Charles Jackson
We are in the final stretch of the season in Europe’s top football leagues and every league except the Premier League now has champions after Real Madrid secured their 36th La Liga title. Girona did a solid job against Los Blancos whilst securing their historic passage to the UEFA Champions League and they were joined on this adventure by the Premier League’s Aston Villa – the European kings of 1982.
The playoffs are underway in Italy, but also in England, after Ipswich Town won promotion back in the Premier League behind champions Leicester City and sealed a return to the top flight for the first time since relegation in 2002. It arrived on the same day as Tom Brady’s Birmingham City dropped down to League One despite beating playoff-bound Norwich City on a thrilling final day.
Serie A and the Bundesliga are awarding extra places in the UEFA Champions League through the coefficient system, while other places in the UCL, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League are still being distributed. Some of the teams holding the UEL and UECL spots are expected to be upgraded to the UCL by the end of this campaign.
With less than a month to go until the Champions League final at Wembley Stadium brings the domestic clubs’ term to an end, we look at who secured what in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1.
Champions League
- EPL: Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa.
- Turns on: Real Madrid (champion), Barcelona, Girona and Atlético de Madrid.
- Series A: Inter (champions), Milan, Bologna and Juventus (Coppa Italia winners).
- Bundesliga: Leverkusen (champion), Bayern, Stuttgart, Leipzig and Dortmund (via league and extra coefficient spot).
- League 1: PSG (champion) and Monaco, as well as Lille and Brest (at least UCL qualifiers).
Firstly, there are already UCL positions to be gained, with Italian champions Inter taking the first of Serie A’s five Champions League places, after an additional one was gained via the UEFA coefficient. Bayer Leverkusen have already been crowned German champions and Xabi Alonso’s men could also triumph in the semi-finals of the Europa League, which will also see Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the UCL. BVB’s semi-final victory over French champions Paris Saint-Germain guaranteed VfB Stuttgart, RB Leipzig and themselves a place in next year’s Champions League, regardless of what happens next in Paris. Bayern’s opponents Real Madrid were the only Spanish team to book their place in the Champions League before even knowing what this year’s semi-finals and final would look like, but have since secured the La Liga title with four games remaining.
Europa League
- Turns on: Athletic Club.
- Series A: Atalanta (at least UEL).
- League 1: OGC Legal.
The competition with the most places up for grabs in recent weeks has been the Europa League, although many are moving up to the Champions League at this stage of the season. The EPL saw Aston Villa make the jump alongside La Liga’s Atletico Madrid, so it’s just Spain’s Copa del Rey winners Athletic Club. In Italy, Juventus have achieved an upgrade in the UCL, whilst Atalanta are currently the other Serie A seed in the UEL, but their form is such that they could be in the UCL given their pace. Ligue 1’s incredible success story Brest has already reached at least the Champions League playoffs.
Europa Conference League
- EPL: Tottenham Hotspur (at least UECL).
- Series A: Roma and Lazio (at least UECL).
- Bundesliga: Eintracht Frankfurt.
For now, a team or more from most major leagues are at least assured of Europa Conference League participation, with Tottenham Hotspur missing out on a Champions League place in the Premier League to Aston Villa.
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Demoted
- EPL: Burnley and Sheffield United.
- Turns on: Granada and Almería.
- Series A: Salernitana.
- Bundesliga: Darmstadt 98 (relegated) and FC Koln (at best a place in the playoffs).
- League 1: Clermont Foot and FC Lorient (at best, a place in the playoffs).
We now have our first relegations from the European top flight, with Sheffield United, Almeria, Salernitana and Darmstadt dropping to their respective second divisions. While more people will join them in the coming days and weeks, it may take until the final round of games for all of these spots to be confirmed.
Promoted
- EPL: Leicester (automatically as championship winners) and Ipswich (also automatic), while Leeds United, Southampton, West Bromwich Albion and Norwich will compete in the playoffs.
- Turns on: Valladolid (at least promotion playoffs).
- Series A: Parma (automatic as champion) and Como, while Venezia, Cremonese, Catanzaro, Palermo, Sampdoria and Brescia will compete in the playoffs.
- Bundesliga: FC St. Pauli and Holstein Kiel (automatically), while Fortuna Dusseldorf will compete in the playoffs.
- League 1: AJ Auxerre (as champions), while Angers SCO and AS Saint-Etienne are guaranteed at least a place in the playoffs.
Teams from the top five leagues have started to be relegated and Leicester City are now 100% certain of being promoted back to the Premier League as champions, as are Ipswich, who end a 22-year wait to return to the EPL in second place. In Italy, Serie B’s Parma are not yet champions, but no one else in the second division is confirmed to move up yet. Several clubs are certain of at least a place in the playoffs, including Como, Venezia, Cremonese and Catanzaro, as well as Ligue 2’s AJ Auxerre, Saint-Etienne and Angers, so expect more names to join these in the coming days and weeks.
