:focal(1308x358:1310x356)/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2025/05/05/image-26ef4a6d-5075-4727-8bf7-4fcc9978bdca-85-2560-1440.jpeg "Wenger believes Europa League winners should not qualify for Champions League - TNT Sports")
Published 05/05/2025 at 11:42 GMT+1
Arsene Wenger disagrees with the decision to allow the UEFA Europa League winners to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, which offers Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur a route back into Europe's premier cup competition. A potential all-English Europa League final would have plenty at stake, and Wenger feels that winning the final should not be enough to secure Champions League football.
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Arsene Wenger criticised the way in which UEFA Europa League winners seal automatic UEFA Champions League qualification, regardless of their league position.
Both Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur could see their dismal domestic campaigns salvaged by victory in Europe’s secondary cup competition, with the teams sitting 15th and 16th, respectively, in the Premier League.
United and Spurs hold healthy semi-final first-leg leads following 3-0 and 3-1 wins over Athletic Club and Bodo/Glimt, respectively, meaning we are on course for a huge winner-takes-all clash in Bilbao on May 21.
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However, Wenger feels that already having five teams in Europe’s biggest cup competition next is enough.
When asked if it was "right" for Europa League winners to qualify for the Champions League, he told BeIN Sports: "No - they should qualify automatically for the Europa League again, but not necessarily for the Champions League.
"Especially when you're in the Premier League where already five teams qualify. I think it's something [for UEFA] to think about and to review.
"On the other hand, people will tell you that to keep the Europa League focused, interesting and motivated, you need to give them that prize [of qualifying for the Champions League]."
The former Arsenal manager explained how having more Premier League teams qualifying for Europe will dilute the quality of England’s top flight, and make the Champions League less competitive.
"With more teams now qualifying for Europe, the gulf inside the league will become even bigger."
When asked if it was a positive move allowing more teams from the same league to qualify for Europe, he continued: "I don’t believe so.
"It will make the difference between the top teams in England and the rest of Europe even bigger, because you would say only a few teams now can compete with the Premier League teams in the Champions League.
"It can be Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and then, financially, you're already at the end basically."
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This would not be the first time that United may benefit from qualifying for the Champions League via the Europa League, after winning the competition in 2016/17 after finishing sixth in the Premier League.
No team has finished lower than 12th in their domestic league since the competition was rebranded in 2009.
Sevilla secured a 12th-place finish in the 2022/23 La Liga campaign, allowing them to play in the Champions League the following season.
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