Race for Europe: UEFA qualifying permutations, standings, and what teams need in Premier League and big-five European leagues

While many of the European title races, including that of the Premier League, are over as we move into the final week of the domestic season, there's still plenty at stake.

Much of the focus is on qualification to UEFA club competitions, most of which are gained by table finish in each European league.

In the Premier League, the chase for European places has provided a thrilling conclusion to the season in the absence of close title or relegation races. While the qualifying teams have largely been determined, their order has not, leaving many with a chance to secure a spot in the coveted Champions League.

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Further around the big five European leagues, there are still a number of berths to be earned, even while two of the five league seasons have concluded. With some European places determined by the domestic cup winner, the qualifying spots are still up in the air even as the league campaign has come to an end.

The Sporting News details where all five European leagues stand as the campaigns come to a close, with a breakdown of what each contending club needs on the final day to see their way into the various competitions next season.

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Race for Europe: UEFA qualifying permutations, standings

Here is how things look across the big five leagues when it comes to European qualification for 2025/26.

Premier League

Teams qualified for Europe

Given not only the incredibly crowded race for European places, but also the presence of three clubs in European finals, the permutations for the Premier League coming into the final day of the season are by far the most complicated.

The Premier League could potentially end up with 10 total teams if a number of different things shake out in their favour.

Here's what we know:

• England and Spain are the two nations that earned five Champions League places next season.
• Liverpool and Arsenal have mathematically confirmed a place in the Champions League through their league finish.
• Crystal Palace have confirmed a place in the Europa League via their FA Cup title, which takes away one European place from the table finishers. Thus, only sixth place will secure a Europa League berth.
• Newcastle United are guaranteed to be playing in Europe in some capacity next season thanks to their Carabao Cup title, which secures at least a Conference League berth. If they qualify for one of the two more prestigious competitions by table position, the Conference League berth would fall to seventh place in the table — which is the worst Newcastle can do in the standings anyways.
• With both Manchester United and Tottenham in the Europa League final, one of them will qualify for the Champions League by way of victory in that match in Bilbao, Spain on May 31.
• Because of the seven-point gap between Nottingham Forest in seventh and Brighton & Hove Albion in eighth, the top seven in the table are set. However, there is still a way that eighth place could earn a place in Europe: if Chelsea win the Conference League final and either they or Newcastle finish seventh in the league, the team in eighth will take the spare Conference League qualifying spot.

Premier League standings

Primary tiebreakers:

1. Goal differential
2. Goals scored
3. Head-to-head record

Champions League positions

x — qualified for Champions League
y — qualified for at least Europa League
z — qualified for at least Conference League

Europa League position

Conference League position

In the hunt

European permutations for each club on the final day of the Premier League season

• Liverpool: Already qualified for Champions League
• Arsenal: Already qualified for Champions League
• Man City (vs. Bournemouth, @ Fulham): Man City have a game in hand thanks to their appearance in the FA Cup final. Six points over their last two games will secure Champions League football. Thanks to their superior goal-difference advantage over Aston Villa, four points will do the job as well. Three or fewer points leaves them vulnerable.
• Newcastle (vs. Everton): Thanks to their vastly superior goal differential over Aston Villa, a win on the final day at St. James' Park would secure a Champions League place, unless Villa surpass their margin of victory by an unrealistic 13 goals. A draw leaves them vulnerable.
• Chelsea (@ Nottingham Forest): Thanks to their vastly superior goal differential over Villa, a win on the final day at the City Ground would secure a Champions League place, unless Villa can overturn that 11-goal deficit. A draw leaves them vulnerable.
• Aston Villa (@ Man United): Because of their goal-differential inferiority, Villa need a win over Man United and outside help to secure a Champions League place.
• Nottingham Forest (vs. Chelsea): It helps Nottingham Forest greatly that they are playing a direct European rival on the final day, but because they are below the Champions League places by two spots, they still need a win over the Blues and another team to drop points if they are to leap into a UCL place. Without help, a win over Chelsea would see them jump into at least the Europa League spot, while anything less than victory would leave them vulnerable.

La Liga

Teams qualified for Europe

• England and Spain are the two nations that earned five Champions League places next season. All five Spanish spots have already been determined.
• Barcelona winning the Spanish domestic treble leaves all other European places to be determined by table finish.
• Real Betis have wrapped up the first Europa League spot.
• Celta Vigo, Rayo Vallecano, and Osasuna are battling for the final two European places, with seventh earning a spot in the Europa League and eighth earning a spot in the Conference League. The ninth-place finisher will be left out of Europe.

