Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Reuters and Guardian sport

Premier League guaranteed five teams in Champions League after Arsenal win

Arsenal fans celebrate their team’s 3-0 Champions League win at home to Real Madrid.
Arsenal fans celebrate their team’s 3-0 Champions League win at home to Real Madrid. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

The Premier League will be guaranteed at least five teams in the 2025-26 Champions League after Arsenal’s stunning 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.

The English top flight needed one win from its clubs in any of the three European competitions to secure one of two extra berths – on top of the four granted to the top four in the table – awarded to the highest-ranked countries in the Uefa coefficient table.

The coefficient is calculated by awarding teams in European competition points for winning or drawing, and bonus points for qualifying from one round to the next. Scores are then averaged out according to the number of teams from a given country that started the season in Europe.

  • Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'.
  • If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
  • In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
  • Turn on sport notifications.

England will have seven teams in the Champions League if Aston Villa win this year’s competition without qualifying through the Premier League table and Manchester United or Tottenham win the Europa League.

Italy lead the race for the second additional place, with Spain and Germany third and fourth respectively.

The Premier League leaders, Liverpool, and second-placed Arsenal look set to claim two of the five guaranteed berths, and Nottingham Forest hold a strong third position.

Pos Team P GD Pts
1 Liverpool 31 42 73
2 Arsenal 31 30 62
3 Nottm Forest 31 14 57
4 Chelsea 31 17 53
5 Newcastle 30 13 53
6 Man City 31 17 52
7 Aston Villa 31 0 51
8 Fulham 31 5 48
9 Brighton 31 2 47
10 AFC Bournemouth 31 11 45
11 Crystal Palace 30 4 43
12 Brentford 31 4 42
13 Man Utd 31 -4 38
14 Tottenham Hotspur 31 13 37
15 Everton 31 -5 35
16 West Ham 31 -17 35
17 Wolverhampton 31 -16 32
18 Ipswich 31 -34 20
19 Leicester 31 -45 17
20 Southampton 31 -51 10
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.