How Premier League teams qualify for Champions League and Europa competitions for 25/26

Sarah Winterburn 11 Nov 2024 8:00 AM

Champions League trophy next to the Europa League and Europa Conference League trophies.

The 24/25 Premier League season is underway but which positions will see teams qualify for the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League?

How many teams qualify for the Champions League from the Premier League?

Definitely four teams and possibly five. Under the Champions League’s new Swiss model system (you can see how that works here), there will be 36 teams instead of 32 teams competing and two of those extra four teams come from the countries with the strongest records in that season’s European competitions.

In five of the last seven seasons that would have meant an extra place allocated from England but the travails of Newcastle and Manchester United – who both exited from the Champions League at the group stage last season – meant that the extra places for 24/25 went to Italy and Germany.

But the numbers were re-set at the start of the season and England will be one of the favourites to be allocated a fifth Champions League place. Those two places would currently go to Portugal and Poland.

How do Premier League teams qualify for the Europa League?

England gets two Europa League places. One belongs to the highest-placed finisher not in the Champions League (either fifth or sixth place depending on the number of Champions League places allocated to England) and the other goes to the winner of the FA Cup. That place will revert to the league if the FA Cup winner has already qualified for Europe.

This is how Manchester United claimed a place in the 24/25 Europa League competition.

How do Premier League teams qualify for the Conference League?

As well as all the fizzy pop they can drink, the Carabao Cup winners also receive a place in the play-off stages for the Europa Conference League. Liverpool did not need that place this season as they had already qualified for the Champions League so the place reverted to Chelsea, who finished sixth in the Premier League.