The Premier League remains in contention for an extra spot in the Champions League next season despite Europa League annihilation for the English clubs.

Tottenham Hotspur are currently keeping a keen eye on the UEFA coefficient rankings as it could determine whether or not they play Champions League football next season. Thanks to UEFA expanding the competition next season, extra spots in the competition shall be awarded to the two nations that are ranked highest in their table.

Italy has sealed one of the spots as they lead the rankings with a score of 19.428. Serie A still has AS Roma and Atalanta competing in the Europa League and Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League so their chances to gain even more points are still high.

This means Spurs' hopes of qualifying for the Champions League in fifth place for next season rest on the shoulders of Aston Villa. Liverpool and West Ham United both avoided defeat on Thursday night against Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen respectively but exited the competition on aggregate.

Those positive results on the night have helped England's coefficient ranking but Germany remain second with 17.928 points compared to the Premier League's 17.375. As mentioned, Villa are the only remaining hope of gaining further points this season after they progressed to the Europa Conference League semi-finals on penalties vs Lille.

However, the Bundesliga will be favourites to gain that extra Champions League spot with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich still battling in the elite competition and Bayer Leverkusen going strong in the Europa League. The German clubs need to pick up two more wins in Europe or a win and two draws to seal the other spot.

Spurs must now hope that Villa can win the Europa Conference League with the German clubs crashing out spectacularly in their respective competitions to stand any chance of gaining an extra Champions League spot. Ange Postecoglou's side currently sit fifth in the Premier League, three points behind Villa with a game in hand.

You can find this story in   My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.