Should English clubs lose to qualify for the Champions League?

Get out the calculators. As unlikely as it may seem, some Premier League clubs would have everything to lose on the last day of the Premier League in order to qualify for the Champions League next season, according to BBC Sport. This anomaly is due to a specificity of UEFA’s regulations.

Thanks to its performances in Europe, the Premier League is already guaranteed to send five clubs to the Champions League next season. But if Aston Villa finishes 5th in the league and wins the Europa League, the 6th place, currently held by Bournemouth, would also be qualifying for the Champions League. With three matchdays remaining in the league, eight clubs can still mathematically hope for this place and two of them, the Cherries and Brentford, have never played in a European competition.

Therefore, it is likely that the team occupying the sixth place before the final matchday will have to lose in order to secure a place in the Champions League. Brighton faces Manchester United, in third place, while Brentford visits Liverpool, in fourth place. If the Seagulls or Bees were sure to keep the sixth place even in case of defeat – as they could rely on a victory from their opponents to keep Villa in fifth place – this could allow them to access the Champions League rather than the Europa League.

Lastly, in a rather crazy turn of events, if Nottingham Forest wins the Europa League and Crystal Palace wins the Conference League (without finishing among the top seven or eight), then the top ten teams in the English league will be represented in Europe next season.

Apologies for the headache.