Explained: Why Arsenal's Win vs Real Madrid Guarantees Premier League Clubs Five UEFA Champions League Spots Next Season

Arsenal secured a UEFA Champions League win for the ages when they defeated Real Madrid 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium in the tournament's quarterfinal on Tuesday (April 8). 

Declan Rice struck twice from free kicks before Mikel Merino added a third to give the Gunners a big aggregate lead ahead of the second leg of the quarters at the Santiago Bernabeu. 

However, their win has huge ramifications not only for Arsenal but also the English Premier League as a whole. 

This is because Arsenal's win has ensured that the Premier League will have not 4, but 5 sides playing in Europe's top continental competion next season. 

UEFA Coefficients Boost for England

The equation for the English clubs was simple - they needed one win from any of the teams remaining in any of the UEFA competitions, including the Europa League and Conference League, to be guaranteed of that all-important fifth spot that is awarded to two nations with the highest UEFA coefficients ranking. 

Arsenal provided that one win, meaning 5 English clubs are now guaranteed to be playing in the Champions League come the 2025-26 season. 

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Italy lead the race for the second additional place as of this writing. Spain and Germany are third and fourth, respectively. in the coefficients table.

Yet there is a chance that more English clubs could be part of the Champions League next season.

Seven English Clubs in UCL 2025-26?

Three more clubs stand an outside chance of qualifying for the tournament without finishing in the PL's top 5. 

Aston Villa currently sit seventh in the PL table, but can qualify for the tournament should they win this season's UCL. 

Then there's Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, both of whom are in the Europa League and will seal UCL qualification should they win the tournament.