While winning a domestic competition or cup – such as the Premier League or FA Cup – is impressive, there is something special about winning a European trophy that a club’s fans can brag about. There have been many European competitions over the years, with the likes of the Anglo-Italian Cup and the Cup Winners Cup having been discontinued as UEFA streamlined club competitions under its watch.
How do Premier League teams qualify for Europe? Premier League teams, as with teams from other leagues in Europe, qualify for Europe based on their results from the previous season. This is usually (though not always) down to their Premier League placing, meaning the race for a spot in the top four is vital.
The best way to break down how Premier League clubs can qualify for Europe is to take things competition by competition. As of the 2021-2022 Premier League season there are three European competitions that Premier League clubs can aim for with results from the previous season dictating which, if any, of the Champions League, Europa League, of Conference League they will be playing in alongside their domestic campaigns.
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League is the biggest competition in Europe featuring clubs from different countries battling each other. This competition is a direct descendent from the European Cup, a competition that only involved the most elite club from each league the previous season as only the winner of a league would qualify into the showpiece.
This is the competition that is played (generally) on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in Europe. It is the competition with by far the most money attached to it, with television and prize money sitting at over $100 million for any of the Premier League teams good enough to win the whole thing.
Qualifying for the Champions League through the Premier League is a straightforward equation. A team simply has to finish in the top four at the end of the grueling 38 game season prior and they will automatically be placed in the Champions League group stages. This means avoiding the qualification rounds that smaller nations have to go through and this is based on an ever-changing coefficient that UEFA uses to grade the strength of a country’s league. This is done based on the results of teams from that country in European competitions over the previous few seasons and with the strength of the English league this four place to the group stage system won’t change any time soon.
The Premier League can actually get a fifth team into the Champions League in any given year. To do this would require a Premier League club to win either the Champions League ore the Europe League in the previous year AND fail to finish in the top four places in the Premier League. If a club wins either of the European trophy’s and does finish in the top four, then that extra place is not transferred. In the highly unlikely event that different English clubs with both the Champions League and the Europe League AND neither finishes in the top four, then the fourth placed team misses out on qualification and drops into the Europa League instead. This means that the cap on English teams in the Champions League in any given season is set at a potential five.
UEFA Europa League
It is worth noting here that the number of Premier League teams allowed in Europe in a given year is seven. In a normal year, the first four places in the Premier League are taken up by Champions League qualifiers, while the fifth placed team qualifies for the group stage proper of the Europa League. That team is joined in the group stage of the competition by the winner of the FA Cup.
Often, however, the winner of the FA Cup is a team that finishes in the top five of the Premier League and has therefore already qualified for one of the two major European competitions for the next season. In this case, the Europa League spot does not go to the team losing the FA Cup final, but instead to the team that finished in sixth place in the Premier League.
UEFA Conference League
The UEFA Conference League is a relatively new competition and it was conceived by UEFA as a way to give league winning clubs from smaller nations something to aim for and win without numerous big clubs from bigger nations in their way. There is one place on offer for Premier League clubs – or all football league clubs in England here in theory – as the winner of the English Football league (EFL) Cup get this final place in Europe.
The EFL Cup is another competition, however, that has been dominated in winning terms by clubs that finish high up in the Premier League. If the winner of the EFL Cup has already qualified in another way – such as a top four spot for the Champions League, a fifth-fifth placed finish or FA Cup win for the Europa League – then the Europa League spot goes to the next highest team not qualified for a UEFA Competition in the Premier League. This means that it will be either the sixth or seventh placed team depending on how the other qualification scenarios have worked out.
One thing to note here is that the spot in this competition is one where the Premier League/English Football League club enters in the playoff round. This is almost a competition clubs would rather not be in as it means the season starts in early August – potentially with a trip to Eastern Europe – and just makes the season drag for players at the business end the next May when places for Europe are decided all over again.