UEFA Champions League 2026/27: How Premier League is in pole position to win extra spot again with Bundesliga also set to be rewarded
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By Ben Grounds
Published 24/11/2025 at 11:08 GMT
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There are six Premier League teams in the UEFA Champions League this season, and the performances of English clubs across Europe has placed England in pole position to be awarded five places in next year's competition. Should Nottingham Forest or Aston Villa win the UEFA Europa League and finish outside of the top five, six Premier League teams would qualify for the Champions League in 2026/27.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
It has been a robust start to the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League from the six-strong Premier League clubs competing in this season's competition.
Earlier this campaign, England became the first country to boast five clubs to have won in a single round of Champions League matches - and the Premier League contingent have since repeated that feat at the start of this month.
An impressive 17 wins from their 24 fixtures so far - a win percentage of 71% - the signs are positive for all six of Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Newcastle United to progress to the knockout stages.
There have been just three defeats so far - Newcastle's 2-1 home loss to Barcelona, Liverpool's 1-0 reverse against Galatasaray and Chelsea's opening night 3-1 setback at Bayern Munich.
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Highlights: Remarkable Burn header guides Newcastle past Athletic Club
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A formidable 56 goals scored and just 17 goals conceded underlines the strength of the Premier League and why many have tipped an English winner this season, underlining how the richest league in the world is capable of leveraging its financial muscle.
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Should the competition continue to yield positive results for Premier League clubs, the English top-flight will earn a 'bonus' Champions League place for the team finishing in fifth place, as was the case last term.
Currently, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City and Newcastle are positioned inside the top eight - the slots which automatically qualify for the last 16 of the competition.
Spurs hover just outside in 10th place, while Chelsea are just two spots further back - still firmly in contention.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
England made history with six teams qualifying for this season's Champions League. Should all six progress beyond the league phase, it would represent another milestone - and another step towards there being an additional European Performance Spot being allocated to England.
Ahead of the fifth round of action - live on TNT Sports and discovery+ - we look at how the coefficient points work heading into the second half of the league phase, with all still to play for...
How do coefficient points work?
UEFA calculates which two leagues will be rewarded by adding up coefficient points based on the performances of clubs from each league across the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League - the association club coefficient.
The ranking takes into account each association's performance in European competitions from 2021/22 up to and including the 2025/26 season so far, meaning it is calculated over a five-year rolling period.
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Every win, no matter the competition, earns each league two points, while a draw earns one point, and there are no points for a loss.
The further a team progresses in their competition, additional bonus points are awarded, which are weighted according to the competition. At the end of the campaign, each nation's total is divided by the number of clubs it had in Europe at the season's start.
For 2025/26, England entered nine teams, meaning the country’s points tally is split nine ways. Scotland began the year with five representatives; although Hibernian and Dundee United fell in qualifying, the coefficient is still divided by five.
This season, England and Spain were awarded an extra Champions League place apiece after finishing as the top two associations in the 2024/25 performance table. As a result, Newcastle and Athletic Club qualified directly.
| 2025/26 Competition | Club | League phase position as it stands |
| Champions League | Arsenal | 2nd |
| Champions League | Manchester City | 4th |
| Champions League | Newcastle | 6th |
| Champions League | Liverpool | 8th |
| Champions League | Tottenham | 10th |
| Champions League | Chelsea | 12th |
| Europa League | Aston Villa | 6th |
| Europa League | Nottingham Forest | 23rd |
| Europa League | Celtic | 27th |
| Europa League | Rangers | 36th |
| Conference League | Crystal Palace | 9th |
| Conference League | Aberdeen | 33rd |
So which associations lead the way so far?
Based on current results across the three UEFA competitions, England and Germany currently lead the race for the two additional Champions League berths available for next season.
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Under the format introduced at the start of the 2024/25 campaign - when the Champions League expanded from 32 to 36 teams - UEFA awards extra qualification spots to the two nations with the strongest overall performance in European competition during the season.
Points earned in European competition are halved during the qualification rounds.
Champions League bonus points
- League phase - 6
- League phase bonus increase per ascending final ranking (1-8) - 0.25
- League phase bonus increase per ascending final ranking (9–24) - 0.25
- Maximum league phase bonus - 12
- Each knockout round participation - 1.5
Europa League bonus points
- League phase - 6
- League phase bonus increase per ascending final ranking (1-8) - 0.25
- League phase bonus increase per ascending final ranking (9–24) - 0.25
- Maximum league phase bonus - 6
- Each knockout round participation - 1
Europa Conference League bonus points
- League phase - 6
- League phase bonus increase per ascending final ranking (1-8) - 0.125
- League phase bonus increase per ascending final ranking (9–24) - 0.25
- Maximum league phase bonus - 4
- Each knockout round participation - 0.5
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Highlights: Van de Ven scores wonder goal as 10-man Spurs win big
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Clubs that progress to the last 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals or final of the Champions League are awarded 1.5 extra points for each such round, one extra point for each such round in the Europa League, and 0.5 extra points for each round reached in the Conference League.
The two highest annual coefficients from 2023/24 onwards will determine the two additional European Performance Spots (one per association) in the Champions League for next season.
| Ranking | Member Association | Coefficient (25/26 only) | Teams |
| 1 | England | 9.944 | 9/9 |
| 2 | Germany | 8.857 | 7/7 |
| 3 | Spain | 8.375 | 8/8 |
| 4 | Cyprus | 8.250 | 3/4 |
| 5 | Italy | 8.142 | 7/7 |
| 6 | Portugal | 8.000 | 4/5 |
| 7 | Poland | 7.875 | 4/4 |
| 8 | Denmark | 7.625 | 2/4 |
| 9 | France | 6.642 | 7/7 |
| 10 | Turkey | 6.200 | 3/5 |
Why PL clubs should still aim for top-four finish
The past has shown that Premier League supremacy does not always translate to silverware - and indeed an additional spot.
Back in 2017 - in the same year Manchester United won the Europa League to qualify - five clubs progressed to the knockout rounds, but just two made it to the last 16 before Liverpool were beaten by Real Madrid in the final.
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Then, ahead of the revamped 2024/25 Champions League, England looked well set to earn a 'bonus' spot as a result of how clubs were performing in Europe.
That all changed when Arsenal and Manchester City were knocked out by Bayern Munich and Real Madrid respectively, meaning the Premier League fell into third place, behind Serie A and the Bundesliga. That meant good news for Bologna and Borussia Dortmund.
So, while the Premier League's strong start will be of interest to the likes of Sunderland, Bournemouth and Manchester United hovering around the Champions League positions after 11 rounds of fixtures, nothing is yet guaranteed.
Stream the Premier League, Men’s and Women’s FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League and more on TNT Sports and discovery+
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