How Tottenham or Manchester United will qualify for the league phase of the Champions League

The 2024/25 UEFA Europa League winners will automatically qualify for the league phase of next season's UEFA Champions League, meaning a significant bonus for either Tottenham or Manchester United.

The English pair cannot qualify for the Champions League via the Premier League, with both sides set to finish in the bottom half. There will therefore be six English teams in the 2025/26 league phase for the Champions League.

What if the Europa League winners qualified via their domestic league position?

One of the main principles of the new European club competition format post-2024 is the important role of the club coefficient – namely, a club's performance in European club competitions over the current five-year period.

It is for this reason, under the 2024–27 club competition format, that if the Europa League winners have also qualified for the league phase of the Champions League via their domestic league position, then the club with the best individual coefficient of all the teams in Champions League qualifying (champions path and league path) goes directly into the league phase.

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Last year, with UEFA Europa League winners Atalanta having already earned a 2024/25 UEFA Champions League slot, it was Benfica who were handed the bonus.

However, no leapfrogging is permitted here, meaning a team from the league path can only move into the league phase provided that this club is the highest ranked domestically of those from its association that have not already qualified for the league phase of the competition directly (see paragraph 3.04b of the official UEFA Champions League regulations). If this is not the case, the automatic league phase place goes to the club with the next best coefficient.