PREM sides may not know until April if they will have a fifth Champions League place next season.
And the finger of blame is directed at Euro flops Manchester United and Newcastle.
Uefa changes to coincide with the competition’s extension to a 36-team league format allow an extra place for the two best-performing nations in the previous campaign.
That is calculated by averaging the “coefficient points” accrued by each club for wins, draws and qualification for future rounds, by the number of competing sides.
England finished in the top two in six of the last seven seasons, with the exception of the Covid-hit campaign of 2019-20.
But United’s nightmare efforts and Newcastle’s last gasp heartbreak, which saw both finish bottom of their group to miss out on even the consolation of a Europa League place in the New Year, mean England stand just outside the top two places at the end of the group phase.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
While English clubs have collected more coefficient points than any other nation so far – a total of 109 – it is divided by eight because West Ham earned an extra Europa League place through their Conference League triumph last season.
That gives England a “country coefficient” of 13.625pts, only good enough for third place.
Italy, whose three Champions League sides all earned the extra five bonus points for reaching the last 16, lead the way with an average of 14pts.
Germany, down to six clubs remaining after Union Berlin also finished last in their Champions League group, stand second on 13.642, with Spain, who have also lost two of their eight clubs, fourth on 12.687pts.
Most read in Football
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFER
Had either Newcastle or United made the knockout stage, England would have been in top spot, while wins for either Liverpool or Aston Villa on Thursday night would have been enough for a top two spot.
With expectations that the six remaining Prem sides can all go deep into the business end of the three competitions, that fifth Champions League spot is very much within the grasp of English clubs.
But the margins between the top four are so tight it is unlikely that there will be confirmation that England are one if the two beneficiaries until the semi-final stages are reached in the spring.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
