The Premier League season is edging toward its climax, with a host of clubs battling to secure places in the UEFA Champions League (UCL), UEFA Europa League (UEL) and UEFA Conference League (UCoL).
Yet there are a whole host of clauses and considerations that could affect where the places go.
Has the league got an extra place due to its clubs’ performances in Europe this season?
What happens to the places reserved for the domestic cups?
And what does it mean if any English clubs lift a European trophy?
Here’s your guide to European qualification in the Premier League.
This article will be updated through to the end of the season as more details emerge.
What’s the usual allocation for the Premier League?
At the start of every season, the Premier League’s European allocation is:
Champions League: Places 1-4
Europa League: 5, FA Cup winners
Conference League: Carabao Cup winners
Is the Premier League going to get an extra place in the Champions League?
Yes, it’s was confirmed on April 8 — through Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Real Madrid — that the Premier League will get one of the two European Performance Spots (EPS).
The two leagues with the best set of collective results in European competition will get a fifth team in the Champions League through the EPS.
LaLiga is likely to get the second spot, though there’s a small chance that Serie A could take it.
The extra place goes to fifth in the league.
For the final positions in the 2024-25 season, to qualify for Europe the positions are:
Champions League: 1-5
Europa League: 6, FA Cup winners
Conference League: Carabao Cup winners
What does Newcastle winning the Carabao Cup mean?
Newcastle United are guaranteed a place in the Conference League after they beat Liverpool 2-1 in the Carabao Cup final on March 16.
So that makes the allocation:
Champions League: 1-5
Europa League: 6, FA Cup winners
Conference League: Newcastle United
However, if Newcastle (who are fifth with a game in hand) finish in the top six, they will play in the Champions League or the Europa League, and the Conference League place transfers to another team:
Champions League: 1-5
Europa League: 6, FA Cup winners
Conference League: 7
However, the above scenarios can also be affected by the FA Cup.
How about the FA Cup?
There are four teams left in the FA Cup: Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest. (Stream the semifinals on April 26-27 on ESPN+)
The winners of the competition qualify for the Europa League.
However, as with Newcastle, if the winners finish in the top six, the place transfers to the league, and that will almost certainly be the case if Forest (third) lift the cup, and possibly if either Villa (seventh) or Man City (sixth) do so.
Champions League: 1-5
Europa League: 6, 7
Conference League: Newcastle United
If Palace, who are 11th, win the FA Cup, then it’s very likely the league places will be unaltered:
Champions League: 1-5
Europa League: 6, Crystal Palace
Conference League: Newcastle United
But if both Newcastle and the winners of the FA Cup finish inside the top seven, a Europa League place goes to sixth and the allocation for the Conference League drops down another place to seventh:
Champions League: 1-5
Europa League: 6, 7
Conference League: 8
What if a Premier League team wins the Champions League?
If Arsenal win the Champions League and finish inside the top four (the latter of which is almost certain), the places are unaltered. The spot in the Champions League group stage reserved for the holders, which Arsenal will not need, goes to the highest-ranked team in the playoff round.
Champions League: 1-5
Europa League: 6, FA Cup winners
Conference League: Newcastle United
If Aston Villa win the Champions League, it could look a little different. If Villa — who are seventh right now — finish fifth or sixth, the Premier League would have five teams in the Champions League (seven teams in Europe as is standard plus the EPS) and it would surrender the place in the Europa League designated for Aston Villa by league position.
Champions League: 1-6
Europa League: FA Cup winners
Conference League: Newcastle United
If Aston Villa win the Champions League and finish seventh, the Premier League would have an eighth team in Europe, as they would not — as it stands — be in a domestic European place.
Champions League: 1-5, Aston Villa
Europa League: 6, FA Cup winners
Conference League: Newcastle United
What about if Newcastle United finish inside the top five, plus Aston Villa finish seventh and win the UCL? Villa would be in the Conference League place and the Premier League would give up that spot and have no team in the competition.
Champions League: 1-5, Aston Villa (7)
Europa League: 6, FA Cup winners
Conference League: —
But if Aston Villa win the UCL, finish seventh and the FA Cup winners are in the top 6, then a UEL place goes to eighth. There is still no team in the Conference League.
Champions League: 1-5, Aston Villa (7)
Europa League: 6, 8
Conference League: —
What if a Premier League team wins the Europa League?
Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are both in the quarterfinals of the Europa League, with the winners earning a place in the Champions League for next season.
It seems unlikely that either team will finish in a European position domestically, with Man United in 13th, 13 points off sixth with seven games to play. Spurs are a further place and another point further back.
Therefore, either team winning the UEL would provide an eighth team in Europe.
Champions League: 1-5, Man United/Tottenham
Europa League: 6, FA Cup winners
Conference League: Newcastle United
If Aston Villa also were to win the UCL and finished outside the top four, this would mean six Premier League teams in the Champions League and nine in Europe.
Champions League: 1-5, Aston Villa, Man United/Tottenham
Europa League: 6, FA Cup winners
Conference League: Newcastle United
The above scenario could also be affected by who wins the FA Cup, and where they finish in the table, as well as the EPS. But as long as Villa do not finish in the top four, that will be an additional UCL place in all scenarios.
What if Chelsea win the Conference League?
Chelsea sit in fourth place in the Premier League, though they are only five points ahead of eighth-placed Fulham.
By rights, the winners of the Conference League get a place in the Europa League. If Chelsea lift the trophy and finish inside the top five, there will be no change to the allocation.
