Serie A and Bundesliga gain extra Champions League places
As many of you will already know, the UEFA competitions are being revamped next season with a greater number of teams competing. Once we get to next season and launch Predictor tournaments, we'll do an article explaining the changes in greater detail, but what's particularly relevant at this moment in time is how the extra places in the UEFA competitions are being allocated.
When making your Superbru picks for the final rounds of the relevant leagues, it is of course important to know what's at stake and what teams are playing for during this run-in.
Focusing on the Champions League specifically, there will be 36 teams in next season's competition rather than 32. Two of the extra four slots are being granted to the best performing leagues in Europe in this current season, which are known as the 'European Performance Spots'. These are calculated by a co-efficient where teams gain points for their country by winning matches in UEFA competitions.
As a result, the places will almost always go to the top leagues in Europe, and while everyone expected the Premier League to gain one of them because they would have done in 5 of the past 6 seasons had this system been in place, it hasn't quite worked out that way.
The Champions League and Europa League quarter-finals saw Manchester City, Arsenal, West Ham and Liverpool all eliminated in the same week, which means the Bundesliga has now moved clear of the Premier League and will benefit alongside the Serie A.
The spots are naturally given to the teams that finish in the top 5 in the Bundesliga, so Dortmund have done themselves a huge favour because after losing to RB Leipzig last weekend, they're highly likely to finish 5th themelves.
Borussia Dortmund are set to benefit from the extra Champions League place that they themselves have helped earn the Bundesliga through a strong UCL campaign.
In Germany, the two Europa League spots will now be awarded to 6th and the winners of the DFB-Pokal. The upcoming DFB-Pokal final is being contested by Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen and FC Kaiserslautern who have shocked everyone by eliminating the likes of Bayern Munich on their way to the final despite being in the German second division. So if FC Kaiserslautern win that trophy they'll also be blessed with a Europa League spot, but if Bayer win as expected then the spots move down and 7th will join 6th in the Europa League with 8th taking the Europa Conference League spot.
As previously mentioned, the Serie A was already known to have a fifth Champions League spot thanks to the performances we've seen from the likes of Inter, Napoli and particularly Atalanta, Roma and Fiorentina who are each competing in semi-finals this evening.
The current Serie A standings with four games remaining in the 2023/24 season
In Italy, AS Roma are currently set to benefit from the extra Champions League place, though they face considerable competition from Atalanta and city rivals Lazio.
Like Germany, the second Europa League spot is available to the Cup winners, but with the Coppa Italia Final set to see Atalanta take on Juventus who will both likely already have European spots, 7th will equal Europa League qualification with 8th taking the Europa Conference League spot.
The tables on the Superbru Football app will shortly be updated to reflect these changes. In the Premier League, the lack of an extra qualification spot means Tottenham are facing a real battle to reach the Champions League next season with Aston Villa currently sitting in 4th, while Manchester United and Newcastle are set for quite a battle to secure 6th and Europa League football.
When making your Superbru picks for the final rounds of the relevant leagues, it is of course important to know what's at stake and what teams are playing for during this run-in.
Focusing on the Champions League specifically, there will be 36 teams in next season's competition rather than 32. Two of the extra four slots are being granted to the best performing leagues in Europe in this current season, which are known as the 'European Performance Spots'. These are calculated by a co-efficient where teams gain points for their country by winning matches in UEFA competitions.
As a result, the places will almost always go to the top leagues in Europe, and while everyone expected the Premier League to gain one of them because they would have done in 5 of the past 6 seasons had this system been in place, it hasn't quite worked out that way.
The Champions League and Europa League quarter-finals saw Manchester City, Arsenal, West Ham and Liverpool all eliminated in the same week, which means the Bundesliga has now moved clear of the Premier League and will benefit alongside the Serie A.
Confirmed extra Champions League spots
Following Borussia Dortmund's semi-final first leg victory over Paris Saint-Germain last night, Germany is guaranteed to finish second on the coefficient table behind Italy, meaning the Bundesliga now has 5 Champions League group stage qualification spots for next season.The spots are naturally given to the teams that finish in the top 5 in the Bundesliga, so Dortmund have done themselves a huge favour because after losing to RB Leipzig last weekend, they're highly likely to finish 5th themelves.
Borussia Dortmund are set to benefit from the extra Champions League place that they themselves have helped earn the Bundesliga through a strong UCL campaign.In Germany, the two Europa League spots will now be awarded to 6th and the winners of the DFB-Pokal. The upcoming DFB-Pokal final is being contested by Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen and FC Kaiserslautern who have shocked everyone by eliminating the likes of Bayern Munich on their way to the final despite being in the German second division. So if FC Kaiserslautern win that trophy they'll also be blessed with a Europa League spot, but if Bayer win as expected then the spots move down and 7th will join 6th in the Europa League with 8th taking the Europa Conference League spot.
As previously mentioned, the Serie A was already known to have a fifth Champions League spot thanks to the performances we've seen from the likes of Inter, Napoli and particularly Atalanta, Roma and Fiorentina who are each competing in semi-finals this evening.
The current Serie A standings with four games remaining in the 2023/24 seasonIn Italy, AS Roma are currently set to benefit from the extra Champions League place, though they face considerable competition from Atalanta and city rivals Lazio.
Like Germany, the second Europa League spot is available to the Cup winners, but with the Coppa Italia Final set to see Atalanta take on Juventus who will both likely already have European spots, 7th will equal Europa League qualification with 8th taking the Europa Conference League spot.
The tables on the Superbru Football app will shortly be updated to reflect these changes. In the Premier League, the lack of an extra qualification spot means Tottenham are facing a real battle to reach the Champions League next season with Aston Villa currently sitting in 4th, while Manchester United and Newcastle are set for quite a battle to secure 6th and Europa League football.
3 May 13:12