Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the Europa League today! Hurrah!
Or did they? There seems to be a lot of confusion around the various permutations surrounding the English club team’s qualification for European competitions. This is because UEFA, in its great wisdom, made the rules somewhat Byzantine and difficult to follow, with plenty of built-in exceptions for winners of national cup competitions and the like.
It’s weird and frankly a bit stupid because it makes it very difficult to understand. I know, I screwed up this morning several times while running Carty Free’s Twitter feed.
But there is definitely an answer, and it has been misinformed in several places. So we will solve this problem in the best possible way: Vox Media Explainer Style ™!
So is Tottenham in the Europa League or not?
They are! By virtue of their tie with Crystal Palace, combined with Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over Wolves, the Spurs finish sixth in the Premier League table. Fifth and sixth place (Leicester City and Spurs) automatically progress to the Europa League group stages, and seventh place (now Wolves) begins in the second qualifying round of the Europa League.
That last place in the Europa League is generally for the winner of the League Cup, but Manchester City won the League Cup and, thanks to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, they will go to the Champions League, so He returns to seventh place on the Premier League team. That is wolves.
But what if Arsenal wins the FA Cup? Can’t they get someone out of Europe qualification?
If you can. Only not Spurs. Arsenal finished eighth, out of European qualification. However, if they beat Chelsea in the FA Cup final next Saturday, they will knock out the Europe qualifiers (Wolves) from seventh place and take their place.
This sounds complicated. So the Arsenal that wins the cup doesn’t matter?
Oh friend, you have no idea. And yes, winning a trophy with Arsenal would not only result in nasty jokes from the neighbors, but would also affect the Spurs – the FA Cup winner wins automatic progression to the Europa League group stages. That means that if Arsenal win, they take down the Spurs in the 2nd Qualifying Round.
Does that mean additional matches?
Yes, and it would be super annoying. Fortunately, those additional matches would come in mid-September and are one-legged series instead of two this year due to COVID, so the Spurs would only have to play (and win) three games to qualify for the group stages. And the teams the Spurs would face would be, well, pretty bad. Still, come on Chelsea.
Interwebz say Spurs can still be beaten if Arsenal win FA Cup and Wolves win the Europa League. That’s right?
It is not. The Spurs will play Europa League football no matter what happens in the Europa League final because they finished sixth, and that is a guaranteed place for Europe’s qualification.
If the Arsenal-Lobos Cup-winning Apocalypse scenario occurs (and it should be noted that there is, like, a 5% or less chance of that actually happening), this is how it would unfold:
- The wolves would qualify for the Champions League, forming five English teams in that competition (Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Wolves).
- Leicester City and Arsenal would qualify for the group stages of the Europa League.
- Tottenham would fall to the second qualifying round of the Europa League.
- England would only have eight clubs in the European competition.
The only thing the Wolves winning the Europa League would do is add a fifth team to the Champions League at the expense of some unfortunate French team, probably. Which, frankly, would be great, because doesn’t everyone want to see Adama Traore in the Champions League, like, Reims or Nice or something like that?
What is the European qualification calendar for next year?
I’m glad you asked! Here are the important dates to know.
Initial rounds of the UEFA Europa League 2020/21
- Preliminary round – August 20 (one-legged ties)
- First qualifying round – August 27 (one-legged ties)
- Second qualifying round – September 17 (one-legged ties)
- Third qualifying round – September 24 (one-legged ties)
- Play-offs – October 1 (one-legged ties)
Group stage
- October 22 and 29; November 5 and 26; December 3 and 10
I think I get it now. Thanks Dustin!
You’re welcome, Internet friend!
