Europe’s top soccer leagues: Titles, cup finals, UCL, relegation

The 2024-25 season has entered the closing stages, with the battles for the major honours, European qualification, relegation and promotion reached their conclusion.

Here’s a roundup of what’s at stake and what could be decided in the English Premier League, German Bundesliga, Spanish LaLiga, Italian Serie A and French Ligue 1.

This page will be updated through to the end of the European season.

Premier League
Last day: May 25

Title

Liverpool (83) were confirmed as champions on April 27, with four games to spare.

Champions League (6)

CONFIRMED

• 1. Liverpool (37 games played, 83 points)

• 2. Arsenal (37, 71)

• 17. Tottenham (Europa League winners)

In 2025-26, the Premier League has been allocated five teams in the Champions League due to the performance of its clubs in Europe this season, meaning the top five will qualify for the UCL. Liverpool and Arsenal (71) have booked two of them.

In addition, Tottenham Hotspur won the Europa League, beating Manchester United 1-0 in the final, which earns a place in the Champions League. So the Premier League will have six teams in the UCL and nine in Europe.

All of the top seven are guaranteed European football of some description.

That leaves three spots up for grabs, with five teams battling it out. Manchester City, Newcastle United and Chelsea are holding them right now; Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest will try to fight their way into those key positions on Sunday.

Superior goal difference over Villa means Man City only need a point, while Newcastle and Chelsea definitely seal it with a win.

But there’s a big last-day fixture, when Chelsea head to Forest — who need a victory to have any chance.

Newcastle are at home to Everton, Villa go to Man United and Man City are at Fulham.

This is what each team needs for UCL football:

MAN CITY (68, +26)
In short: a point seals it
Win: Guaranteed UCL
Draw: Effectively guaranteed UCL due to superior goal difference over Villa
Lose: Get UCL unless Newcastle, Chelsea and Villa all win

NEWCASTLE (66, +22)
In short: a win seals it
Win: Effectively guaranteed UCL due to superior goal difference over Villa
Draw: Get UCL unless there’s both a winner in Forest vs. Chelsea and Villa win
Lose: Only get UCL if Villa lose to Man United

CHELSEA (66, +20)
In short: a win seals it
Win: Effectively guaranteed UCL due to superior goal difference over Villa
Draw: Get UCL unless both Newcastle win/draw and Villa win
Lose: Only get UCL if Villa lose to Man United and Newcastle lose by a greater margin (than Chelsea) of four goals

ASTON VILLA (66, +9)
In short: a draw could do it, but really they must win and hope another result goes their way
Win: Get UCL if one of Man City lose, Newcastle lose/draw or Chelsea lose/draw
Draw: Get UCL if Newcastle lose
Lose: Cannot get UCL

NOTTINGHAM FOREST (65, +12)
In short: must win and hope another result goes their way
Win: Get UCL if one of Newcastle draw/lose or Aston Villa draw/lose
Draw: Cannot get UCL
Lose: Cannot get UCL

Europa League (2)

CONFIRMED

As it stands, sixth (Aston Villa) will enter the Europa League by league position, and it will go to one of those teams in the Champions League section.

Sixth are joined by the FA Cup winners, Crystal Palace. (stream a replay on ESPN+ in the U.S.)

If Chelsea win the Conference League — they are in the final vs. Real Betis on Wednesday — they are guaranteed at least a place in the Europa League, but will play in the Champions League if they finish in the top five. Their final position could also influence the allocation of European places.

There is a way for seventh to get a place in the Europa League. This requires:

1) Newcastle to finish in the top five
2) Chelsea to finish sixth
3) Chelsea to win the Conference League

In this scenario, there would be no English club in the Conference League, but three in the Europa League.

Conference League (1)

Newcastle are guaranteed at least a place in the Conference League playoff round, as they won the Carabao Cup. But if Newcastle finish in the top six, which is almost certain, to play in the UCL or UEL, the Conference League place goes to seventh.

Eighth can still take the Conference League place, which requires:

1) Chelsea to finish seventh
2) Chelsea to win the Conference League

It’s also possible if Chelsea finish sixth and Newcastle are seventh, but that is now highly improbable.

After Tuesday night’s results, we now know exactly what needs to happen for eighth (and that means 10 Premier League teams) to get into Europe. And it really is possible:

1) Chelsea lose at Nottingham Forest
2) Aston Villa win or draw at Manchester United
3) Chelsea win the Conference League

Brighton & Hove Albion (58, +4) are in command of the place and only Brentford (55, +9) can catch them.

