Football
Dale Johnson, General Editor, ESPN FC 4y

Who qualifies for Champions League, Europa League from Premier League?

We now know how the Premier League's slots in the Champions League and the Europe League will be filled -- but there could eventually be EIGHT English teams in European competition. Here's how. 

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Who qualified for the Champions League?

Liverpool and Man City secured their places long before the last day of the season. Chelsea and Manchester United pipped Leicester City to the final two places on the last day.

Champions League group stage: Liverpool, Man City, Man United, Chelsea 

Who qualified for the Europa League? 

Leicester go direct to the Europa League group stage along with the FA Cup winners. As Man City won the Carabao Cup and do not need the Europa League place associated with it, that transfers to the Premier League, so Tottenham will enter the competition in the second qualifying round. Next season, this round will take place on Sept. 17 as a one-legged tie. Arsenal are into the Europa League group stage as FA Cup winners.

Europa League group stage: Leicester, Arsenal
Europa League second qualifying round: Tottenham

What happens if Man City win the Champions League? 

Because Man City finished in the top four it won't have any effect on the number of Premier League teams in the Champions League. It purely means teams from other leagues will move up a round to fill the empty slot. 

If the UCL titleholder does not take the place in the group stage reserved for them -- so this would be the same if, say, Bayern Munich or Atletico Madrid, won the competition and finished in the top four -- the champions of country ranked 11th in UEFA's coefficient go direct to the group stage. For next season, this will be the champions of the Netherlands, Ajax Amsterdam (they assume rank 1 even though the Dutch did not name champions). 

The champions of the Czech Republic (Slavia Prague) and Greece (Olympiakos) will move up to start in the playoff round. 

What happens if Man United win the Europa League?

The winners of the Europa League this season, be that Man United or another of the semifinalists, are guaranteed to have qualified domestically. This will only affect the access list for other leagues. 

It means the place in the Champions League group stage reserved for the Europa League titleholder will go to Stade Rennes, who should have entered in the third qualifying round. The runners-up of Russia (Krasnodar) will move up one round and start in the playoff round.

If Wolves had won the Europa League, England would have had a total of EIGHT teams in Europe -- five in the Champions League with the Europa League allocation of three unaffected. This is because the place for the European titleholder does not affect places earned domestically.

What if English teams win both competitions?  

Man City and/or Man United winning the Champions League would not affect the allocation. If both European winners finish in the top four, the Premier League allocation is unchanged.

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