg when Paris Saint-Germain visits the West Midlands tomorrow and spell the trophy in Munich next month, that would mean six Prem-Teams in the competition.
That could even extend to seven as Tottenham or Manchester United Progress and win the Europa League.
And there is the possibility that four places are still offered if Chelsea count their status as favorites of the conference competitions by adding that trophy to the European migration of the club.
If the rankings in the Prem Table would not change between now and the end of the season, the current top five of Liverpool, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle and Manchester City would all earn a passage directly in the first phase of the Champions League.
English football also has three guaranteed European slots, two in the Europa League plus one in the Conference League.
But only one of those places, the second Europa League spot, would normally be awarded by a Prem finish, with the winners of the FA Cup and Carabao Cup respectively the automatic entries.
However, a final triumph for city or semi-final opponents, or for Villa, or for the Champions League, means that the place would return to the Prem Table.
With Newcastle that the Carabao Cup has won, their qualification for the Champions League would open the place in the third competition.
If Chelsea wins the Conference League and qualify for Europe through their competition position, England would have a maximum of 10 parties in continental action.
However, if the blues of Enzo Maresca inflate in the prems, but still wins the conference competition, it would open the road for a remarkable English battalion in the next term.
Europe League football could see that for Fulham and Brighton, where Bournemouth Kneep the Conference League.
Comments