A few big names miss out and others enter the picture, while some familiar culprits have already secured their spots
The Premier League is peak-football viewing every season not just because of its entertaining title races but also for the race to Europe.
The Champions League in particular is far from a fixture for any English side. Even serial winners Manchester City had to rely on a hard-fought victory over Fulham on final day last season to qualify.
But this season it has ultimately ended up less contested than usual, one of the reasons for that being the dramatic descent of Chelsea over the past two months, the other perhaps the abject form of a side like Newcastle, last season’s Champions League participants who have only just escaped being dragged into a relegation dog fight with last weekend’s win at home against Brighton.
Each of Europe’s top leagues sends four teams into its elite competition, but this season, like the last, England has earned an additional spot through Uefa’s Elite Performance Spots system that rewards leagues whose clubs performed best across European competitions.
That means five Premier League teams will qualify automatically for next season’s Champions League.
Manchester United became the latest side to secure their place after ensuring they cannot finish lower than fifth. They join Arsenal and Manchester City as teams already guaranteed qualification.
Which of the other sides will claim the remaining two spots? Liverpool are in pole position to finish fourth, despite last week’s defeat at Old Trafford, given Aston Villa’s European commitments. Unai Emery’s side will likely finish fifth, barring an impressive three-game win in their last three by Bournemouth, and Villa then failing to get up to four points in their final three.
Chelsea are out of the Champions League question, and indeed may even fail to make Europe entirely, with Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth all at least two points clear above them. Only the last of those three has a mathematical chance of getting into the Champions League, but all three will likely just contend for places in the Europa League and Conference league.
Across Europe, several clubs have already secured their places in next season’s competition. Inter Milan have confirmed a top-four finish in Serie A, while Barcelona, Real Madrid and Villarreal have done the same in La Liga.
Bayern Munich, PSV Eindhoven and Porto have already won their domestic league titles, guaranteeing automatic qualification.
Borussia Dortmund are assured of finishing either second or third in the Bundesliga, while Paris Saint-Germain will finish no lower than second in Ligue 1.
Under the new format, a total of 36 teams will compete in the league phase of the Champions League next season, with 29 places decided before the current campaign officially ends. The remaining seven spots will come through qualifying rounds during the early months of the 2026-27 season.
