What latest UEFA coefficient rankings mean for Tottenham as Champions League race takes new twist

The Tottenham Hotspur club crest on their first team home shirt with the official Adidas Champions League match ball on May 13, 2020 in Manchester, England
Tottenham are hoping for a return to the Champions League -Credit:Visionhaus


Tottenham were left to rue setbacks on and off the pitch this week, with a major Spurs defeat following a tough round of results for English teams involved in European competitions - and the resulting battle to land the Premier League a fifth Champions League qualifying spot.

With the Champions League format changing from the 2024/25 season, four extra places in the competition are up for grabs. Two of those will be handed to countries with the highest UEFA coefficient ranking based on results from teams' results in Europe during the 2023/24 campaign.

Nations are awarded points for how far each club goes in a UEFA competition, with an average being sought for each country when the scores are divided by the number of their clubs taking part in the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League. More points for round-by-round progression are awarded in the Champions League, with these being scaled down through the tiers of competition, albeit the amount of points for a win (two) remains the same across all three tournaments.

England held second place in the UEFA rankings heading into April's European fixtures, with five teams involved: Arsenal and Manchester City (Champions League quarter-finalists); Liverpool and West Ham (Europa League quarter-finalists); Aston Villa (Europa Conference League quarter-finalists). Italy were way out in front in the rankings, with England second and Germany third. As things stood, the team finishing fifth in the Premier League would also join the top four in the Champions League next season.

Aston Villa, Tottenham and Manchester United all have ambitions of a top-five finish, and Spurs were well placed for a top-four finish heading into the week's action: Ange Postecoglou's side sat fourth on 60 points, level with Villa but with a game in hand, while United were 11 points behind Spurs.

However, a bruising set of results has left England's hopes of an extra Champions League spot in the balance. Arsenal (2-2 vs Bayern Munich) and Man City (3-3 vs Real Madrid) both drew their respective Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday, and must win the return legs to progress. On Thursday, Aston Villa secured a 2-1 first-leg victory over Lille to boost their Conference League hopes, but it was bad news for both Liverpool and West Ham.

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Liverpool were stunned in a shock 3-0 home loss to Atalanta at Anfield, further cementing Italy's grip on top spot in the rankings and harming England's. As for West Ham, David Moyes' men fell to a 2-0 defeat at Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen - a result with extra significance in the rankings battle given it pitted Germany directly against England.

Following Thursday's results, ESPN reports that Italy are all but assured of an extra Champions League spot for the 2024/25 season with a coefficient ranking of 18.428. As for second place, Germany (16.785) leapfrogged England (16.750). There is still plenty of time to turn things around: England has five active teams in Europe, while Germany only has three - but those numbers will certainly change for the semi-finals given England and Germany each have two teams facing each other in the quarters.

With Villa the only one of the five Premier League teams to win the first leg of their respective ties, it leaves England's coefficient ranking up in the air and hopes of a fifth-placed Premier League finish gaining an extra Champions League spot hanging by a thread.

In a further blow to Spurs' hopes of Champions League qualification, Postecoglou's side were thrashed 4-0 by Newcastle at St James' Park on Saturday, while Villa stunned title challengers Arsenal with a 2-0 win at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon to leapfrog Spurs into fourth place. Spurs now trail Villa by three points and though they still hold a game in hand over Unai Emery's men, the Lilywhites have a daunting run-in with fixtures against Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City still to come.

With Villa now in the driving seat for fourth place and England needing results to go their way to edge out Germany in the UEFA rankings, there is added pressure on Spurs to turn things around on the pitch so they are not relying on rivals' European games to qualify via a fifth-placed finish.