The Premier League’s hopes of securing an extra place in the Champions League next season gained a much-needed boost after all four English teams in the Europa League and Conference League won their groups.
The English top-flight had taken a sizeable hit on Wednesday after Newcastle followed Manchester United in being dumped out of the competition’s group stage with only two sides left in the competition, with progress this season having a direct knock-on effect for next year.
The European competition format is changing to a Swiss League system from next season, as we say goodbye to the traditional group stage that we have grown accustomed to over the years.
Instead of eight pools of four teams playing each other twice, 36 clubs – four extra teams – will each be drawn against eight teams, playing four home and four away.
Of those four new teams, two will be allotted to the leagues that finish highest in the coefficient tables, which are based on the performance of teams in European competitions.
