Champions League, Europa League & Europa Vauxhall Conference League 25/26

[Pepe the Horseman]

And again

[Pepe the Horseman]

UTV

[Dirk Gently]

Bit of a mismatch - Villa won comfortably and confidently without ever really breaking sweat. Some really nice stuff from them

[Brum Royal]

The city was bouncing last night!

Also, where HBOMax have just joined up with Sky, I was able to watch the game and all the afters - so presumably if you have a Sky subscription you should be able to watch Palace next week

[Dirk Gently]

The city was bouncing last night!

Also, where HBOMax have just joined up with Sky, I was able to watch the game and all the afters - so presumably if you have a Sky subscription you should be able to watch Palace next week

And if you don't, but do do have a "swappable" from EE as part of your contract, you can use that to watch live games owned by TNT via your mobile.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Bit of a mismatch - Villa won comfortably and confidently without ever really breaking sweat. Some really nice stuff from them

It was obvious before kick off that would be the case. There was far too much hype for a game that was obviously a mismatch.

[6ft Kerplunk]

The city was bouncing last night!

Also, where HBOMax have just joined up with Sky, I was able to watch the game and all the afters - so presumably if you have a Sky subscription you should be able to watch Palace next week

And if you don't, but do do have a "swappable" from EE as part of your contract, you can use that to watch live games owned by TNT via your mobile.

You're not restricted to just using it on your mobile. I've got an android tv so can watch it on the HBOMax app there and if you've got a SkyQ box you can use the HBOMax app on it too.

[genome]

With Villa winning and getting Champions League, does that mean their place via the league goes to Bournemouth if they finish 6th?

[WestYorksRoyal]

With Villa winning and getting Champions League, does that mean their place via the league goes to Bournemouth if they finish 6th?

Complicated. If Villa finish 5th, Bournemouth will qualify, but not if they finish 4th. Someone else can explain why.

[Sutekh]

With Villa winning and getting Champions League, does that mean their place via the league goes to Bournemouth if they finish 6th?

Complicated. If Villa finish 5th, Bournemouth will qualify, but not if they finish 4th. Someone else can explain why.

Think it’s actually quite straight forward if you take time over thinking about it.

As I understand things the basic logic is below - and am happy to accept anyone else’s explanation if I’ve got something wrong

At the end of the day England gets 5 CL qualification places, but England is actually only entitled to 4 qualification places with the fifth place only being granted on a temporary basis according to UEFA’s ranking co-efficient. This fifth place award is regarded as a European Performance Spot EPS (there are two of these spots awarded, the other spot is currently with Spain).

The simple fact is that if Villa finish 5th (this is the league position that is designated by UEFA as the EPS) then the “extra” CL spot (or EPS) will go to the club that finishes in 6th because UEFA will recognise Villa as having already qualified for the CL as Europa League winners.

If Villa don’t finish 5th then the EPS remains with the 5th placed team so no CL spot for 6th.

Who can finish 6th ?

Liverpool, Bournemouth and Brighton

Final day fixtures for Villa, Liverpool, Bournemouth and Brighton….

Brighton v Man Utd
Liverpool v Brentford
Manchester City v Aston Villa
Nottm Forest v Bournemouth

For Villa to finish 5th Liverpool must beat Brentford while Villa lose at City.

If Villa do finish 5th then a Europa League place will be lost with just 7th earning a place. 8th will still earn the usual Conference place.

And SKY will spend Sunday wetting themselves every time there’s a goal in the above fixtures.

[PieEater]

I thought the Villa game was a decent watch last week so will probably watch Palace on HBOMax/TNT tonight. I can see them winning it.

[Winston Biscuit]

Palace and Vallacano fans getting to know each other in Leipzig today

[windermereROYAL]

That conference league really is a shit standard if that`s all they can serve up in a final. well done Palace.

[BRO_BOT]

Palace and Vallacano fans getting to know each other in Leipzig today

Must have been embarrassing when they all turned up in the same top

[From Despair To Where?]

What I find a bit sad about the Conference League is that it was designed to provide greater opportunities for teams from smaller nations yet 8 of the 10 finalists have still been from England, Italy and Spain.

[katweslowski]

Is it me or is English football absolutley nuts at the moment. We have many historically mid-sized clubs or those with limited success now competing Domestically and Europe, with multiple trophies being won.

West Ham, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace (inc. FA Cup)
Bournemouth, Brighton, Sunderland competing in Europe

Probably missed loads but I am not feeling 100% and very tired - fill in the gaps if you want

[WestYorksRoyal]

What I find a bit sad about the Conference League is that it was designed to provide greater opportunities for teams from smaller nations yet 8 of the 10 finalists have still been from England, Italy and Spain.

Hardly surprising. A team finishing 8th or 9th in the PL will obviously be stronger than the champions of Bulgaria. They should change the qualification criteria if they really want to give these teams a chance.

We can save time and just award the 2027 trophy to Brighton now.

[Winston Biscuit]

UEFA finalists wage bills:

PSG - £450M
Arsenal - £347M

Villa - £273M
Freiburg - £65M

Palace - £148M
Vallecano - £30M

[Winston Biscuit]

I have said for a while there should be a UEFA club competition which excludes the bigger leagues. would act a bit like the Nations League does in that it pitches people more towards those of a similar standard, and the more coefficient points you earn your league the more chance you have of moving up to the main UEFA competition event

[WestYorksRoyal]

UEFA finalists wage bills:

PSG - £450M
Arsenal - £347M

Villa - £273M
Freiburg - £65M

Palace - £148M
Vallecano - £30M

Europe League isn't always so lopsided; Spain and Germany have 5 or 6 big clubs capable of competing, some of whom drop into it. It's when you're getting down to 8th, 9th, 10th where nobody can compete with the depth of the PL.