Top 10 current table revealed 

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As European football enters the quarter-final stages , the continental game really begins to heat up. Every match matters. But it’s not just team’s hopes in this season’s Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League themselves that they are fighting for. UEFA offers two European Performance Spots (EPS) for the two nations which perform best in this season’s competitions. That means that fifth place in two of the domestic tables could go from being a Europa League place to a ticket into the Champions League next term – Newcastle benefited this way in the Premier League last season.

How do European Performance Spots work?

To work out who are the most successful nations, UEFA takes into consideration the overall performance of all clubs in either the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League. It creates an average by taking the total coefficient score and dividing it by the number of clubs each league has in European competition. So for example if the Premier League has a total score of 185. Divide that by the nine clubs in Europe and you get an average of 20.56. The top two leagues in the table then get an extra place in the Champions League.

Each win – regardless of the competition – is worth two coefficient points. A draw is worth one. The key differential is in bonus points, which are awarded based on clubs’ finishing positions – these are much higher in the Champions League. For example, the teams that finish 25th-36th in the Champions League got six bonus points despite being eliminated. Yet, the team who finished top of the Conference League table received just four points. Bonus points for progressing through the knockout rounds are also weighted. In the Champions League it is 1.5, Europa League 1, and Conference League 0.5. So who is currently leading the race?

The race for extra Champions League places

To no great surprise, the Premier League leads the way with a current coefficient average score of 24.79. And Arsenal’s win over Sporting CP was extremely significant as it confirmed that fifth place in the Premier League will receive a Champions League place next season. In second place comes LaLiga, with a score of 20.28 and with six of the eight Spanish teams that began the season playing European football, still competing.

Narrowly behind in third is the Bundesliga with a score of 19.71 but only three of the seven German teams still in Europe. The Portuguese league is fourth with 18.90 and three of the five Liga Portugal teams remaining in their respective tournaments. Italy complete the top five with a score of 18.71 but only two of the seven Serie A teams remaining in Europe. France are down in sixth with a score of 16.40, with three Ligue 1 teams still in Europe.