Aston Villa could trigger Champions League qualification loophole Newcastle United & Sunderland would love
Aston Villa could trigger a remarkable Champions League qualification rule that could benefit Newcastle United or Sunderland.
Newcastle United’s Champions League hopes are thought to be all but over, but Aston Villa could hand them a surprise lifeline.
The Magpies sit 14th in the Premier League table, six points off the top six with five games left to play. European football, let alone Champions League qualification, is unlikely for Howe’s side, who have lost eight of their last 11 league matches.
Despite a largely underwhelming and disappointing season, Newcastle would be right back in the European race had they just a few more points on the board.
Newcastle’s fierce rivals Sunderland are in such a position, as they sit just two points behind sixth place with five games left to play. The Black Cats just lost a thrilling encounter with Aston Villa 4-3 at Villa Park but could still be handed a welcome boost to their European hopes by the Villans.
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Is the Champions League dream still somehow alive?
While Newcastle have been sleepwalking down the table in the past few months, Champions League qualification is still mathematically possible.
And UEFA have clarified to The Gazette that sixth place in the Premier League has been earmarked as a potential Champions League qualification spot should a particular set of circumstances unfold. And those circumstances are not unrealistic.
Should Aston Villa finish fifth and win the Europa League, sixth place in the Premier League would qualify for next season’s Champions League. Villa currently sit fourth in the table but are just three points ahead of Liverpool in fifth with an inferior goal difference.
Villa also host Liverpool on the penultimate matchday of the season. Prior to that, they will face Nottingham Forest over two legs in the Europa League semi-final.
As Forest can’t finish in the European places in the Premier League, only Villa can trigger an extra Champions League spot by finishing precisely fifth and winning the Europa League.
The top four in the Premier League qualify automatically for the Champions League while fifth place enters the competition via the European Performance Spot (EPS) granted to the two nations with the best-performing sides in Europe over the course of the season.
England, partly thanks to Newcastle’s progress to the last-16 of the Champions League, are already guaranteed an EPS.
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