Brighton need at least a point from their game at Spurs on Sunday to secure eighth place. However, if Brighton lose they can get overtaken by Brentford, who are away at Wolves, as the Bees have the better goal difference.

Relegation (3)

CONFIRMED

• 18. Leicester (37, 25)

• 19. Ipswich (37, 22)

• 20. Southampton (37, 12)

Southampton (12), Ipswich Town (22) and Leicester City (25) have been relegated.

Leeds United and Burnley were automatically promoted back to the top flight from the Championship; with Sunderland joining them after beating Sheffield United 2-1 in the playoff final at Wembley on Saturday.

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Serie A
Last day: May 25

Title

The tight title race came to a head on Friday when either Napoli (82) or Internazionale (81) could have been crowned champions.

Both won 2-0, with Napoli’s victory over Cagliari ensuring they were crowned champions.

Champions League (4)

CONFIRMED

Napoli and Internazionale have already been joined by Atalanta (74). The fight for the last spot goes to Sunday.

Juventus (67) have fourth place in their own destiny. AS Roma (66) are the closest challengers, while Lazio (65) are outsiders.

Juve must win at relegation-threatened Venezia to be sure of their place in the UCL.

If Juve draw, they can only be overtaken by Roma (because Juve hold the head-to-head record over Lazio), who would have to win at Torino.

If Juve lose, they drop out of the top four with a win for either Roma or Lazio. If Juve and Roma (with a draw) are on 67 points, Juve will be ahead on goal difference — but Lazio could take fourth with a victory.

Lazio are at home to Lecce, another team in relegation danger. Lazio have to win, hope Juve lose and Roma draw/lose.

NB: There is one crazy scenario. If Juve lose 3-0 to Venezia, Roma draw 1-1, and Lazio draw/lose, then Juve and Roma would be level on all tiebreakers. Fourth place would be decided by … a coin toss.

If Inter win the Champions League there will be no impact on the Serie A places.

Europa League (2)

CONFIRMED

Bologna (62) are guaranteed Europa League football after they won the Coppa Italia, beating AC Milan 1-0 in the final.

Fifth place (Roma as it stands) will play in the Europa League by league position, which will also be a battle between Juve, Roma and Lazio.

Conference League (1)

At present this goes to sixth (Lazio), though it will pass to seventh if Bologna finish sixth.

Even so, if Bologna win at home to Genoa on Saturday, and Lazio lose to Lecce on Sunday, then Bologna could be sixth and Lazio seventh — so it would still be Lazio in the Conference League place.

However, if Fiorentina (62, away to Udinese on Sunday), Bologna and Lazio end up level on 65 points, that will be the final order — with Fiorentina in the Conference League spot.

AC Milan (60) cannot qualify for Europe.

Relegation (3)

CONFIRMED

Monza (18) were relegated at the start of this month.

It’s a fierce battle to avoid the last two spots between Venezia (29), Empoli (31) and Lecce (31).

Going into Sunday’s games, Venezia have to win at home to Juve to have any chance, and then hope both Empoli (home to Hellas Verona) and Lecce (away to Lazio) lose to definitely stay up.

If two teams finish level on points for 17th — this can happen if Venezia win and one of the other teams draw — then there will be a one-legged playoff hosted by the team with the best goal difference to stay in Serie A.

In Serie B, Sassuolo and Pisa have been promoted. One of six clubs will also come up through the end-of-season playoffs. Spezia, Cremonese, Juve Stabia, Catanzaro, Cesena and Palermo will take part for the last promotion place. The second leg of the semifinals take place on Sunday.

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LaLiga
Last day: May 25

Title

There is one round of games to be played in Spain. (Stream all LaLiga games live on ESPN+, US only)

Barcelona (85) were crowned champions on May 15.

Champions League (5)

CONFIRMED

• 1. Barcelona (37 games played, 85 points)

• 2. Real Madrid (38, 84)

• 3. Atlético Madrid (37, 73)

• 4. Athletic Club (37, 70)

• 5. Villarreal (37, 67)

Like the Premier League, LaLiga will have five teams in the Champions League next season.

Barcelona, Real Madrid (84), Atlético Madrid (73), Athletic Club (70) and Villarreal (67) have already booked their places.

Europa League (2)

CONFIRMED

As Barcelona won the Copa del Rey, the place for the cup transfers to the league — sixth and seventh will enter the Europa League. One place goes to Real Betis (60), and the other goes to Celta Vigo (55) who beat Getafe on Saturday to book their place in the Europa League after an eight-year absence from European competitions.

