As things stand, the top three teams in the Premier League standings qualify for the group-stage, and the fourth placed team qualifies for the play-off round of next season’s Champions League.
But this time, the equation is a little more complicated because Manchester United have won the Europa League.
So, do five English teams qualify for the Champions League, or does the fourth placed team in the Premier League – Liverpool, miss out?
United’s Ticket to Champions League
Since Jose Mourinho’s team has won the Europa League, they will qualify for the group stage of Champions League, even though they have finished sixth in the Premier League table.
The winner of Europa League qualifies for the group stage of Champions League if the defending champions qualify for the group-stage through their spots in their respective domestic championships.
Since the Champions League finalists of this season – Real Madrid and Juventus – have won their respective domestic leagues (La Liga and Serie A), they have already made it to next season’s Champions League.
5 English Clubs Qualify For Champions League
Even after Manchester United qualifying for Champions League, the equation remains the same for the top four teams in Premier League this season.
Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City have qualified for the group stage, and Liverpool will play the play-offs to find a place in the group-stage of Champions League.
However, only seven English teams are allowed to compete in the Champions League and Europa League together.
As it stands, the top four Premier League teams play the Champions League and three other teams (equations explained below) take part in Europa League.
Since, Manchester United have won, then five teams (Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United) will play Champions League and two other teams will participate in Europa League.
Europa League Qualification
The fifth place in Premier League and the winners of FA Cup qualify directly for the group stage of Europa League.
And the winners of EFL Cup, previously known as Football League Cup, qualify for the third qualifying round of Europa League.
Arsenal will go through to the group stage of Europa League, because they finished at the fifth place in the Premier League standings this season.
The FA Cup finalists – Chelsea and Arsenal, have already found their places in Champions League and Europa League respectively.
And the EFL Cup winners – Manchester United will give their place in the third qualifying round of Europa League to the next-best team in the Premier League standings, who have not qualified for European championships at the moment.
The seventh-ranked Premier League side, Everton will get a chance to take part in the third qualifying round of Europa League.
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