The Premier League’s hopes of receiving an extra Champions League spot are now hanging by a thread.
Ahead of the 23/24 season, it was confirmed that two of Europe’s top leagues will be rewarded with an extra place in the 24/25 edition of the Champions League.
This comes as part of the plan to expand Europe’s premier competition to a 36-team tournament.
The two leagues with the best average coefficient score will get the extra places.
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With Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and West Ham United all knocked out of the Champions League and Europa League respectively, England’s chances of getting that extra place are now dependent on Aston Villa, who are in the Europa Conference League.
Italy have already secured one of the two extra places and the remaining spot will be fought between Germany and England.
As reported by ESPN, Germany needs just 0.488 coefficient points to seal it, or two wins; or a win and two draws.
Germany have Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund left in the Champions League.
Meanwhile, Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen are the odds-on favourites to go all the way in the Europa League.
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For England to gain that extra spot, Villa will have to win every match and win the Europa Conference League and hope the German teams completely fail in the semi-finals.
Speaking recently, Villa boss spoke about his aim to take Villa back into Europe.
He said: “The time is passing so quickly, but it's been fantastic. We are progressively getting better and developing everything like we wanted to, when I decided to come here and take this challenge with Nassef, Wes Edens and Aston Villa.
“My target was, and is still, to be in Europe - to be in the Conference League, Europa League, Champions League. In the end, my target is to be with Aston Villa in the Champions League.”
Featured Image Credit: GettyTopics: Premier League, Aston Villa, Champions League, Football