After Thursday night’s Europa League and Europa Conference League activity, Tottenham Hotspur’s chances of earning Champions League football for the 2024–2025 season have significantly increased.
- Following the play-off elimination phase, the final 16 lineups for Europe’s two competitions were announced Friday night. Ajax, Maccabi Haifa, Dinamo Zagreb, Servette, Molde, Sturm Graz, Olympiakos, and Union Saint-Gilloise qualified in the Europa League, while AC Milan, Benfica, Freiburg, Marseille, Qarabag, Roma, Sparta Prague, and Sporting CP advanced in the Europa League.
Even though the two tournaments are meaningless for the Champions League, each team’s performance will decide which country gets one of the two extra berths for the Champions League’s “Switzerland” format the following season.
The leagues with the best results across all three European competitions will share the two berths. Coefficient points, which might be given for victories and draws, will determine the payout for the extra positions, thereby turning it into a league competition.
Italy and Germany are still in first and second place, respectively, but Union Saint-Gilloise of Belgium gave England a tremendous boost in their ambitions of passing the Bundesliga. They emerged victorious 2-1 at Deutsche Bank Park to eliminate Eintracht Frankfurt, who had held them to a 2-2 tie in the first leg.
In the coefficient ranking, the Premier League is more closely aligned with Germany than with Italy, and their advantage stems from Frankfurt’s departure. Bonus points are awarded to teams for reaching specific stages; however, the Conference League does not award them until the semifinals.
Even though they lost their first-leg matches, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, and Bayern Munich are still alive in the Champions League. Freiburg and Bayer Leverkusen are in the Europa League final sixteen. There are now six Premier League teams competing in the three competitions throughout Europe, down from eight when Manchester United and Newcastle were eliminated in the group stages.
If Tottenham hopes to compete in the Champions League the following season, they will need to withstand another formidable round against their league rivals in the last 16. Arsenal faces FC Porto and needs to overcome a 1-0 deficit, while Manchester City has already advanced to the quarterfinals after overcoming FC Copenhagen 3-1.
