Manchester City is on the verge of winning the Champions League after defeating Real Madrid 4-0 at the Etihad. The team will face Inter Milan in the final next month. City’s performance was one of their best under Pep Guardiola, and their appearance in next season’s Champions League is already guaranteed due to their points tally in the Premier League. However, if they win the competition, they will enter the 2023/24 campaign in the slot reserved for the current holders. This raises questions about whether the fifth-placed team in the Premier League should be keeping an eye on City’s progress. Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Aston Villa means they will probably finish fifth, while Newcastle has secured a spot in the Champions League. If City wins the Champions League, their domestic qualification spot will not be passed down, and instead, it will be transferred to the champions of the highest-ranked national league in the UEFA coefficient table from the end of the 2021-22 season who don’t already occupy an automatic place in the group stage. UEFA rules allow for five English teams to be in the Champions League in a single season, but this would only happen if Man City were the team that finished fifth and went on to win the competition.
