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Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Tuesday night after beating Porto on penalties at the Emirates Stadium, which could actually prove great news for Tottenham Hotspur fans.
While the rivalry between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur is vitriolic at the best of times, the Gunners’ results in Europe actually has the potential to benefit Spurs’ future.
Indeed, with four extra teams qualifying for the Champions League in the 2024/25 season as part of the tournament’s new format, Tottenham could still sneak into Europe’s elite competition even if they finish fifth in the Premier League.
That’s because two of the four extra spots will go to the nations whose clubs achieve the best collective performance in Europe, meaning the progression of Premier League side in Europe this term – Arsenal included – could have a huge impact on Tottenham for next season.
Following Tuesday’s results, though, England remain third in the UEFA coefficient rankings, behind Italy and Germany. Each nation achieves a score based on its total coefficient points in European competition divided by the number of clubs competing.
Results in the Champions League are also more heavily weighted, so the progression of Arsenal and Manchester City has more of an effect on England’s coefficient ranking than Liverpool, Brighton & Hove Albion and West Ham United in the Europa League, and Aston Villa in the Europa Conference League.
That hasn’t been helped by Manchester United and Newcastle United both being knocked out of the Champions League in the group stages, while Brighton need to overturn a four-goal first leg deficit against Roma to have reach the next round.
As a result, Tottenham’s Champions League hopes could rely even more on Arsenal performing well.
Of course, Tottenham could still finish fourth to qualify automatically, but they’re current fifth in the table, just two points off of Aston Villa in fourth with a game in hand. Manchester United, though performing inconsistently, could still fancy their chances of pipping Spurs and Villa to fourth as well.
Champions League coefficient rankings
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