Premier League clubs can breathe a sigh of relief after Juventus crashed out of Europe leaving England ahead of the Italians in the UEFA coefficient rankings securing their four places in the Champions League until the end of the 2017/18 season.
When Paul Pogba and Juan Cuadrado put Juventus 2-0 up against the mighty Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena last night, the top clubs in the Premier League started quaking in their oversized boots.
With Arsenal, Chelsea, and Man Utd all crashing out of Europe, appalling British results in the past five seasons, and the 2010/11 Manchester United Champions League runner-up spot wiped off the UEFA coefficient record books – a Juventus win would have given the Italians the opportunity to overtake England in those rankings and steal a Champions League spot.
Fortunately, the Germans did the Brits proud, after coming from behind to end Italian’s clubs sojourn in the Champions League for the 2015/16 season. England retains an interest with Man City in the hat for Friday’s quarterfinal draw.
Only Lazio remain in European competition. However, should Lazio win the Europa League they will only accrue 2.5 points. England is 4 points clear, and are guaranteed at last one English club in the quarterfinals with Liverpool facing Man Utd tonight, and Spurs looking to achieve the unachievable against Dortmund.
The UEFA coefficient rankings are used to determine seeding for international and club competitions around Europe, including the European Championships, Champions League and Europa League.
Here are the current rankings after the Champions League Round of 16 concluded last night.
1st. Spain 99.570 points
2nd. Germany 78.320 points
3rd. England 74.409 points
4th. Italy 70.439 points
5th. France 52.582 points
6th. Portugal 52.415 points
The top three places are guaranteed four teams in the Champions League until after the 2017/18 season. The next three spots are secured three positions.
Despite Man United’s Champions League final appearance of 2010/2011 no longer counting, Chelsea did win the competition in 2011/12 when they defeated Bayern Munich. Juventus’s appearance in the final last season is the Italian’s only appearance in the top two positions for six seasons.
