UEFA Champions League: Italy and Germany to have five clubs in 2024-25 edition

Italy and Germany have earned an extra spot in the Champions League next season after their clubs performed well in European competitions this season, Europe’s soccer governing body UEFA said on Friday.

With the Champions League expanding to 36 teams next season, UEFA said two of the four additional places would be filled by European Performance Spots which go to associations “with the best collective performance by their clubs” in UEFA competitions.

After the semifinal legs of the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League concluded this week, UEFA said Italy and Germany are guaranteed to finish in the top two of the 2023-24 association club coefficients.

As things stand, Borussia Dortmund are outside the top four in the Bundesliga but will qualify in fifth place.

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The team is also in the Champions League final where it will play Real Madrid and should it beat the Spanish giants, it would qualify as winners anyway.

Its German rival and Bundesliga champion Bayer Leverkusen are in the Europa League final where it will face Italian side Atalanta, which currently holds on to fifth place in Serie A with a game in hand.

But AS Roma are also in contention, with both teams on 60 points while Lazio are four points behind.

Premier League clubs Manchester City and Arsenal exited the Champions League in the quarterfinals which hurt England’s chances of improving its club coefficient.

Aston Villa — which was knocked out of the Europa Conference League semifinals on Thursday — can seal the fourth and final spot if it wins its next game to deny fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur a place in the Champions League.