THE PREM could still have 11 teams in Europe next season – although it needs Aston Villa to pull off the mother of all Champions League comebacks to still be on.
Arsenal’s quarter-final first-leg thrashing of Real Madrid last week confirmed that England will have a fifth Champions League place next term, for the first time.
But if Villa were to find a way of overhauling their 3-1 first-leg deficit when Paris Saint-Germain visit the West Midlands tomorrow and go on to lift the trophy in Munich next month, that would mean six Prem teams in the competition.
That would even extend to SEVEN if either Tottenham or Manchester United can progress and win the Europa League.
And there is the possibility of a further FOUR places on offer if Chelsea make their status as Conference League favourites count by adding that trophy to the club’s European haul.
If the standings in the Prem table were not to change between now and the end of the season, the current top five of Liverpool, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle and Manchester City would all earn a passage directly into the initial stage of the Champions League.
English football also has three more guaranteed European slots, two in the Europa League plus one in the Conference League.
But only one of those places, the second Europa League spot, would normally be awarded by a Prem finish, with the winners of the FA Cup and Carabao Cup respectively taking the automatic entries.
However, a Wembley Final triumph for City or semi-final opponents Forest, or for Villa if they win the Champions League, will mean the place would revert to the Prem table.
With Newcastle having won the Carabao Cup, their qualification for the Champions League would open the place in the third-tier competition.
If Chelsea win the Conference League AND qualify for Europe through their League position, England would have a maximum of 10 sides in continental action.
However, if Enzo Maresca’s Blues blow up in the Prem but still win the Conference League it would open up the path for a remarkable English battalion next term.
That could see Europa League football for Fulham and Brighton, with Bournemouth squeezing into the Conference League.
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