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Will the Premier League still get a fifth Champions League spot after clubs' dire week?
Mar 12 2026 12:11 · By Nathan Ridley/Senior Sports Reporter · 36 Reads
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Six games, zero wins. That was the sorry tale for English clubs in the Champions League this week.
Newcastle and Arsenal each earned 1-1 draws with Barcelona and Bayer Leverkusen respectively, but that was as good as it got. Liverpool suffered a 1-0 defeat against Galatasaray before Tottenham were thrashed 5-2 by Atletico Madrid .
On Wednesday, Chelsea lost to Paris Saint-Germain by the same scoreline while Manchester City were stunned 3-0 by Real Madrid . The dire set of results has left supporters of clubs in the race to qualify for next season's Champions League - such as Aston Villa , Manchester United , Chelsea and Liverpool - wondering if fifth place will be enough.
Under UEFA rules, the two nations which perform best across the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League are handed an extra place in their domestic leagues for Europe's premier competition. Newcastle were the beneficiaries last season, with Chelsea currently on course to finish fifth this campaign.
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The good news is that England still has a comfortable lead at the top of the coefficient table as of March 11. England is the only nation to have all of its teams (nine) reach the last 16 of each of the three competitions.
Their score of 22.513 is well clear of Spain's 18.031 and Germany's 18.000. However, bad results next week when teams are eliminated could see England's ranking plummet.
This happened in the 2023-24 season, with England having looked set to claim an extra place before a quarter-final stage collapse. It would, however, take a huge effort from Spanish, German or Italian clubs to kick England out of the top two.
How many English clubs will reach the Champions League quarter-finals? Give us your prediction in the comments section .
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The knockout draws for all three competitions aided Germany the most. Its four teams in the Champions League and Europa League were all placed opposite brackets and wouldn't meet until the finals.
That's unlike Spain, who could see Barcelona take on Atletico in the Champions League quarter-finals. And in the semis of the Europa League, Celta Vigo could fac Real Betis .
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