La Liga had an excellent night in Europe on Thursday as Athletic Club and Betis picked up positive results, and it has now got even better with confirmation that Spain will now have five clubs playing in next season’s Champions League.
The new format for European football’s premier competition has meant that top two leagues in the co-efficient are granted with an extra place in the Champions League. The Premier League secured that for themselves earlier this week, and now they have been officially joined by La Liga, as Relevo have confirmed.
It has felt inevitable that La Liga would take their place in the top two in the European co-efficient, and with Thursday’s results, that has now been confirmed. Athletic’s progress in the Europa League, and as well as that of Betis’ in the UEFA Conference League took Spanish football’s top division on the brink, and Lazio’s penalty shoot-out defeat to Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt has now made it official.
This news is excellent for Villarreal and Real Betis, who are the two sides best-placed competing over fifth place in La Liga – the likes of Celta Vigo and Mallorca are close by, although they are slightly adrift.
At this stage, it is the Yellow Submarine that are in control of the position after they defeated Betis 2-1 at the Benito Villamarin last weekend to move three points clear – and they also have a game in hand. However, there is still a long way to go before anything is decided.
As well as the five Champions League spots, La Liga is also confirmed to have eight European places. Sixth and seventh, which is currently Betis and Celta, would qualify for the Europa League, while eighth place, which is Mallorca at things stand, would take a place in the UEFA Conference League.
