Premier League fifth-place qualification rules if Man City win Champions League and Liverpool miss top four
Liverpool have left it late to mount their charge for Champions League qualification this season - but there is still chance they could make it through to the marquee European competition.
Amid what has been a largely frustrating campaign at Anfield, six wins on the spin have seen the Reds move up to fifth position in the Premier League standings. They are one point behind Manchester United right now, but their arch rivals do still have a game in hand to come.
Back-to-back defeats for United have given Liverpool revived hope, while there would be additional spots in Europe for English clubs if Manchester City and West Ham win the Champions League and Europa Conference League respectively. However, there will strictly be no extra ticket to the top table if City reign supreme.
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After drawing 1-1 with semi-final opponents and holders Real Madrid at the fearsome Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night, City are potentially two games away from getting their hands on elusive European honours. Either they or Real will meet one of the Milan clubs in the Istanbul showpiece on June 10.
However, the results will not particularly have an impact on what UEFA competition Liverpool will be playing in next season. As per qualification rules, City will earn their right to a Champions League spot by getting their hands on the famous trophy, but they have already done so due to their Premier League finish.
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Liverpool coaching staff member confirms summer departure as Jurgen Klopp message sent
Thomas Gronnemark will leave Liverpool at the end of the season after five years as the club's specialist throw-in coach.
The Dane was employed by Jurgen Klopp at the start of the 2018/19 campaign after the Reds boss discovered that his team were losing possession too often from their own throws.
Liverpool initially ranked 18th in the Premier League for taking throw-ins when under pressure, meaning they often lost the ball when restarting play but Gronnemark's coaching saw a dramatic rise at Anfield, to the point where they were retaining possession over 68% of the time. That was a tally which took them to the top spot in England and second in Europe behind only FC Midtjylland, who were the other club who the specialist was working with at the time.
Gronnemark's first two full seasons at Anfield - a period when he would visit Merseyside around a half dozen times a campaign - saw Liverpool win the Premier League and Champions League while also celebrating a first-ever Club World Cup in December 2019.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent travel restrictions, which were compounded by the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union, have made it more difficult for Gronnemark to visit as often as he had previously been able to and it's understood the coach has been limited in the number of sessions he has put on at the club in recent years as a result.
The nature of the 21/22 campaign, when the Reds played 63 games in total, also reduced the time available to the coaching staff on the training pitches, which inevitably had a knock-on effect on Gronnemark's time with the first-team players.
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