La Liga standings

Primary tiebreakers:

1. Head-to-head record
2. Head-to-head goal difference
3. Overall goal difference
4. Overall goals scored

Champions League positions

x — qualified for Champions League
y — qualified for Europa League
z — qualified for at least Conference League

Europa League positions

Conference League position

In the hunt

European permutations for each club on the final day of the La Liga season

• Barcelona: Already qualified for Champions League
• Real Madrid: Already qualified for Champions League
• Atletico Madrid: Already qualified for Champions League
• Athletic Club: Already qualified for Champions League
• Villarreal: Already qualified for Champions League
• Real Betis: Already qualified for Europa League
• Celta Vigo (@ Getafe): Celta will finish in sixth place with a win, or if they match Rayo Vallecano's result on the final day.
• Rayo Vallecano (vs. Mallorca): If Rayo win and Celta do not, Rayo will finish in sixth place. If Celta and Rayo finish level on points — this can only happen if Celta lose and Rayo draw on the final day — then Rayo will finish in sixth place thanks to their superior head-to-head record with Celta.
• Osasuna (@ Alaves): If Osasuna beat Alaves and both Celta and Rayo fail to win, Osasuna will finish in sixth. If Osasuna draw and those other teams lose, Osasuna will finish sixth due to having scored more goals in their matches against Celta this season.
• If Celta Vigo, Rayo Vallecano and Osasuna all finish level on points: the teams will be ordered based on points accrued in matches between one another. Rayo have taken 10 points from games against Celta and Osasuna, while Celta have six, and Osasuna one. That means Rayo would finish in sixth place, Celta in seventh, and Osasuna in eighth.

Serie A

Teams qualified for Europe

• Napoli, Inter Milan, and Atalanta have mathematically secured three of the four Champions League places. The fourth is yet to be confirmed, with Juventus, Roma, and Lazio all in contention.
• Bologna have secured one of the two Europa League places by way of their Coppa Italia win, leaving final losers AC Milan out of Europe entirely.
• Roma will play in Europe. It's yet to be determined whether that will be in the Europa League or the Conference League.
• Lazio and Fiorentina are battling for the final spot. Fiorentina did the double over Lazio this season, so they would win the tiebreaker, which would only come into play if Fiorentina win on the final day while Lazio lose. Otherwise, Lazio will qualify for Europe.

Serie A standings

Primary tiebreakers:

1. Head-to-head record
2. Head-to-head goal difference
3. Overall goal difference
4. Overall goals scored

Champions League positions

x — qualified for Champions League
y — qualified for at least Europa League
z — qualified for at least Conference League

Europa League positions

Conference League position

In the hunt

European permutations for each club on the final day of the Serie A season

• Napoli: Already qualified for Champions League
• Inter Milan: Already qualified for Champions League
• Atalanta: Already qualified for Champions League
• Juventus (@ Venezia): A win will guarantee a Champions League place. If they draw, they could finish fifth depending on Roma's result; if they lose, they could finish fifth or sixth depending on Roma and Lazio's results.
• Roma (@ Torino): A win will guarantee at least a Europa League place. If they win and Juventus do not, Roma will finish fourth and qualify for the Champions League. If they lose and Lazio win, they will finish sixth.
• Lazio (vs. Lecce): A draw or win will guarantee at least sixth place. They could still finish fourth if they win, Juventus lose, and Roma fail to win. A defeat leaves the vulnerable to being overtaken by Fiorentina. 
• Fiorentina (@ Udinese): Fiorentina must win to have a chance of finishing sixth. If they win and Lazio lose, Fiorentina will take sixth place thanks to their superior head-to-head record.

Bundesliga

Teams qualified for Europe

• The Bundesliga season is over, meaning only the DFB-Pokal winner is left to be determined.
• The winner of the DFB-Pokal will earn a Europa League berth. As the final will be played between two teams who did not qualify for Champions League or Europa League through table position — Stuttgart and Arminia Bielefield — it means only one Europa League spot will be left for the standings.

Bundesliga standings

Primary tiebreakers:

1. Goal difference
2. Goals scored
3. Head-to-head record

Champions League positions

x — qualified for Champions League
y — qualified for Europa League
z — qualified for Conference League

Europa League positions

Conference League position

Ligue 1

Teams qualified for Europe

* Enters the Champions League in the 3rd qualifying round

• The Ligue 1 season is over, meaning only the Coupe de France winner is left to be determined.
• The Coupe de France final is between PSG and Reims.
  • If PSG win, the Europa League spot will fall to the sixth-place finisher Lyon, while the Conference League spot will fall to the seventh-place finisher Strasbourg.
  • If Reims win, they will secure the Europa League place, leaving Lyon to qualify for the Conference League and Strasbourg out of Europe.

Ligue 1 standings

Primary tiebreakers:

1. Goal difference
2. Head-to-head record
3. Head-to-head goal difference, goals scored, away goals scored (only if three or more teams still level)
4. Goals scored

Champions League positions

x — qualified for Champions League
y — qualified for Europa League
z — qualified for at least Conference League

Europa League positions

Conference League position

In the hunt