Which teams participate in the Champions League, are relegated or promoted? UCL-bound Girona seals Real Madrid’s title

We are in the home phase of the season in the major football leagues in Europe and all competitions except the Premier League now have champions after Real Madrid secured their 36th La Liga crown. Girona gave Los Blancos a good performance as they clinched their historic ticket to the UEFA Champions League on the back of developments on a busy Saturday. Elsewhere, Ipswich Town deserved promotion returned to the Premier League behind champions Leicester City and sealed a return to the top flight for the first time since their relegation in 2002. It arrived the same day that Tom Brady’s City of Birmingham dropped to League One despite beating play-off-bound Norwich City on a thrilling final day.

Serie A and Bundesliga celebrate additional UEFA Champions League places via the coefficient system, while other UCL, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League places continue to be distributed. It is expected that a number of teams occupying the UEL and UECL spots will upgrade to the UCL towards the end of this campaign, so with just under a month until the Champions League final at Wembley Stadium the domestic club’s term to conclude, we look at who has secured what in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1.

Champions League

• EPL: Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool.
• La Liga: Real Madrid (champion), Girona and Barcelona.
• Series a: Inter (champions) and Milan.
• Bundesliga: Leverkusen (champion), Bayern, Stuttgart, Leipzig and Dortmund (via competition and extra coefficient spot).
• League 1: PSG (champions) and Monaco (at least UCL qualifiers).

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 also triumph in the semi-finals of the Europa League, which also features Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the UCL. BVB’s first-leg semi-final victory over French champions Paris Saint-Germain secured VfB Stuttgart, RB Leipzig and themselves a Champions League spot for next year, regardless of what happens next in Paris. Bayern’s opponents Real Madrid were the only Spanish side guaranteed a place in the Champions League before they even knew how this year’s semi-finals and final would play out, but they have since secured the La Liga title with four more games to go. Girona’s victory over Barcelona not only put them ahead of their Catalan rivals, but also secured a historic first-ever European appearance for Girona in the UCL.

Europa League

• EPL: Aston Villa (at least UEL).
• La Liga: Athletic Club and Atletico Madrid (at least UEL).
• Series a: Juventus and Bologna (at least UEL).
• League 1: Stade Brestois 29 (at least UEL).

The most-placed competition so far is the Europa League, with most teams currently occupying places likely to upgrade to the Champions League by the end of the season. The EPL currently has Aston Villa, while La Liga already has Atletico Madrid and Athletic Club, who recently won the Copa del Rey. In Italy, Juventus will certainly have at least a UEL berth, but they will fancy themselves a UCL upgrade, while Bologna are currently Serie A’s other UEL slot, but their form is such that given their pace it would be UCL can be. The incredible Ligue 1 success story Brest will be performing at least in the Europa League, if not better, by the end of the season.

Europe Conference League

• Series a: Roma (at least UECL).
• League 1: Lille OSC (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. Lille have secured a European spot that could yet become a spot in the Champions League and possibly even second place to PSG.

Demoted

• EPL: Sheffield United.
• La Liga: Almeria.
• Series a: Salernitana.
• Bundesliga: Darmstadt 98.

We now have our first relegations from Europe’s top flight, with Sheffield United, Almeria, Salernitana and Darmstadt 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 (automatically as championship winners) and Ipswich (also automatically), while Leeds United, Southampton, West Bromwich Albion and Norwich will contest the play-offs.
• Series a: Parma (automatically as champions), Como, Venezia, Cremonese, Catanzaro, Palermo, Sampdoria and Brescia (all at least Serie B play-offs).
• Bundesliga: Holstein Kiel and FC St. Pauli (at least promotion play-offs).
• League 1: Auxerre, Saint-Etienne and Angers (at least play-offs for promotion in Ligue 1).

Teams from the big five leagues are starting to be relegated and Leicester City are now 100% assured of promotion 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 side Parma are not yet champions, but no one else in the second division has been confirmed to rise. A handful of clubs are guaranteed a place in the play-offs, including Como, Venezia, Cremonese and Catanzaro, as well as Ligue 2’s AJ Auxerre, Saint-Etienne and Angers, so expect to see more names in the coming days and weeks will join these clubs.

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