Prior to the victory of Villarreal over Manchester United in the Europa League final on Wednesday, 26th May, AS Monaco of France tweeted on their official handle that, although they like yellow (symbolizing Villarreal), they'd prefer red (Manchester United) to win on the night". Click here to see image.
Many wondered what was the gain or loss of the French side with whoever took the trophy. Below is what the victory for the Submarines spells for Europe next season.
Villarreal have now automatically qualified for next season's UEFA Champions League and will be one of the seeded teams in the group stage draws.
With their entry into the Champions League, it means Spain will now have five representatives with Champions, Atletico Madrid joined by Real Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla.
According to the UEFA rankings, the top four leagues in Europe; English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A and the German Bundlesiga will automatically provide four teams for the Champions League and the winner of the Europa League, if from any of these top four leagues, will join them to make five, which is why Spain will have have representatives next season.
The interesting part now kicks in. Should the winner of the Europa League have qualified automatically for the Champions League through their local league ranking, the Europa League spot will be handed to the fourth team in the fifth best league in Europe; the French Ligue 1.
What this means is that, had Manchester United won the Europa league, AS Monaco who came fourth in Ligue 1 would have automatically qualified for the Champions League because United have qualified for next season's Champions League by finishing second in the premier league. But, as Villarreal won and didn't qualify through their league standing, Monaco will have to take part in the Champions League playoffs.
This also means that Spain will have no representation in the newly introduced UEFA Europa Conference League next season as Villarreal, who were supposed to have been there by virtue of their league position, are now in the Champions League.
It also means that the Premier League will have just one seeded team in the draws for next seasons Champions League, Manchester City, except Chelsea wins the Champions league, then they will be the second seeded premier league team.
Villarreal won their first ever major trophy in 98 years after defeating Manchester United 11-10 on penalty in Gdansk, Poland.
They will get the €8.5 million prize money, qualify for the Champions League and also the UEFA Super Cup, to face the winner between Manchester City and Chelsea in today's Champions League final.
Comments