We are in the home stretch of the season in the major football leagues in Europe and some champions have already been crowned and other titles are just around the corner. In addition to these festivities, the top spots for the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League will be distributed, although some teams occupying the UEL and UECL spots are expected to upgrade to the UCL towards the end of this campaign. With just over a month to go until the Champions League final at Wembley Stadium to end the domestic club’s season with a bang, we take a look at who has secured what so far in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1.
Champions League
- EPL: Arsenal.
- La Liga: Real Madrid.
- Series a: Inter (as champion).
- Bundesliga: Leverkusen (as champions) and Bayern.
- League 1: PSG (at least second place).
First and foremost, positions in the UCL are already closing, with Italian champions Inter taking the first of the five Champions League places in Serie A after an extra one was earned via the UEFA coefficient. Bayer Leverkusen have already been crowned German champions and Xabi Alonso’s men could even help secure an extra place in the Bundesliga via their progress into the semi-finals of the Europa League, along with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the UCL. BVB’s opponents starting this week are Paris Saint-Germain and the French giants are close to becoming Ligue 1 champions after a point at home to Le Havre AC for Luis Enrique’s side. Bayern’s opponents Real Madrid are currently the only Spanish side guaranteed a place in the Champions League before they even know how this year’s edition will go.
Europa League
- EPL: Liverpool, City and Aston Villa (all at least UEL).
- La Liga: Barca, Girona and Athletic Club (all at least UEL).
- Series a: Milan (at least UEL).
- Bundesliga: Stuttgart, Leipzig and Dortmund (all at least UEL).
The competition with the most allocated places to date is the Europa League, with the majority of teams currently occupying places likely to upgrade to the Champions League by the end of the season. The EPL currently has three clubs, including Liverpool, Manchester City and Aston Villa, while La Liga already offers a guaranteed spot in the worst-case scenario for Barcelona and Athletic Club, who recently won the Copa del Rey. Girona have fallen out of contention for the La Liga title but are on course to secure a UCL berth and now hold a 13-point lead over Athletic Bilbao, who have already secured Europa League football despite they are in the first UEL spot in the competition. the table. In Italy, Milan will certainly have at least a UEL berth, but they will fancy themselves a UCL upgrade, while the Bundesliga currently features VfB Stuttgart and RB Leipzig, although both – along with Dortmund – could end up in the Champions League end up. Germany deserves the second extra berth.
Europe Conference League
- Series a: Juventus (at least UECL).
- League 1: AS Monaco (at least UECL).
For now, one team from most major leagues has secured at least participation in the Europa Conference League, although current semi-finalists Villa have now been upgraded to the Europa League as they battle Tottenham Hotspur for a Champions League spot in the Premier League. Juventus are currently Serie A’s UECL lock, but their form is such that it should at least be a UEL spot, if not UCL, given their 10-point lead over the top Europa League spot, while AS Monaco have joined PSG and clinched a European spot, but a 10-point lead over UEL contenders OGC Nice suggests that les Monegasques will end up in the Champions League and possibly finish second in the capital.
Demoted
- EPL: Sheffield United.
- La Liga: Almeria.
- Series a: Salernitana.
We now have our first relegations from Europe’s top flight, with Sheffield United, Almeria and Salernitana having dropped to their respective second tiers. Although more players will join them in the coming days and weeks, it may take until the final round of play before all these places are confirmed.
Promoted
- EPL: Leicester (automatic but not yet champion winners), Leeds, Ipswich (both could still automatically get a place as champions) and Southampton (at least play-offs).
- Series a: Parma, Como, Venezia, Cremonese and Catanzaro (all at least Serie B play-offs).
- League 1: Auxerre (minimum Ligue 1-Ligue 2 promotion/relegation play-offs).
Teams from the five major leagues have started to be relegated and Leicester City is now 100% assured of promotion to the Premier League. However, it has not yet been confirmed that anyone else will rise in the second division, with a handful of clubs assured of at least a play-off spot, including Leeds United, Ipswich Town and Southampton from the Championship, Parma, Como, Venezia, Cremonese and Catanzaro from Serie B. as well as AJ Auxerre from Ligue 2. Expect more names to join these players in the coming days and weeks.