Champions League: 1-5
Europa League: 6, FA Cup winners
Conference League: Newcastle United
If Chelsea win the Conference League and finish outside the top five (or outside the domestic places however they fall), the Premier League gets an extra team in the Europa League, and eight in Europe.
Champions League: 1-5
Europa League: 6, Chelsea, FA Cup winners
Conference League: Newcastle United
However, if Newcastle finish inside the top five, thus passing the Conference League place to sixth and Chelsea finish in that place, the Premier League surrenders the berth in the Conference League and Chelsea play in the Europa League. The Premier League would have three teams in the UEL and seven in Europe.
Champions League: 1-5
Europa League: 6, Chelsea, FA Cup winners
Conference League: —
If Chelsea win the UCoL, finish seventh and the FA Cup winners are in the top 6, then a UEL place goes to eighth. There is still no team in the Conference League.
Champions League: 1-5
Europa League: 6, Chelsea (7), 8
Conference League: —
What if multiple teams win European trophies?
This all depends on where the clubs finish in the league, but each European titleholder gets a place in Europe.
If the team finishes in a European place domestically, there is no additional place. However, if the team does not qualify from domestic competition, it’s an extra place for the titleholders on top of the league allocation. Ergo, a team winning a European title cannot adversely affect another team’s qualification.
So that means it’s possible for the Premier League to have 11 teams in Europe, but it’s very unlikely. It would require Aston Villa to win the UCL, Man United or Tottenham to win the UEL, and Chelsea the Conference League and all three finish outside the top six:
Champions League: 1-5, Aston Villa, Man United/Tottenham
Europa League: 6, Chelsea, FA Cup winners
Conference League: Newcastle United
If Newcastle were to finish in the top six, or the FA Cup winners do so, that shifts the places down by one or two.
What’s the maximum number of teams in the Champions League?
Seven: the top four spots, the extra place for the EPS plus the winners of the Champions League and the Europa League if they finish outside the domestic places and qualify as titleholders.
Champions League: 1-5, UCL winners (Aston Villa), UEL winners (Man United/Tottenham)
And what’s the maximum number of teams in Europe?
Eleven, but only if Premier League clubs win all three European competitions and finish outside the domestic places.
It will be the usual four in the UCL, the EPS, the three European titleholders, two places in the Europa League, and one in the Conference League.
Champions League: 1-5, UCL winners (Aston Villa), UEL winners (Man United/Tottenham)
Europa League: 6, FA Cup winners, Conference League winners (Chelsea)
Conference League: Newcastle United
How is the EPS place affected by the European titleholders?
The EPS is applied after all the usual rebalancing related to the winners of the three European competitions has taken place.
In all circumstances, the EPS provides a plus-1 to a league’s allocation — so the Premier League will have eight teams minimum. But it could be up to 11, as noted above.
If Villa win the Champions League and finish fifth, the EPS place goes to sixth — so the top six in the Champions League.
How ninth, 10th or 11th in the Premier League could qualify for Europe
For this, let’s assume Newcastle United and the FA Cup winners have finished inside the top six. This is the allocation before the EPS:
Champions League: 1-4
Europa League: 5, 6
Conference League: 7
Let’s say Aston Villa (though it can be any of the teams in Europe) win the Champions League and finish in eighth place (it has to be eighth; it cannot be any lower for this specific EPS illustration). Aston Villa play in the Champions League as titleholders, and the Premier League has eight teams in Europe.
Champions League: 1-4, Aston Villa as UCL winners (8)
Europa League: 5, 6
Conference League: 7
Now the EPS is applied with fifth in the UCL, and this creates the plus-1 in all scenarios. The European places drop down one, but as Aston Villa already have a place in the Champions League, the Conference League spot jumps over them and goes to ninth.
Champions League: 1-5, Aston Villa as UCL winners (8)
Europa League: 6, 7
Conference League: 9
The same logic can be applied to only Man United/Tottenham or Chelsea winning a European title. If they finish eighth, it creates the “jump.” For instance, if Chelsea finish eighth and the Premier League gets the EPS.
Champions League: 1-5
Europa League: 6, 7, Chelsea as UCoL winners (8)
Conference League: 9
If multiple European titleholders are in consecutive places outside the domestic spots, this can create multiple “jumps.” This is the effect if two teams win European titles and finish eighth and ninth — 10th gets the Conference League spot after the EPS is applied. Let’s take Chelsea and Aston Villa:
Champions League: 1-5, Aston Villa as UCL winners (9)
Europa League: 6, 7, Chelsea as UCoL winners (8)
Conference League: 10
And if you add Man United or Tottenham lifting the UEL and finishing 10th, that pushes the place in the Conference League down to 11th after the EPS.
Champions League: 1-5, Aston Villa as UCL winners (9), Man United/Tottenham as UEL winners (10)
Europa League: 6, 7, Chelsea as UCoL winners (8)
Conference League: 11
How eighth, ninth or 10th could qualify for the Europa League by league position
This is like the previous scenario, the difference being the first European titleholder finishes in the Conference League position, which is surrendered.
When the EPS is applied, it’s the Europa League place which makes the “jump,” rather than the Conference League place.
Let’s say Chelsea win the Conference League and finish seventh, with all European places going to the league. Chelsea would play in the Europa League, and the Premier League would give Chelsea’s place in the Conference League. Add the EPS, and the Europa League place for 6th position jumps over Chelsea and is given to eighth.
Champions League: 1-5
Europa League: 6, Chelsea as UCoL winners (7), 8
Conference League: –
Again, the Europa League place could technically drop to ninth or tenth if European title winners finish in consecutive positions.
