Premier League: How 9 teams can qualify for Champions League, Europa League
Premier League is one of the most competitive leagues in the world and qualifying into the Champions League and Europa League from England requires that a team must finish in the top six.
However, according to UEFA, these rules have some exceptions, depending on who wins the elite tournaments and who qualifies for next season.
In the Premier League for example, four top sides qualify into the Champions League while winner of the Carabao Cup, FA Cup and the fifth placed side go into the Champions and Europa Leagues respectively.
But this season, City have won the league cup, which means the sixth placed side will have an automatic slot in the Europa League next season.
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However, things are now complicated as winners of the Champions League and Europa League have slots in the money-spinning Champions League next season.
Watford can only qualify into the Europa League if they defeat Man City in the FA Cup final but if the reverse be the case, the seventh placed team in the league will go through to the Europa league.
But before 2015, Stoke City and Hull City took advantage as they qualified into Europe when they both lost in the FA Cup finals respectively.
If an English team become European champions and finish in the top four, then only four Premier League teams will go into next season's Champions League. The extra slot will be given to the Austrian Champions.
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But if an English topflight team finishes outside the top four and emerge as European champions, then five teams from England will play in next season's competition.
There are also no automatic slots for Champions League finalists, if Liverpool had not made top four last season, they will not be in this season'campaign.
The European governing body changed the rules, in 2012 Tottenham finished fourth but missed out because Chelsea won the Champions League. Spurs would have qualified if it were to be this season.
Until 2005, winners did not qualify automatically until when Liverpool won the tournament but did not finish in the top four.
If either Arsenal or Chelsea win the Europa League this season and finish outside the top four then they will qualify for the Champions League next season.
But if winners finish outside the top four, it will mean five English teams will be in the Champions League group stages.
However if they make top four, then no English team will have an extra spot. The team who finish third in the fifth-ranked league - France - will go into the Champions League group stages instead of the qualifiers.
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There can be a maximum of five teams from one country in the Champions League, so if an English side wins both tournaments and does not finish in top four, things will get complicated.
If that happens, the fourth placed team in the Premier League will not qualify and would drop into the Europa League group stages fro next season.
If a season ever occurred when English teams won the Champions League and Europa League - and neither of them made top four - there would be nine Premier League teams in Europe (five in the Champions League and four in the Europa League).
And if one of them qualified for Europe and the other did not, then there would be five teams in the Champions League and three in the Europa League.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that Premier League table remained unchanged over the weekend but the title race and the top four battle is still wide open.
Liverpool came from a goal down to defeat Southampton 3-1 at St. Marys' in an early fixture played on Friday, April 5.
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Source: Legit.ng