Europa Conference League (1)

Rayo Vallecano earned a spot in the Europa Conference League as they drew 0-0 with Mallorca on Saturday to finish eighth. This only their second time reaching European competition in the club’s history, and the first time since 2000-01.

Relegation (3)

CONFIRMED

Leganés beat rock-bottom Valladolid on Saturday, but still got relegated after Espanyol beat Las Palmas. With that, Leganés joins Real Valladolid (16) and Las Palmas (32), who were already slated to drop from Spain’s top division.

It’s a very tight race for the two automatic promotion places from LaLiga2 with two games to be played. Levante, Elche, Real Oviedo, Mirandés and Racing Santander are fighting it out. A third team comes up through four-team playoffs.

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Bundesliga
League season completed

Title

Bayern Munich (82) won the title on May 4.

Champions League (4)

CONFIRMED

• 1. Bayern Munich (34, 82)

• 2. Bayer Leverkusen (34, 69)

• 3. Eintracht Frankfurt (34, 60)

• 4. Borussia Dortmund (34, 57)

Bayern and Bayer Leverkusen (68) had already secured their places weeks ago, leaving a three-horse race for the final two spots on the final day.

Borussia Dortmund (57) booked a place on the final day, along with Eintracht Frankfurt (60) who won at Freiburg to cling on to a spot in the top four.

Europa League (2)

CONFIRMED

Only fifth qualified via league placing, with SC Freiburg (55) having to make do with a spot in the Europa League.

For the second successive season, the final of the DFB Pokal saw a Bundesliga club take on a lower-league side. Last season, Leverkusen beat then-2. Bundesliga strugglers Kaiserslautern.

This time VfB Stuttgart played Arminia Bielefeld who, incredibly, are in the third division and have been promoted as champions.

Stuttgart lifted the trophy, and secured a place in the Europa League, with a 4-2 win at the Olympiastadion in Berlin (stream a replay on ESPN+, U.S. only).

Stuttgart finished ninth on 50 points, so there is no transfer to the league.

Conference League (1)

CONFIRMED

Mainz (52) drew 2-2 at home to Leverkusen on the final day to finish sixth, though as it turned out they could have lost and still taken the Conference League qualifying round spot.

Relegation (2+1)

Two teams are relegated automatically, while third-bottom takes on third place in the 2.Bundesliga in a playoff.

CONFIRMED

VfL Bochum (25) and Holstein Kiel (25) are down, with 1. FC Heidenheim (29) unable to avoid the playoff after losing to Werder Bremen on the last day.

In 2.Bundesliga, Hamburg and FC Cologne are promoted. SV 07 Elversberg will face Heidenheim in the playoff. The first leg on Thursday finished 2-2, with the return to be played on Monday.

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Ligue 1
League season completed

Title

Paris Saint-Germain (84) secured the title with ease on April 5.

If PSG win the Champions League there will be no impact on the Ligue 1 places.

Champions League (3+1)

France gets three automatic places, with fourth place entering the UCL in the third qualifying round.

CONFIRMED

Marseille (65) and AS Monaco (61) sealed the direct spots with a game to spare.

Nice (60, +25) thrashed Brest 6-0 to secure the place in qualifying on goal difference ahead of Lille (60, +16).

Europa League (2)

CONFIRMED

• 5. Lille (34, 60)

• 6. Lyon (34, 57)

Lille are in the Europa League by league position.

PSG beat Stade de Reims 3-0 in the Coupe de France final on Saturday, which meant the UEL place for the cup winners passed to sixth-placed Lyon (57, +19) on goal difference.

NB: Lyon are provisionally relegated to Ligue 2 on financial grounds, which could affect European allocation.

Conference League (1)

CONFIRMED

Strasbourg (57, +12) were also beneficiaries of PSG’s cup final success, with the Conference League place dropping down one place to seventh.

Relegation (2+1)

CONFIRMED

Montpellier (16) went down in April.

Relegation for Saint-Etienne (30) was confirmed when they lost at home to Toulouse on the last day. Le Havre AC (34) looked certain to be in the relegation playoff with their game at Strasbourg level in the ninth minute of added time, but the late winner lifted them out of the bottom three and dumped in Stade de Reims (33).

Lorient and Paris FC have secured promotion from Ligue 2, with Metz to play Reims in the relegation/promotion playoff final — the first leg was 1-1 with the second leg on Thursday.