All eyes are on the Champions League final tickets as it is now down to four teams in the Champions League draw.
Regrettably, the Champions League final this year will not feature any English teams, a fact that may disappoint many despite the fixture being held at the iconic Wembley.
Wembley will come alive again for yet another Champions League final; this time, either Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich or PSG will take the title.
Looking ahead to next year’s Champions League, English fans already envision a fifth English team being added to the main draw. This prospect could significantly boost their chances.
In practice, the Premier League has four Champions League positions, and with the new format, there was a chance of a fifth team.
Five teams would mean better chances of at least one of the teams getting the Champions League final tickets.
However, the recent results in the quarterfinals might be different.
There will be 36 rather than 32 teams in next season’s rejigged/wrecked Champions League, and two of those extra places will be awarded to the leagues that have been deemed to have performed best in Europe this season.
Italy is now sure of a top-two finish after a satisfactory set of quarterfinal results for their Thursday night crew.
At the same time, Germany would need a disastrous run of semi-final results to give England or France a glimmer of hope. Spain is now out of contention.
The system for working out the co-efficient rating to decide which league comes out on top is (relatively) simple.
At this stage, we don’t need to worry about the assorted bonus points for being in the Champions League group stage or topping a Europa League group.
That’s all behind us; what matters now is this: Every individual match win is worth two points, whether that’s in the Champions League, Europa League, or Conference, and every draw is worth one point.
At this stage, an extra bonus point is also available for reaching the next round of any competition. The Champions League and Europa League carry bonus points for reaching quarterfinals, semi-finals, and finals, while those bonus points also kick in at the Conference level for teams who reach the semis and finals.
So if you qualify for the Champions League quarterfinal by winning both legs of your last-16 clash, you collect five points for your country’s tally: two for each win and a bonus point for reaching the next stage. If you get through with a win and a defeat, it’s three points (two for a win, plus the bonus point). And so on.
From the quarterfinals onwards, the same number of remaining points are available for any team regardless of which competition they’re in, meaning countries with several teams in Thursday night action are in a potentially advantageous position.
It certainly pays to at least have a spread of teams across the three competitions to maximise point-scoring opportunities.
The total number of points accrued by all teams from a particular league is then divided by the number of teams from that league who began the season in European competition to obtain an average rating that determines the all-important standings.
So, taking leaders Italy as an example, their teams have amassed 136 points across their European campaigns. They started the season with seven teams in Europe, so 136 divided by seven gives their current average coefficient of 19.429 points.
This, therefore, means individual match wins are worth more to the score for a country that had fewer teams involved, to begin with; a win for any French side is worth 0.333pts to the final tally because it is two points divided by the six teams they had in contention when the season began. In contrast, for England or Spain, a two-point win is worth only 0.250 points to the total after it has been divided by eight.
As things currently stand, Roma (fifth in Serie A) and Borussia Dortmund (fifth in the Bundesliga) would be the two teams to benefit from the new system, but plenty of other teams will be keeping a keen eye on how this all shakes out.
Current Standings
1 Italy – 19.429pts
Home and hosed after losing only one team in the quarterfinals, and that unavoidably after Roma were paired with Milan. England and France can no longer catch them. While Roma fans will not be able to buy Champions League final tickets this season, they will surely be in contention next season.
Total points: 136
Total teams: Seven
Teams still active: Three
Semi-finalists: Roma (UEL, v Bayer Leverkusen), Atalanta (UEL, v Marseille), Fiorentina (UECL, v Club Brugge)
2 Germany – 17.929pts
Dortmund and Bayern reaching the Champions League semi-finals has strengthened Germany’s hand significantly, especially with an Eric Dier-inspired Bayern’s progress coming at the expense of Arsenal.
Germany didn’t need Leverkusen’s late equaliser on the night against West Ham in the UEL. Still, they are physically incapable of losing association football matches, and every point helps.
Total points: 125.5
Total teams: Seven
Teams still active: Three
Semi-finalists: Borussia Dortmund (UCL, v PSG), Bayern Munich (UCL, v Real Madrid), Bayer Leverkusen (UEL, v Roma)
3 England – 17.375pts
That’s just about that. Liverpool and West Ham did chuck three more points into the pot on their way out, but England needed more after seeing Arsenal and Manchester City crash out of the Champions League on Wednesday night. Sole survivors Villa’s qualification for the Conference semi-finals was thrilling but added only one further point to the pot after defeat on the night.
To have any chance, England now need Villa to win the Conference – and do so by winning both legs of the semi-final – and hope Germany’s semi-finals in the Champions League and Europa League go as badly as England’s quarterfinals in those competitions.
England can now muster the highest coefficient of 18.250 – even if Villa pulls that off, Germany would need just a win and a draw across six semi-final matches for their teams to end England’s hopes.
Total points: 139
Total teams: Eight
Teams still active: One
Semi-finalists: Aston Villa (UECL, v Olympiacos)
Eliminated: Liverpool, West Ham, Arsenal, Manchester City, Brighton, Manchester United, Newcastle
4 France – 16.083pts
Lille pocketed two points for a win on the night against Villa. Still, their penalty heartbreak at the hands of Emi Martinez means France are realistically out of it now despite a pair of semi-finalists still standing. But PSG and Marseille winning their respective trophies could still be enough if Germany suffers a total wipeout in the semi-finals.
Total points: 96.5
Total teams: Six
Teams still active: Two
Semi-finalists: Paris St-Germain (UCL, v Borussia Dortmund), Marseille (UEL, v Atalanta)
4 Spain – 15.313pts
There is no way back now for Spain after Atletico Madrid and Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League.
Total points: 122.5
Total teams: Eight
Teams still active: One
Semi-finalists: Real Madrid (UCL v Bayern Munich)
