Summary: How many teams can the Premier League send to the UCL after Villa won the Europa League?
On 21 May 2026 GMT+7, the UEFA Champions League spots for Premier League clubs were finalized after Aston Villa claimed the 2025-26 UEFA Europa League title by defeating Freiburg 3-0 in the final.
Previously, Aston Villa secured their place in next season's UEFA Champions League by guaranteeing a top-five finish in the Premier League standings after beating Liverpool 4-2 last week, with one game remaining.
1. Arsenal 82 points *Qualified for UCL
2. Manchester City 78 points *Qualified for UCL
3. Manchester United 68 points *Qualified for UCL
4. Aston Villa 62 points *Qualified for UCL
5. Liverpool 59 points
6. Bournemouth 56 points
7. Brighton 53 points
Originally, the Premier League's UCL qualification spots were for teams finishing 1st to 4th. However, after English clubs advanced deeply in all three major European cup competitions, an extra spot was awarded based on UEFA's European Performance Spot (EPS), given to the league ranked in the top two for UEFA coefficient points.
Thus, the 5th-placed Premier League team will qualify for the UEFA Champions League via the EPS spot. Since Aston Villa won the Europa League, which grants automatic UCL entry, the Premier League could have six teams qualify, depending on Villa's final league position.
- The Premier League will have six teams in the UCL, with Villa qualifying as Europa League champions.
- The EPS spot shifts to the 6th place team (contested between Bournemouth and Brighton).
- The Premier League will have five teams in the UCL, with Villa qualifying via their league position.
- The EPS spot goes to the 5th place team (contested between Liverpool and Bournemouth).
- Villa must forfeit the Europa League champion's UCL spot to another league with a high UEFA coefficient but no UCL qualification yet, by default.
- The 6th and 7th place teams qualify for the Europa League, while the 8th place team enters the UEFA Conference League playoff round.
UEFA rules state that teams qualifying automatically for European cups through their country's standard allocation cannot also take additional special spots (such as as cup winners, EPS spots). These special spots are instead passed to other leagues.
Special spots only transfer to another team within the same league if that team has not already qualified through the league's standard allocation.
- If Aston Villa finishes 6th in the Premier League but wins the Europa League, they still qualify for the UCL.
- The EPS spot then belongs to the 5th place team, meaning the Premier League has six teams in the UCL.
- If Arsenal wins the Champions League, the Premier League does not gain a seventh UCL spot since Arsenal already qualified via their league position (1st-4th). The Champions League winner's spot is then passed to another league.
