CHELSEA and Manchester city will meet in Istanbul on May 29 in the third all-English Champions League Final.
And Arsenal could face Manchester United in the Europa League final, should both sides qualify from the final four.
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But what does it all mean for European qualification for next season? SunSport explains:
How many Champions League and Europa League places do the Premier League get?
England has seven places, with the top four in the Prem qualifying for the Champions League.
Fifth in the table and the FA Cup winners go into the Europa League. And from this season onwards, the Carabao Cup winners go into the new Europa Conference League.
But Manchester City won the Carabao Cup. So now what happens?
That means the team finishing sixth take the Conference League spot, with a place in the final play-off round at the end of August.
Hang on – but Leicester and Chelsea are also playing in the FA Cup Final. How does that impact things?
Assuming both of them finish in the top six – likely but not yet confirmed – it means sixth takes a Europa League place and SEVENTH in the table means the Conference League.
Right. I think. But could things change again?
Yes – but that depends on the outcomes of the two European competitions.
Under Uefa rules, the Champions League and Europa League winners automatically qualify for the Champions League.
But Uefa also caps at a maximum of five the number of teams from ANY country in the Champions League and a total of seven teams in all competitions.
Go on…what are you saying?
Well, if Chelsea win the Champions League and finish fourth, nothing happens. But if they finish fifth, they would join the top four in next season’s competition.
Teams in sixth and seventh would then BOTH be in the Europa League.
What is the nightmare scenario for West Ham or Liverpool?
No. Because if Chelsea finish fifth and win the Champions League AND Arsenal were to win the Europa League, that would be SIX teams qualified, one more than is allowed.
And…Arsenal miss out, yes?
No. Arsenal would be in the Champions League – but the team finishing FOURTH in the Prem would go into the Europa League, along with the team in fifth.
That would also allow England an extra place, with the team finishing sixth going into the new Conference League and no European place for the team in seventh.
Why is it so complicated?
Chelsea finishing in the top four and Manchester United winning the Europa League would make it easier.
Then fifth and sixth are in the Europa and seventh in the Conference.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
