Chelsea will be pinning their hopes on Real Madrid tonight (Wednesday) as the current Champions League winners host Liverpool. Carlo Ancelotti's men already hold a 5-2 aggregate lead over their opponents after coming from two goals down to run riot at Anfield three weeks ago.
In a repeat of last year's final, Madrid look set to get one over the Reds again. With a true top four battle in full swing, winning the competition for the second time in four years may turn out to be Liverpool's best chance of qualifying for next season's edition.
However, the Blues will also be hoping that their former manager Ancelotti progresses to the quarter-finals too. Not because Chelsea fans want another trip to the Santiago Bernabeau in the last eight, as happened last year, but because of UEFA's own club rankings.
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In the official club coefficient table, taken off the results and performances of each club in the past five seasons of European football, Chelsea are currently in fourth place thanks to their run of three consecutive quarter-final appearances, also boosted by the 2021 win. They are in a fight to move up a spot though.
Liverpool, with two runners-up finishes and also a winning season since 2018, are one place above them in the table but are on the same amount of points (123.00). Although on the face of it this means very little, the club coefficient does offer some benefit to the clubs that rank highest.
The official site states: "The rankings determine the seeding of each club in relevant UEFA competition draws," which gives Chelsea a clear choice of who to side with in this match. Should Liverpool win the match, regardless of if they were to progress or not on aggregate scores, then they would move back above Chelsea, at least for the time being.
The list updates after every round of games though, meaning that Chelsea's victory against Borussia Dortmund already has them with an advantage over their Premier League rivals in the table.
Outside of that, Chelsea themselves also have a much better chance of qualifying for the competition again by winning the tournament outright, as opposed to what now appears an extremely unlikely top-four finish in the Premier League.
The Blues would be eligible to face either side in the next round, with the draw taking place on Friday, March 17.
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