With some teams having to leave the European tournament right in the group stage, the Premier League is at risk of a double loss, according to ESPN.
Premier League clubs are at risk of losing a place in next season’s Champions League after Manchester United and Newcastle United were knocked out of Europe.
Due to the expansion of the Champions League to a 36-team tournament format next season, Europe’s top two leagues will be awarded additional spots.
That means the team finishing fifth in the Premier League this season can automatically qualify for the Champions League.
UEFA determines which two leagues will benefit from additional places using the UEFA coefficient rankings, which are based on the results of all European clubs in these League competitions.
In six of the past seven seasons, the Premier League would have secured another place in the Champions League thanks to their club’s performance in Europe.
However, with Manchester United and Newcastle finishing bottom of the Champions League group and completely eliminated from the European Cup, ESPN’s coefficient calculations placed England in third place behind Germany and Italy.
UEFA SCORE COEFFICIENT AFTER THE GROUP STAGE:
1. Germany: 13.36
2. Italy: 13,14
3. England: 12,13
4. Spain: 12.06
5. France: 10.42
Germany still has six clubs – Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Italy has seven of their teams in all – Inter, Napoli, Lazio, AC Milan, Roma, Atalanta and Fiorentina.
After Manchester United and Newcastle were eliminated, England only had Arsenal, Manchester City, Brighton, Liverpool, West Ham and Aston Villa left.
Spain saw Sevilla and Osasuna stop playing completely but Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad all reached the Champions League knockout stages. Real Betis and Villarreal are the two remaining Spanish teams in Europe.