England are in a good position to qualify for fifth place in the 2026-27 Champions League by finishing in the top two on this season’s UEFA coefficient table.
Champions League action concluded on Wednesday with England sitting at the top of the table, with Germany in second place, just ahead of Spain.
UEFA’s coefficient table measures how national clubs perform in three European competitions.
The top two finishers at the end of the campaign will be awarded an additional Champions League spot, known as the European Performance Spot.
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Sky Sports News takes a closer look at how Premier League clubs fared in the Champions League and each team’s journey to the final.
England secured one of the spots last season, along with Spain.
Newcastle qualified for this season’s Champions League in fifth place, benefiting as a Premier League club.
Here’s why the same thing is likely to happen in 2026/27.
How do coefficient tables work?
Countries are awarded points based on their clubs’ performance in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.
That total point is then divided by the number of clubs participating in European competitions to rank each country by their average score.
A win is worth 2 coefficient points, a draw is worth 1, and a loss is worth nothing.
Additionally, bonus points will be awarded based on your finishing position in the league phase table and your progress in each knockout round.
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Sky Sports News reporters assess the performance of Premier League teams in the Champions League so far this season
The Champions League bonus points are much higher compared to the other two competitions.
The team that finishes top of the Champions League phase table will receive 12 bonus points. In contrast, a team that finishes top of the Europa League phase table will receive 6 points, and a team that finishes top of the Conference League phase table will receive 4 points.
The weight given to the Champions League over the Europa League or Conference League helps explain why Europe’s top leagues usually receive extra spots, given the greater number of clubs competing in Europe’s elite competitions.
It also helps explain why England are in such a strong position this season, with five of their six teams finishing in the top eight of the Champions League phase table.
raw coefficient table
With 72.50 bonus points for each club’s final Champions League standings, England strengthened their position at the top of the coefficient table, with an average score almost 30 percent higher than Germany in second place.
Germany is effectively 17 points behind England, while Italy and Spain are 20 points behind.
England is the only country with all teams still in action for the final round of Europa League and Conference League matches on Thursday night.
The number of clubs still competing is a plus point for England, but other leagues could actually benefit from playing extra matches in the final round play-offs, given that it provides an additional opportunity for each country to earn coefficient points.
With so much European football still to be played this season, England are not yet mathematically guaranteed to finish in the top two on the coefficient table. Last season’s top two positions were not confirmed until April.
However, Opta believes this is already a done deal.
Their predicted points model gives England a 100 per cent chance of finishing in the top two, followed by Germany with 40.9 per cent, Portugal with 26.1 per cent, Italy with 23.5 per cent and Spain with 8.1 per cent.
Which Premier League clubs could benefit?
The possibility of an extra Champions League spot is good news for a group of clubs who currently sit fourth on five points, with only Manchester United (38 points) and 11th place Sunderland (33 points) separating them.
Chelsea currently sit in fifth place with 37 points, just ahead of Liverpool with 36 points.
According to Opta, the current top three – Arsenal, Manchester City and Aston Villa – have a 100 per cent, 99 per cent and 98.9 per cent probability of finishing in the top five respectively.
Despite currently sitting above Chelsea and Liverpool in the table, Chelsea are given a chance of 64 per cent, Liverpool 57.6 per cent and Manchester United 44.9 per cent.
Newcastle, who finished fifth last season, are the next favorites, but according to Opta they have just an 11.7 per cent chance of finishing in the top five, ahead of Fulham’s 5.9 per cent chance of finishing in the top five.
