Growing up I always thought that Champions League places were set in stone. I assumed that the top four teams in the top leagues like Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and of course England would automatically get placed into the competition. The top 2 or 3 teams from lesser leagues would get in automatically as well, and teams that won their leagues in countries like Slovenia or Romania would have to qualify for the group stage.
Little did I know that there was some complex math happening in the background and that there was actually a coefficient that decided how many places each country would receive. Well you can’t blame a middle schooler for not knowing what a coefficient is and now that I do know what is, I can happily relay the news that Declan Rice may have handed Chelsea a place in next year’s Champions League.
Obviously this is not set in stone as the Blues will have to do their part, but thanks to Rice’s virtuoso free kick performance, and the rest of the teams from the Premier League playing in Europe, there will be five English teams in the Champions League. This snippet from ESPN shares more information on how the coefficient works and how all the teams play a role.
"The two leagues with the best average coefficient scores get an extra place. Regardless of competition, each win is worth two coefficient points, a draw gets you one point, and you get nothing for a defeat. The points gained by all clubs are added together, and that total score is divided by the number of clubs a country has in Europe in the season. That gives the coefficient average."ESPN on the UEFA coefficient
This year England has secured the top spot and that has plenty to do with Chelsea’s dominance in the UEFA Conference League as much as it does with Arsenal and Aston Villa’s run to the Champions League competition. This is because a win is worth two points “regardless of competition” because the goal is to measure the strength of the teams no matter what level of football they are playing in Europe.
So with this additional Champions League place, Chelsea now have a little more wiggle room in order to secure qualification. They currently sit 4th and level on points with Newcastle who are behind on goal difference but have a game in hand because of the League Cup Final.
The easiest way to secure one of these top five places is to simply win out as they will remain in control of their own destiny if they do so. With matches against Ipswich, Fulham, and Everton coming up in quick succession, nothing less than 9 points should be acceptable for the Blues before they have to face Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Nottingham Forest to close out the season.
This is quite the gauntlet for Chelsea to try and earn a Champions League place but nothing good rarely comes easy.