Explained: How extra Champions League slots work as Aston Villa, Forest & Newcastle chase Europe –
The new format of the Champions League has certainly divided opinion among supporters, pundits and clubs alike, but the revamped league phase did see a few upsets along the way.
Manchester City suffered defeats against Sporting CP, Juventus and PSG while drawing with Feyenoord as they missed out on the top eight. Elsewhere, Real Madrid just made it into the top 24, losing to Lille, Milan and Liverpool.
The likes of Lille and Aston Villa finished in the top eight, thus securing a place in the round of 16 without the need for an extra play-off tie.
Real, PSG, Man City, Milan and Dortmund will all face an extra couple of matches due to underperforming in the group stage, and it appears as though this new format allows those down the pecking order an ideal chance to boost their coefficient.
From this season onwards, 36 teams play in the group phase, up from 32 in the old format. This increase in participants means that two extra places will go to the best-performing leagues in Europe every season.
Depending on the performances of clubs in certain leagues, an extra place could be awarded – meaning the likes of Chelsea and Newcastle United could have an extra chance to return to the top table of European football via the league. But how does it all work?
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Atalanta Europa League winners
Due to the expansion from 32 to 36 teams in the Champions League from the 2024/25 season onwards, there are four more potential paths to the final tournament.
Two spots are reserved for the winners of the Champions League and Europa League winners, though these teams will typically claim their UCL berth via their league position, meaning two sides from further down the team coefficient ranking can advance to the league phase.
With Atalanta winning the Europa League and finishing 4th in Serie A, their place was taken by Benfica, who were the team with the highest five-year coefficient ranking that had not already qualified.
After La Liga champions Real Madrid won the Champions League in June, their slot went to the highest-ranked domestic champion not to qualify automatically – Shakhtar Donetsk.
The other two slots are determined by nations’ collective performances in Europe, meaning it may not be clear which leagues will be awarded another Champions League slot until deep into the season.
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The two remaining berths are allocated via UEFA’s European Performance Spots.
These places will go to the associations with the best overall performance by their clubs in the previous season. Last season, Dortmund reached the Champions League final, Bayern Munich reached the semis, and Bayer Leverkusen reached the final of the Europa League, giving Germany one of the two extra places available.
Elsewhere, Bologna secured fifth place in Serie A, which allowed them to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League for the first time. This was due to Atalanta winning the Europa League, Fiorentina reaching the Conference League final and Inter, Napoli and Lazio reaching the last 16 of the Champions League.
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How the coefficient ranking is determined
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Regardless of the European competition, each win is worth two coefficient points, a draw gets you one point, and you get nothing for a defeat. Penalty shootouts are not taken into account, with the score after 120 minutes being used as the determining factor if a game reaches extra-time.
Points gained by all clubs from one nation are added together before being divided by the number of clubs that country has in Europe that season.
For example, if a country scores 70 coefficient points and has six teams in Europe, its score would be 11.667. The two nations with the highest values are then granted an additional Champions League spot through their domestic league.
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How the bonus points system works
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From this season onwards, performance in the Champions League has become more valuable compared to the Europa League and Conference League.
Previously, the maximum number of bonus points for a club in Europe’s premier club competition was 12. Now, 18 bonus points are on offer, while 10 are available in the Europa League and 6 in the Conference League (up from eight and four respectively).
Every club that participates in the Champions League now gets an extra six bonus points just for taking part in the group stage, up from four in the previous format.
Therefore, countries with more teams in the Champions League are more likely to end up near the top of the yearly ranking.
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Current 2024/25 coefficient standings
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In the current race for the European Performance Spots, England is in a commanding position to secure five Champions League places in the Premier League. No English club has been knocked out of Europe so far this season, with only Manchester City having to undergo a knockout play-off tie.
Italy and Spain are in a tense tussle for one of the extra Champions League places next term. Bologna have been knocked out of the competition, while Juventus, Atalanta and Milan have to negotiate the play-offs to make the last 16 of the Champions League, while Roma play Porto in the Europa League.
Girona failed to qualify for the knockout stages, but Real Madrid, Real Betis and Real Sociedad all face play-off clashes to make the last-16 in the Champions League and Europa League.
Germany – recipient of an extra slot last year – looks to be all but out of contention. Three Bundesliga teams are out of Europe already, with another three facing knockout matches.
As it stands, Portugal, France and Belgium all have outside chances of sneaking into the top two.
Current 2024/25 coefficient standings
Rank
Nation
24/25 points
Clubs
1
England
20.892
7/7
2
Italy
17.312
7/8
3
Spain
17.178
6/7
4
Portugal
14.750
4/5
5
Germany
14.671
5/8
6
France
13.928
5/7
7
Belgium
13.150
5/5
8
Netherlands
11.916
5/6
9
Greece
11.062
3/4
10
Sweden
10.125
1/4
Table correct as of 10th February 2025
Current Premier League standings
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Liverpool and Arsenal may be battling it out for the title, but the race for fifth place in the table is arguably the most exciting aspect of the top flight right now.
At the time of writing, Man City are in fifth spot, currently sitting with 41 points from their 24 matches. Newcastle have the same number of points, while seventh-placed Bournemouth trail the pair by a solitary point.
Further down the table, Aston Villa have 37 points, Fulham 36 and Brighton and Hove Albion 34. It might be unlikely that the latter two secure Champions League football next season.
This race for the coveted fifth place is certainly heating up as the league enters the final few months. Securing Champions League football could give the majority of these teams a major financial boost.
They will all hope the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal progress as far as they can in Europe to ensure there is an extra route into the Champions League.
Premier League: Race for the top five
Rank
Team
P
GD
PTS
3
Nottingham Forest
24
+13
47
4
Chelsea
24
+16
43
5
Man City
24
+13
41
6
Newcastle
24
+13
41
7
Bournemouth
24
+13
40
8
Aston Villa
24
-3
37
9
Fulham
24
+4
36
10
Brighton
24
-3
34
Last updated: 10th Febru
ary 2025
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