Sports
Fifth Champions League spot: Premier League misses out to Germany on extra place for 2024-25
The Premier League has missed out on a fifth Champions League spot next season.
Borussia Dortmund’s victory over PSG on Wednesday, coupled with Bayern Munich’s draw with Real Madrid on Tuesday takes the German total in the European Performance Spots table to 18.356.
Even if Aston Villa were to win both legs of their Europa Conference League semi-final with Olympiakos and go on to lift the trophy, England can only reach 18.25.
Germany will now join Italy in getting a fifth automatic spot in next season’s tournament.
Both countries could have six representatives, if Dortmund win the Champions League and finish outside the top four in the Bundesliga and either Atalanta or Roma win the Europa League.
The winners of both tournaments qualify automatically for the following season’s Champions League.
The additional places are added no matter how many clubs enter the tournament by the usual method.
Ironically, even if they do not win the tournament, Dortmund will be the beneficiaries as they are almost certain to finish fifth in the Bundesliga.