How this week’s dismal Champions League results affect the Premier League’s 2026/7 places

It would be fair to say that this week wasn’t a classic Champions League week for the representatives from the Premier League. 

With no wins recorded across the six teams involved, could the Premier League’s co-efficient dominance – which comes with extra Champions League spots next year – be under threat? 

The Premier League teams struggled in the Champions League

Given the money and talent washing around in England’s top league, as well as the number of teams that the league sends, you might think it likely that a Premier League team will take home the big-eared trophy this season. 

However, after this gameweek, things are looking a lot less certain. 

Tottenham are all but out of their tie against Atletico Madrid after a damaging 5-2 loss. 

To be fair, they’ll be happy to still be in the Premier League next season, let alone the Champions League. 

Liverpool were also beaten, although they’ll fancy turning the tie around next week as Galatasaray only ended up with a slender one-goal advantage after a 1-0 win. 

Newcastle and Arsenal fared somewhat better, drawing 1-1 with Barcelona and Bayer Leverkusen respectively. 

It was bad news for Chelsea, who finished up 5-2 losers against Paris Saint-Germain, and similarly awful for Manchester City, who were hammered 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu by Real Madrid. 

Six teams, no wins – not great for the ‘best league in the world’.

What does this mean for the all-important coefficient?

Luckily for the English representatives in Europe’s premier competition, things in UEFA’s association club coefficient table aren’t massively changed by this evening’s result. 

The fact that they have six teams at this stage tells you pretty much everything you need to know. 

Six teams qualifying for this stage of the competition proves that they’ve been racking up the coefficient points all season, and are therefore odds-on to get that coveted extra place at the end of the season.

One bad week isn’t likely to have too much of an effect on that, particularly if – for example – four of the teams battle through their ties and get to the next stage. 

Sure, poor results from here on out would hurt their coefficient, but England currently has a big lead over Spain and Italy. 

There could even be more good news for England’s CL hopes

Even though it’s been a pretty lukewarm week for the Premier League in Europe, there could be better days on the horizon if they actually make it to the point where they win one of the two big continental cups. 

Should – let’s say – Arsenal win the Champions League and Aston Villa go on to lift the Europa League, that would add even more teams to the competition for next year. 

The maximum number of teams allowed is six, so if one of the winners finished outside of the top four – or five – in the PL, they would qualify. 

So, the news is positive for the remaining English teams in the Champions League, five or even six teams in next year’s competition is still possible.