Victories for Arsenal, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, along with Nottingham Forest’s draw, have mathematically confirmed that the Premier League will have five places in next season’s Champions League. Since the format change, two places are contested amongst the European leagues, and are awarded to the two leagues whose representatives accumulate the most points across the three competitions.

It has been a very positive season for the English sides. In fact, they could reach the semi-finals in the Champions League, the Europa League and the Conference League. The group stage laid the foundations for securing the extra spot. Five teams in Europe’s top competition, plus Aston Villa in the Europa League, managed to break into the top eight by amassing a large number of points.

Furthermore, there were six English teams in the Champions League round of 16. Arsenal now have everything in their favour to reach the Champions League semi-finals. Liverpool need to overturn a two-goal deficit against PSG. In the Europa League, Aston Villa hold a two-goal lead, whilst Nottingham Forest will play their final chance at home following their draw against Porto in Portugal. Crystal Palace hold a three-goal lead over Fiorentina in the Europa League quarter-finals.

Results of the first-leg quarter-final matches involving English teams

• Sporting CP 0-1 Arsenal
• PSG 2-0 Liverpool
• Bologna 1-3 Aston Villa
• Porto 1-1 Nottingham Forest
• Crystal Palace 3-0 Fiorentina

The second spot: LaLiga or the Bundesliga

The other extra spot currently belongs to LaLiga. However, the Bundesliga is hot on the heels of the Spanish league, thanks to victories by Bayern Munich and Freiburg over Real Madrid and Celta Vigo, respectively. These two ties could prove crucial in determining which league secures an additional place in the next edition of the Champions League.

The quarter-final second legs will be important, but the semi-finals even more so, as these are two matches where each team can pick up points. It is worth remembering that each match is worth three points for a win and one for a draw, so every fixture counts in determining whether LaLiga or the Bundesliga will be the league to secure an extra place in Europe’s premier competition.

Remaining results from the quarter-final first legs

• Real Madrid 1-2 Bayern Munich
• Barcelona 0-2 Atlético Madrid
• Braga 1-1 Betis
• Freiburg 3-0 Celta Vigo
• Rayo Vallecano 3-0 AEK Athens
• Mainz 2-0 Strasbourg
• Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0 AZ Alkmaar