Spain has five clubs in Champions League
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
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Sevilla's UEFA Europa League triumph over Liverpool means there will be five Spanish clubs in next season's UEFA Champions League, with four starting in the group stage.
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Spain will have five teams in next season's UEFA Champions League following Sevilla's UEFA Europa League triumph on Wednesday.
Sevilla beat Liverpool 3-1 in Basel to claim the trophy for the third season in a row. They will join fellow Liga sides Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid in next season's competition proper, with Villarreal, who finished fourth in the Spanish top flight, entering in the play-offs.
A change in regulations announced in 2013 determined that from 2014/15 the UEFA Europa League winners would qualify for the following season's UEFA Champions League play-offs at least. However, as both of this term's UEFA Champions League finalists – Real Madrid and Atlético – are already in the 2015/16 group stage by virtue of their domestic league finishes, Sevilla will also not need to qualify.
2016/17 group stage
ESP: Barcelona*, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid
ENG: Leicester City*, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur
GER: Bayern München*, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen
ITA: Juventus*, Napoli
POR: Benfica*, Sporting CP
FRA: Paris Saint-German*, Lyon
RUS: CSKA Moskva or Rostov
UKR: Dynamo Kyiv
NED: PSV Eindhoven
BEL: Club Brugge
SUI: Basel
TUR: Beşiktaş
UEFA Europa League winners: Sevilla (ESP)
*Seeded in Pot 1 along with Russian champions and winner of Real Madrid v Atlético in Milan
Ten further teams will come through qualifying to make the group stage.
Play-offs (league path)
Villarreal (ESP), Manchester City (ENG), Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER), Roma (ITA), Porto (POR)
*Subject to final confirmation by UEFA