The race for the extra Champions League spot is hotting up, but how is the European coefficient ranking calculated?
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The 2024/25 season will see the Champions League expanded to include 36 teams, meaning four extra spots are available for clubs in Europe.
Two of those extra spots will go to nations whose clubs achieve the best collective performance in European competition the season before, with UEFA's club coefficient ranking determining which nation will be awarded an extra place in next season's Champions League.
England actually has the most points in the coefficient this season, but because eight sides from the Premier League competed across the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League this term, compared to seven from Italy and Germany, England's average isn't as competitive. As a result, England sit third in the rankings, behind the aforementioned nations.
But how is the European coefficient calculated? FourFourTwo explains everything you need to know about the working out required.
How is the European coefficient ranking calculated?
City's exit to Real Madrid will affect England's coefficient ranking (Image credit: Getty Images)
Updated after every round of UEFA club competition matches, the coefficient is worked out by dividing the number of points obtained by a nation by the total number of clubs competing in the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League. This provides an average score, which places each nation into a respective table.
Points are scored during each game of each round of the respective competition, too.
A win is worth two coefficient points for a club, while a draw is worth one. Obviously, a defeat doesn't give anything. Bonus points are also awarded for progression to certain stages, with a heavier weighting provided to Champions League bonuses compared to the Europa League and Europa Conference League.
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Reaching the Round of 16 in the Champions League, for example, is worth five points to each individual club from a nation, while it's just one in the Europa League and nothing in the Europa Conference League. Winning the group in the Europa League, however, is worth four points, two in the Conference League, and nothing in the Champions League.
Penalty shootout wins, however, do not count as a victory. Instead, they're counted as a draw, meaning just one point is on offer. Real Madrid, for example, will have received one point for progressing through to the semi-finals of the Champions League after beating Manchester City on penalties, because it was a draw after 120 minutes in the second leg.
Once the points from clubs in a nation are added together, they're then divided by the number of clubs a country has in Europe. That provides the coefficient average.
Champions League bonus points
4 - Group stage participation
5 - Round of 16
1 - QF, SF, final
Europa League bonus points
4 - Group winners
2 - Group runners-up
1 - Round of 16, QF, SF, final
Europa Conference League bonus points
2 - Group winners
1 - Group runners-up
1 - SF, final
Arsenal's loss will also affect rankings (Image credit: James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.
