Shock Nation Could Get Extra Champions League Spot in Unexpected Twist
UEFA's latest EPS rankings update once again features a surprise frontrunner.
Ryan Smart
A surprise nation could still earn an additional Champions League qualification place for next season.
The new-look Champions League format will continue for a third season in 2026/27, with 32 teams competing in one singular league phase before the knockouts.
While 30 of the 32 teams qualify via the qualification process or through league/cup performance, there are two notable exceptions based on UEFA's co-efficient ranking system.
A nation's co-efficient is based on how well their clubs have performed across European competition - Champions League, Europa League and the Conference League - over the most recent season.
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One club from each of the two highest-placed nations earns what is officially referred to as a European Performance Spot (EPS).
For this season, England and Spain topped the EPS table, with Newcastle and Villarreal earning qualification for the Champions League as a result after finishing in fifth place in their respective leagues.
This season, England lead the way again - meaning that, if the standings stay as they are, Manchester United would earn the fifth qualification spot.
But an unexpected nation, Poland, are currently in second place on the EPS rankings list.
On the face of it, it might not be entirely clear as to how Poland are positioned so highly, given that Lech Poznan were eliminated from the Champions League in the qualifying stages and only three Polish clubs remain in Europe.
They also do not have a team competing in the Europa League, with Lech Poznan and Legia Warsaw losing in qualifying.
It is instead in the Conference League where Polish clubs are performing strongly, with three sides still in the competition.
Rakow Czestochowa sit in second place in the league phase, with four wins and two draws from six matches.
Lech Poznan are in 11th and, along with Jagiellonia Bialystok (17th), will contest the play-off stage.
Legia Warsaw, however, finished 28th and have been eliminated from the competition.
The chances of Poland keeping hold of second place in the EPS standings are incredibly slim, however, given that Germany behind them have four more teams still competing in Europe, and fourth-placed Spain have five more.
In addition, UEFA's co-efficient calculations mean that, naturally, more weighting is placed on successful performance in the Champions League and the Europa League than the Conference League.
The prospect of having two Polish teams in the Conference League final is a possible outcome, but Poland would still rely heavily on clubs from rival countries failing to reach the latter stages of the other competitions.
For now, though, Poland sit second in the co-efficient standings - and could well stay there by at least the end of the league phases.