Man United and Tottenham’s Champions League hopes received a big blow this week as Germany have overtaken England in the coefficient rankings.
As many fans already know, the Champions League is set to expand to 36 teams next season with the ‘Swiss League’ format set to be introduced. This will see two additional spots in Europe’s top competition go to the two countries that finish their international season with the highest coefficient ranking.
According to the Daily Mail, Italy looks guaranteed to secure one of the places as there are four Serie A teams still in contention of winning two of the European trophies – Atalanta, Roma, and AC Milan in the Europa League, and Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League.
After Thursday night, their coefficient stands at 18.428, with a maximum score of 22.375 still possible.
For the second spot, the battle is between England and Germany and next week’s European second-leg ties could play an enormous role in deciding which of the continent’s top leagues receives an extra place in the Champions League next season.
Tottenham and Man United need Premier League clubs to advance in Europe next week
England face the possibility of all of their teams being eliminated from European competitions next week and therefore, it is a big one for the Premier League. Only Aston Villa go into the second-legs with an advantage, with Liverpool and West Ham’s elimination looking certain after defeats on Thursday night.
Heading into those games, England have a coefficient score of 16.750 and Germany are on 16.785 – with things made all the more dramatic by the fact that two of the ties which could clinch the points are between clubs from the two nations.
Tottenham are currently battling Villa for the fourth spot in the Premier League but will be hoping fifth does the job if they fail to get it. Man United are currently 11 points behind that position with a game in hand and although their chances are slim, Erik ten Hag’s men will still see it as a goal for the remainder of the campaign.
