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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Samuel Meade

Man City match 12-year Man Utd record to impact next season's Champions League draw

Manchester City have jumped to the top of UEFA's coefficient rankings - becoming the first English side to do so since Manchester United in 2011.

Pep Guardiola's side secured their historic treble by claiming victory over Inter Milan in Saturday's final in Istanbul. Rodri scored their winner and, as Champions League winners, City pick up the maximum amount of points of offer which has seen them leap to the top of UEFA's rankings.

The system counts up performances over the past five seasons to work out who has been performing the best in Europe. City made the final two years ago, losing to Chelsea, the semi-finals last year and then claimed the trophy, which has allowed their points to stack up.

Despite the Blues and Liverpool winning the tournament since 2011, it is United who were the last Premier League side to top the coefficients. They won the tournament in 2008 before making the final in 2009 and 2011, losing to Barcelona both times, but their accumulation of points saw them sit top.

City have now emulated them and will go into next season's tournament as UEFA's top ranked side. Bayern Munich, who completed the treble back in 2020, sit second in the rankings with Chelsea, champions from two years ago, in third.

Liverpool sit in fourth having won the tournament back in 2019. They also made the final last season, where they were beaten by Real Madrid. It is the Spanish giants, regarded as European royalty having won the tournament more than anyone, who are fifth.

The coefficient rankings help determine the pots for the Champions League draw, which will take place in a matter of months. Champions from the respective countries go into pot 1 with pots 2 - 4 then decided via the algorithm, which will aid the likes of Arsenal.

The Gunners, who have not appeared at Europe's top table since 2017, will return next season and go straight into pot 2 despite being 23rd in the rankings. That is because several teams have failed to qualify for next season's competition - Juventus, Chelsea and Roma among them.

City's success in Istanbul means they've also equalled United's achievement of winning the treble - which had solely belonged to them. Guardiola said after their victory: "I'm tired, calm and satisfied. It's so difficult to win. It was written in the stars. It belongs to us."

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