Arsenal’s Win over Real Ensures Five Premier League Teams in 2025-26 Champions League 

Football - Champions League - Quarter-final - First Leg - Arsenal v Real Madrid - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - April 8, 2025 Arsenal's Mikel Merino celebrates scoring their third goal with Martin Odegaard. (Reuters)
Football - Champions League - Quarter-final - First Leg - Arsenal v Real Madrid - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - April 8, 2025 Arsenal's Mikel Merino celebrates scoring their third goal with Martin Odegaard. (Reuters)
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Arsenal’s Win over Real Ensures Five Premier League Teams in 2025-26 Champions League 

Football - Champions League - Quarter-final - First Leg - Arsenal v Real Madrid - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - April 8, 2025 Arsenal's Mikel Merino celebrates scoring their third goal with Martin Odegaard. (Reuters)
Football - Champions League - Quarter-final - First Leg - Arsenal v Real Madrid - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - April 8, 2025 Arsenal's Mikel Merino celebrates scoring their third goal with Martin Odegaard. (Reuters)

The Premier League will be guaranteed at least five teams in the 2025-26 Champions League edition following Arsenal's stunning 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie on Tuesday.

The English topflight needed just one win from its clubs in any of the three European competitions to secure one of two extra berths - on top of the four granted to the top four in the table - awarded to the highest-ranked countries in the UEFA coefficient ranking.

In this system, teams earn two points for a win and one for a draw, adding up all the points obtained by each club and dividing by the number of clubs from that league participating in Europe.

England could have up to seven teams in the upcoming Champions League if Aston Villa win this year's edition without qualifying through the Premier League table, and if either Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur are crowned in the Europa League.

Italy lead the race for the second additional place, with Spain and Germany trailing behind.

Premier League leaders Liverpool and second-placed Arsenal look set to claim two of the five available berths, while Nottingham Forest hold a strong third position.

Chelsea, Newcastle United, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, and 10th-place Bournemouth remain within eight points of each other.



Reports: Forest's Awoniyi Out of Induced Coma after Surgery

Soccer Football - Premier League - Nottingham Forest v Leicester City - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - May 11, 2025 Nottingham Forest's Taiwo Awoniyi reacts after sustaining an injury as Jota Silva looks on Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
Soccer Football - Premier League - Nottingham Forest v Leicester City - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - May 11, 2025 Nottingham Forest's Taiwo Awoniyi reacts after sustaining an injury as Jota Silva looks on Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
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Reports: Forest's Awoniyi Out of Induced Coma after Surgery

Soccer Football - Premier League - Nottingham Forest v Leicester City - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - May 11, 2025 Nottingham Forest's Taiwo Awoniyi reacts after sustaining an injury as Jota Silva looks on Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
Soccer Football - Premier League - Nottingham Forest v Leicester City - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - May 11, 2025 Nottingham Forest's Taiwo Awoniyi reacts after sustaining an injury as Jota Silva looks on Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers

Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi is out of an induced coma after undergoing surgery following a serious abdominal injury, British media reports said late on Wednesday.

The Nigeria international collided with the goalpost in the 88th minute of Sunday's 2-2 Premier League draw with Leicester City. He rejoined the game after treatment but was limping for the last 10 minutes of the match.

Forest, who said on Tuesday that Awoniyi was recovering well after surgery, have not yet responded to a request for comment outside regular business hours in Britain.

The 27-year-old was left on the pitch due to a misunderstanding between the coaching and medical departments, manager Nuno Espirito Santo had told reporters after the match.

Awoniyi had sustained a ruptured intestine in the incident, according to a report by BBC Sport.