Champions League: Is the Premier League on course for fifth place in next year’s competition?
Here is what was said after the end of the first phase of the Champions League.
ENGLAND
England is the only country that still has all the teams working – and nine of them.
It will be very difficult for England to throw it away after receiving 72.50 bonus points in the last place of the Champions League.
But nothing should be taken for granted, as England looked set to secure an EPS slot in 2023-24 only to suffer poor results in the quarter-finals.
While it may seem ideal that five English clubs have reached the Champions League round of 16, something has changed.
The rival leagues all have teams in the knockout round, and those clubs can earn points by winning those two-legged ties.
As a picture of how far ahead England are, the German clubs are 17 wins behind, while the Italians and Spanish are 20 wins behind.
IN GERMANY
Only Eintracht Frankfurt has been eliminated, so the Bundesliga is well placed to take the EPS slot next to England.
Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund can pick up equal points in the play-offs.
SPAIN
With eight teams in Europe, Spain needed a strong campaign.
Chances were severely damaged by Villarreal’s elimination from the Champions League. And Athletic Club followed them out of the competition on Wednesday, too.
While Spain has six teams still active, each victory is less important to the coefficient than that of their rivals in second place.
IN ITALY
Serie A got off to a slow start but are still in contention despite losing to Napoli in the Champions League.
Atalanta, Inter Milan and Juventus could all add to the Champions League play-offs list.
PORTUGAL
Portugal had no realistic chance of breaking into the top two as soon as Santa Clara was knocked out of the Conference League in the qualifying rounds.
Still, they continue with four active teams but will need all of them to go deep to have a chance.
Benfica can add coefficient points in February.
POLAND
It will surprise many to find Poland so high in the table, and that it was high for a while. But Poland won’t be here for long.
All four of these teams in this country were playing in the Conference League, and more than a third of the points were collected in the qualifying rounds.
With Legia Warsaw eliminated and no bonus points on the way from the Europa League, Poland will drop further on Thursday.
FRANCE
It has been a disappointing season for Ligue 1 teams, starting with Nice’s failure to qualify for the Champions League.
It hasn’t gotten much better since then for Nice, as they have already been relegated from the Europa League. Lille can also be out of the top 24.
Monaco and Paris St-Germain will play in the play-offs of the Champions League but France has become an exception if they get an extra place.
CYPRUS
Another surprising name on the list, boosted by Pafos reaching the Champions League for the first time.
But with only two teams still active, and both in the Conference League, Cyprus is not a contender.
GREECE
Greece still has four active teams but is far behind in the top two slots.
DENMARK
Only FC Midtjylland remains, so Denmark can also be relegated.
