For the second time in three years the Champions League final will see two teams from the Premier League go head-to-head.
Chelsea booked their place in the showpiece after beating Real Madrid 3-1 on aggregate, while Manchester City beat Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 over two legs in the other semi.
It’s another sign of the English top-flight’s dominance in Europe, following the trend set in 2019 when Liverpool faced off against Tottenham.
That year also saw Chelsea take on Arsenal in the Europa League final and again that could be repeated with the Gunners and Manchester United both in second leg action tonight.
United have all-but sealed their place in Gdansk after thumping Roma 6-2 at Old Trafford, while Arsenal’s tie with Villarreal is in the balance after the Spaniards won 2-1 at home last week.
However, while it’s good news for the image of the Premier League, it could make qualification for next year’s European tournaments decidedly more complicated.
The rules currently state that five teams from any one nation can qualify for the Champions League, while seven in total can compete across all UEFA competitions.
Under normal circumstances, the teams that finish in the top four places would automatically qualify for the Champions League.
The side in fifth would qualify for the Europa League, as would the winners of the FA Cup.
The Carabao Cup winners would then qualify for the newly formed UEFA Conference League, set to kick-off at the start of next season.
There is then automatic qualification for the Champions League for the winners of both that tournament and the Europa League.
But with the race for the top-four set to go down to the wire, a number of teams will be sweating on the results of this month’s finals.
At present, City and United are almost guaranteed a top-four berth, while Leicester City and Chelsea currently occupy the other two.
Behind them, West Ham, Tottenham and Liverpool are both within touching distance and could yet join them before the end of the campaign.
Chelsea will of course earn entry with a victory over City in Istanbul later this month.
Should they do that and finish outside of the top four, then the team in fourth could miss out.
If Arsenal win the Europa League – and therefore earn CL qualification, then that would leave six teams from the Premier League qualified for the Champions League, which is not allowed.
The team in fourth would therefore miss out to make space for Champions League winners Chelsea and Europa League winners Arsenal.
